Cat Power
Encyclopedia
A native of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Marshall loved soul, rock n roll and country music from childhood and began to play guitar in experimental bands with friends. After a move to New York at age 20, Marshall recorded two lo-fi, improvised solo albums. Cat Power signed to Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
to release her third, more focused album, What Would the Community Think? (1996), which united her with notable indie musicians. She followed with Moon Pix (1998) and The Covers Record (2000), receiving notice for her spare, intense originals and radically stripped down takes on folk songs and familiar songs. You Are Free (2003) was more structured indie rock and brought Cat Power wider attention. Marshall followed it up with the one-take performance film, Speaking for Trees (2004), filmed in a forest. The Greatest (2006), in which she worked with classic R&B and gospel musicians, was her most recent collection of original songs, and her best-selling. A second covers collection, Jukebox (2008), with a horn-led backing band, is her most recent album.
Marshall has been praised for her soulful vocals and raw, minimalist guitar playing. Cat Power's concert appearances were unconventional and unpredictable for many years, and critics often called her an erratic live act. Marshall faced substance abuse problems which she said affected her performances, and recently her act has been notably more polished, although her musical style has also changed significantly. Marshall has also done modelling work. She has been photographed by notable fashion photographers and in 2006 became a spokesperson for Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
. She has appeared in three films, including Wong Kar-Wai
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
's My Blueberry Nights
My Blueberry Nights
My Blueberry Nights is a 2007 romance/drama/road film directed by Wong Kar Wai, his first feature in English. The screenplay by Wong and Lawrence Block is based on a short Chinese-language film written and directed by Wong...
(2007).
Early life
Chan Marshall was born in AtlantaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Marshall's father, Charlie, is a blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musician and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. Her parents divorced when she was a child and were reconciled at a later date. Her mother remarried to another man, the family travelling around a lot because of her stepfather's job. Marshall attended 10 different schools throughout the Southern United States in places such as Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
; Barlett
Bartlett, Tennessee
Bartlett is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and part of the Memphis metropolitan area. The population was 54,613 at the 2010 census.-History:...
and Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and throughout Georgia and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. At times she was left with her grandmother. In interviews she stated that the constant traveling prepared her for the touring life of a professional musician. She was not allowed to buy records when she was growing up, but she listened to her stepfather's record collection which included such artists as Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
and The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
.
Marshall became estranged from her mother at 16 at the same time she dropped out of high school, having no contact with her until she was 24 and says they are still not close. She went back to live with her father in Atlanta but only stayed with him until she was 18, when she moved out. Marshall claims he never taught her any music, forbidding her to play his piano. Her first instrument was a 1950s Silvertone
Silvertone (instruments)
Silvertone was the brand name used by Sears, Roebuck and Company for its line of sound equipment from 1915 to 1972. A hand-cranked phonograph was introduced under the Silvertone brand by Sears in 1915...
guitar, which she did not touch for a year after buying it, because “It was art in the corner.”
After leaving home, she started playing in Atlanta with a collective of musicians made up of Glen Thrasher, Marc Moore, Damon Moore and Fletcher Liegerot, who would get together for jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
s in a basement. The group were booked for a show and had to come up with a name quickly, when a man walked through the door of the pizzeria where Marshall worked, wearing a Caterpillar trucker cap that read: "Cat Diesel Power". Marshall immediately decided on Cat Power as the name of the band. While in Atlanta, Marshall played her first live shows as support to her friends' bands, including Magic Bone and Opal Foxx Quartet
Benjamin Smoke
Benjamin Smoke was a musician who fronted the Atlanta, Georgia band Smoke. He was noted for being a radical, gay rock 'n' roll performer. He died on January 29, 1999 due to liver failure caused by Hepatitis C at age 39. He performed his final concert in Atlanta, Georgia on New Year's Eve, 1998...
. Due to her close relationships with the various people involved, she has stated that her involvement in music at this time was primarily a social interest rather than an artistic one. She also stated in a 2007 interview for Soft Focus that the music itself was more experimental and that playing shows was often an opportunity for her and her friends to get drunk and take drugs.
Early work (1992–1996)
In 1992 she moved to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with Glen Thrasher. It was Thrasher who introduced her to New York's free-jazz and experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
scene. In particular she cites a concert by Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
with giving her the confidence to perform in public. Her first New York show was at a warehouse in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and she has described her early New York shows as "more improvisational." One of her shows during this period was as the support act to Man or Astro-man?
Man or Astro-man?
Man or Astro-man? is a surf rock group that formed in Auburn, Alabama, in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade.Primarily instrumental, Man or Astro-man? blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s like that of The Spotnicks with the new wave and punk rock sounds of...
and consisted of her playing a two-string guitar and singing the word "no" for fifteen minutes. Around this time she made the acquaintance of God Is My Co-Pilot
God Is My Co-Pilot (band)
God Is My Co-Pilot is a queercore band from New York City that's been recording and playing music since 1991. The two main members of God is My Co-Pilot are vocalist Sharon Topper and guitarist Craig Flanagin...
, a relationship that resulted in them releasing her first single "Headlights" in a limited run of 500 copies on their Making of Americans label.
Liz Phair
Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there...
in New York. In attendance were Steve Shelley
Steve Shelley
Steven Jay Shelley is an American drummer, best known as the drummer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth.-Biography:...
of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
and Tim Foljahn of Two Dollar Guitar, who encouraged her to record, and played on her first two albums, 1995's Dear Sir
Dear Sir
Dear Sir is the debut album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power. It was released in 1995 on Runt Records. The 2001 Plain Recordings reissue adds the song "Great Expectations" as the eighth track. The cover art depicts text superimposed over a male torso. The album...
and 1996's Myra Lee
Myra Lee
Myra Lee is the second album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. The album is named after Marshall's mother. It was released in 1996 on the Smells Like Records label, but was recorded at the same time of Dear Sir, her previous album.-Track listing:#"Enough" – 5:42#"We All...
, the latter taking its name from Marshall's mother. Both albums were recorded in New York on the same day in December 1994 and display a lack of conventional song structures.
Matador records (1996–present)
In 1996 she was signed to Matador RecordsMatador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
and, along with Foljahn and Shelley, recorded her third album, What Would the Community Think
What Would the Community Think
What Would the Community Think is the third album by American singer-songwriter Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power. It was released in 1996 on Matador Records, and was produced by Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. The album has been noted for its array of musical styles, ranging from...
, which spawned a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
and music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, "Nude as the News
Nude as the News
"Nude as the News" is a song by the American singer/songwriter, Cat Power . It is the fourth song on her 1996 album, What Would the Community Think...
". In 1998 Marshall released Moon Pix
Moon Pix
Moon Pix is the fourth album by American singer-songwriter Cat Power . It was released in September 1998 on Matador Records....
, composed of new songs that resulted from a sleepless night resulting from a nightmare whilst she was living at a farmhouse
Farmhouse
Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T...
in Prosperity, South Carolina
Prosperity, South Carolina
Prosperity is a town in Newberry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,047 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Prosperity is located at ....
. The record was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in eleven days with backing musicians Mick Turner
Mick Turner
Mick Turner is an Australian musician and painter best known as the guitarist for Dirty Three.Prior to his work with Dirty Three, Turner was a member of several Melbourne-based rock bands: Sick Things , The Moodists , Fungus Brains , and Venom P...
and Jim White
Jim White (drummer)
Jim White is an Australian drummer . He is the drummer for the Dirty Three, a band formed in Melbourne, but he has also played with a number of other groups, including:*Tren Brothers, consisting of Jim White and Mick Turner, guitarist of the Dirty Three....
of the Dirty Three
Dirty Three
Dirty Three are an instrumental trio consisting of Warren Ellis , Mick Turner and Jim White , originating from Melbourne, Australia. Since the Dirty Three formed in 1992, they have spent a lot of time overseas...
.
The album was well-received by critics, and gained her recognition in the indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
scene.
The Covers Record
The Covers Record
The Covers Record is the fifth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. The album consists almost entirely of cover songs. It was released in 2000 on Matador Records...
was a collection of cover songs by Marshall recorded at various sessions in 1998 and 1999. A selection of covers that didn't make it on to the album were recorded at Peel Acres, home of the British DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
. The session was broadcast on his BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
show and featured Marshall's own interpretations of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Hard Times in New York Town" and Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
's "Wonderwall
Wonderwall (song)
"Wonderwall" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by the band's guitarist and main songwriter Noel Gallagher. The song was produced by Owen Morris and Gallagher for their second album, Morning Glory?...
", amongst others. her contract with Matador Records for 2000's The Covers Album reportedly consisted of a Post-It note signed by herself and the company's founder.
You Are Free
You Are Free is the sixth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. It was released in 2003 on Matador Records. Dave Grohl of Nirvana and The Foo Fighters plays the drums and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam provides backing vocals on two tracks...
, which featured guest musicians such as Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
, Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
, and the Dirty Three's Warren Ellis
Warren Ellis (musician)
Warren Ellis is an Australian multi-instrumentalist and composer, best known for his work with Dirty Three, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman and his soundtrack scores with Nick Cave. He plays violin, piano, bouzouki, guitar, flute, mandolin, and tenor guitar...
. A music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
directed by Brett Vapnek was released for the song "He War
He War
"He War" is a song by the American singer/songwriter Cat Power and the second single from her 2003 album, You Are Free. Foo Fighters' frontman Dave Grohl provided drumming for the track...
." The Greatest was released in January 2006. This was not a greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
record but rather the Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
-arranged collaboration with Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
's guitarist Teenie Hodges
Teenie Hodges
Mabon Lewis "Teenie" Hodges is a Memphis, Tennessee musician, best known for his work as rhythm and lead guitarist and songwriter on many of Al Green's popular soul hits, and those of other artists such as Ann Peebles and Syl Johnson, on Hi Records in the 1970s.Born in Memphis, "Teenie" began...
and other musicians. The Dirty Delta Blues band recorded an album of covers called Jukebox
Jukebox (Cat Power album)
Jukebox is the eighth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, also known by her stage name, Cat Power. It was released on January 22, 2008 on Matador Records...
which was released on January 22, 2008, on Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
. On December 9, 2008, an EP entitled Dark End of the Street
Dark End of the Street (Cat Power album)
Dark End of the Street is an EP album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power. It was released on December 9, 2008 on Matador Records.Dark End of the Street was released both digitally and on a limited edition double 10"...
was released by Matador. The release consists of left-over cover songs from the Jukebox sessions.
New work
In an article from SpinSpin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
, Marshall says of her next proper studio LP, "I'm producing it. One song is called "Leopard," I used to sing it when I was 26. There's another song, a spiritual song called "Mountaintops." And there's a really sweet song called "Funny Things" that's like a little kid's tap-dance song about having special secret thoughts: "Funny things in your dreams/Can you whisper talk to me?" And then there's "Silent Machine," which I actually wrote a long time ago. There's another song called "Oh Time." It's about my ex and it's about forgiveness. My friend Susanna always cries when I play it."
In an October 2010 interview with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Marshall confirmed her work on an upcoming album, stating "I'm trying to play all the instruments myself. There's an inspiration [on the record] of being furious about wanting to achieve your goal. I was inspired by being disappointed in myself that I'd just been holding a microphone and [...] that I hadn't been playing an instrument." In a January 2011 interview, Marshall hinted that new material may not see release until as late as summer 2012, stating "[...] I would like to continue what I'm doing [professionally], but I'd also like to not divert from what I've been creating in my personal life. I don't wanna jeopardize being a mom by working. Because in my work, I have to 'go', y'know?"
Live Performances/Tours
In late 1996, Cat Power completed a three-month tour co-headlining with the band Guv'nerGuv'ner
Guv'ner was an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1993 following a relationship between members Charles Gansa and Pumpkin Wentzel. Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth discovered the band when he was handed a demo of theirs by Julia Cafritz of Pussy Galore, who had known Wentzel...
in support of the release of What Would the Community Think.
By 2000 Marshall states that she had grown tired of touring her own material. This resulted in a series of shows during 1999 where Marshall provided musical accompaniment to the silent movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
The Passion of Joan of Arc
The Passion of Joan of Arc
The Passion of Joan of Arc is a silent film produced in France in 1928. It is based on the record of the trial of Joan of Arc. The film was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and stars Renée Jeanne Falconetti...
. The shows combined original material and many covers, many of which would later see release on The Covers Record
The Covers Record
The Covers Record is the fifth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. The album consists almost entirely of cover songs. It was released in 2000 on Matador Records...
, a collection of cover songs
Marshall toured extensively through 2003 and 2004 on a tour that covered Europe, Brazil, the US and Australia.
Marshall toured through 2005, including an Australian tour supporting Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
and an appearance at the Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
-curated Meltdown
Meltdown (festival)
Meltdown is an annual, English festival, held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The Hayward...
festival. The shows largely consisted of material that would appear on her next album.
She returned to live performance in April 2006, playing with the Memphis Rhythm Band and as a solo performer, including a performance at a Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
tribute concert in New York, a fund raiser for the charity Music for Youth
Music for Youth
Music for Youth is a British charity which provides free access to educational and performance opportunities for groups of young musicians and audiences through a series of festivals and concerts throughout the UK. 2 million children have taken part in Music for Youth events since 1971...
.
Marshall put together a new band in Winter 2006 with whom she toured and recorded throughout 2007. The Dirty Delta Blues Band features Judah Bauer (from Blues Explosion), Gregg Foreman (The Delta 72
The Delta 72
The Delta 72 were an American alternative music band formed in Washington, DC in the summer of 1994, later relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
), Erik Paparazzi (Lizard Music), and Jim White
Jim White (drummer)
Jim White is an Australian drummer . He is the drummer for the Dirty Three, a band formed in Melbourne, but he has also played with a number of other groups, including:*Tren Brothers, consisting of Jim White and Mick Turner, guitarist of the Dirty Three....
(from Dirty Three
Dirty Three
Dirty Three are an instrumental trio consisting of Warren Ellis , Mick Turner and Jim White , originating from Melbourne, Australia. Since the Dirty Three formed in 1992, they have spent a lot of time overseas...
).
Collaborations and contributions
Around this time, Marshall collaborated with Mick CollinsMick Collins
Mick Collins is a musician from Detroit, Michigan.- Biography :Collins first played in a band called the U-Boats in 1981 and then in the Floor Tasters from 1984 to 1985. In 1986, the 20-year old Collins helped form the seminal garage punk band, The Gories...
(of The Dirtbombs
The Dirtbombs
The Dirtbombs are an American garage rock band based in Detroit, Michigan, notable for blending diverse influences such as punk rock and soul while featuring a dual bass guitar, dual drum and guitar lineup...
) on a recording of Ludwig Rellstab
Ludwig Rellstab
Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig Rellstab was a German poet and music critic. He was born and died in Berlin. He was the son of the music publisher and composer Johann Carl Friedrich Rellstab....
's poem "Auf Dem Strom" for the film Wayne County Ramblin. Marshall sang the poem in German, though she does not speak the language.
Since returning to the stage Marshall has contributed guest vocals to several albums. She performed a duet with model Karen Elson
Karen Elson
Karen Elson is a British model, singer-songwriter and guitarist.As a child, Elson attended North Chadderton School in Chadderton with her twin sister, filmmaker Kate Elson. She began working as a model as a teenager....
on an English cover of Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
's "Je t'aime... moi non plus
Je t'aime... moi non plus
"Je t'aime… moi non plus" is a French duet written by Serge Gainsbourg. It was written for and sung with Brigitte Bardot in 1967, but that version was not released until 1986. In 1969, Gainsbourg recorded a version with his lover, Jane Birkin. It reached number one in the UK, but was banned in...
" for the tribute album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited. She also sang lead vocal on the Ensemble
Olivier Alary
Olivier Alary is a musician who is known under the title of his musical project 'Ensemble'.A native of Toulouse, France, Olivier Alary is a Montreal-based musician and composer who has released his own recordings, as well as composing for film and exhibitions.A former student of architecture, Alary...
track "Disown, Delete" and reworked "Revelations" with Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
for Ono's 2007 album Yes, I'm a Witch
Yes, I'm a Witch
-Track listing:All songs were written by Yoko Ono.#Hank Shocklee – "Witch Shocktronica Intro"#Peaches – "Kiss Kiss Kiss"#Shitake Monkey – "O'Oh"#Blow Up – "Everyman Everywoman"#Le Tigre – "Sisters O Sisters"#Porcupine Tree – "Death of Samantha"...
. She also performed guest vocals for Faithless
Faithless
Faithless were a British electronica band consisting of Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo. The group is best known for their dance songs . Faithless recorded six albums. During their career they sold over 15 million records worldwide...
and El-P. She also duets on the Dexter Romweber Duo song "Love Letters".
In 2007, Marshall contributed songs to the soundtrack of Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
's movie The Hottest State
The Hottest State
The Hottest State is a 2006 drama directed and written by Ethan Hawke, based on Hawke's 1996 novel of the same name. The film debuted at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2006, and received a limited theatrical release in the United States on August 24, 2007. It ran for 5 weeks and grossed...
, recording with Jesse Harris
Jesse Harris
Jesse Harris is a Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter. He has collaborated with several musical artists including Norah Jones, Melody Gardot, Madeleine Peyroux, Nikki Yanofsky, and Lizz Wright.-Early life and education:...
and Terry Manning
Terry Manning
Terry Manning is a music producer, songwriter, photographer and recording engineer known for work in rock, rhythm and blues, and pop music genres....
, and the Academy Award-winning film Juno
Juno (film)
Juno is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Ellen Page stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby, J. K....
.
In early 2008, she collaborated with Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
and producer Danger Mouse
Danger Mouse
Brian Joseph Burton , better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He came to prominence in 2004 when he released The Grey Album, which combined vocal performances from Jay-Z's The Black Album with instrumentals from The Beatles' White Album.He...
on the album Modern Guilt
Modern Guilt
Modern Guilt is the eleventh studio album by American alternative musician Beck. It was released on July 8, 2008. The album fulfills Beck's recording contract with Interscope Records...
. She contributed backing vocals to two tracks, "Orphans" and "Walls". The album was released in July of that year.
Chan Marshall provides backup vocals on Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
's cover of "Hold On, Hold On" by Neko Case
Neko Case
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....
on the 2009 album Easy Come Easy Go
Easy Come, Easy Go (Marianne Faithfull album)
Easy Come, Easy Go is a studio album of cover versions by English singer-songwriter Marianne Faithfull, which was released in the EU on 10 November 2008. The album is produced by Hal Willner and features guest appearances from a variety of musicians...
. In 2011 she also featured as guest on "Tonight You Belong To Me" on Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
's Ukulele Songs
Ukulele Songs
Ukulele Songs is the second solo studio album by American singer and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. It was released on May 31, 2011. The album is composed of original songs and covers.-Track listing:-Cover art:...
.
Fashion
Early the 2000s Marshall was embraced by the fashion industry for her 'neo grunge' look and seen as a muse by designers such as Marc JacobsMarc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, with more than 200 retail stores in 60 countries. He has been the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton since 1997...
and Nicolas Ghesquière
Nicolas Ghesquière
Nicolas Ghesquière is a fashion designer and is currently creative director for the house of Balenciaga owned by the Gucci Group . He grew up in Loudun, Vienne....
. She was invited to many high profile fashion shows. In 2001 she modelled in New York Magazine's Fall fashion issue. and photographed by her friends Mark Borthwick
Mark Borthwick
Mark Borthwick is a British photographer now living in Brooklyn, New York. His photos are often minimal and crisp, yet somewhat 'blown-out' in terms of colour saturation. He has contributed to many publications, including Vogue, Purple, and Index. His wife is fashion designer Maria...
and Terry Richardson
Terry Richardson
Terrence "Terry" Richardson is an American fashion photographer.-Early life:Richardson was born in New York City, the son of Bob Richardson, a fashion photographer who struggled with schizophrenia and drug abuse...
, who featured her in Purple Magazine
Purple (magazine)
-History:In 1992, Elein Fleiss and Olivier Zahm started the magazine Purple Prose as a reaction against the superficial glamour of the 1980’s; much as a part of the global counterculture at the time, inspired by magazines like Interview, Ray Gun, Nova, and Helmut Newton’s Illustrated, but with the...
alongside Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof and mysterious beauties in films such as Repulsion and Belle de jour . Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in Indochine; she also won César Awards for that...
.
In October 2006 she became the celebrity spokesperson for a line of jewelry from Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...
, after being seen by Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld is a German fashion designer, artist and photographer based in Paris. He has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art related projects, most notably as head designer and creative director for the fashion house Chanel...
smoking a cigarette outside the Mercer Hotel in New York. Lagerfeld chose Cat Power to be the soundtrack to his Spring 2007 fashion show. He also photographed Marshall for a purple magazine feature.
Advertising
In 2007 Marshall's voice could be heard in commercials for Cingular and De BeersDe Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
in the United States and Garnier
Garnier
Garnier is a mass market cosmetics brand of L'Oréal that produces hair care and skin care products. Much like other brands from L'Oréal, it is sold in several markets around the world.- Advertising Slogans :...
in the United Kingdom. Previously Marshall had done advertisements for GAP
Gap (clothing retailer)
The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...
.
In September 2008, Marshall and members of the Dirty Delta Blues (Erik Paparazzi & Gregg Foreman) recorded their version of David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's Space Oddity for a Lincoln
Lincoln (automobile)
Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
car commercial.
Film work
2004 saw the release of the DVD Speaking for TreesSpeaking for Trees
Speaking for Trees is a DVD/CD package released by the American singer/songwriter Cat Power on October 26, 2004. The DVD contains footage of Cat Power singing and playing electric guitar in the countryside, filmed by Mark Borthwick in essentially a single, nearly 2-hour static shot...
, which featured a continuous, nearly 2-hour static shot of Marshall performing in a woodland. The set was accompanied by an audio CD containing the eighteen-minute song "Willie Deadwilder," featuring M. Ward
M. Ward
Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
on guitar.
She had a small role in the 2007 film My Blueberry Nights
My Blueberry Nights
My Blueberry Nights is a 2007 romance/drama/road film directed by Wong Kar Wai, his first feature in English. The screenplay by Wong and Lawrence Block is based on a short Chinese-language film written and directed by Wong...
opposite Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
. She also appeared in Doug Aitken
Doug Aitken
-Early life and career:Doug Aitken was born in Redondo Beach, California in 1968. In 1987, he initially studied magazine illustration with Philip Hays at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena before graduating in Fine Arts in 1991. He moved to New York in 1994 where he had his first solo...
's MOMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
installation Sleepwalkers, which followed the nocturnal lives of five city dwellers. Marshall can be seen as a postal worker living in New York, performing with other notable participants such as Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
.
Charity work
A live version of the gospel song Amazing GraceAmazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
– culled from a performance with the Dirty Delta Blues band – was released on the charity compilation Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night is the twentieth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS...
. Released by independent British label 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
on 17 February 2009, the set benefited the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
.
Performance style
Recently, Marshall's performance style has been said to be much more enthusiastic and professional. An article in Salon called The Greatest "polished and sweetly upbeat", stating that Marshall was "delivering onstage". In the article, Marshall states that her newfound musical collaborators and sobriety are largely responsible for her increased confidence onstage.
Awards
Also in 2007, she became the first female solo act to win the Shortlist Music PrizeShortlist Music Prize
The Shortlist Music Prize, stylized as , was an annual music award for the best album released in the United States that had sold fewer than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination...
when The Greatest was voted album of the year in June. Earlier in the year she was nominated in the Best International Female Solo Artist category at the annual BRIT Awards
2007 BRIT Awards
The 2007 BRIT Awards was the 27th edition of the biggest annual pop music awards in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 14 February 2007 at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London...
.
Marshall was featured in Maxim
Maxim
Maxim may refer to:*Maxim , a principle that an individual uses in making a decision*Maxim , a type of aphorism*Legal maxim, certain guiding principles of law and jurisprudencePeople:*Maxim *Maxim...
's Hot 100 women of 2009, she was placed at number 19.
Personal life
In 1992, Marshall moved into a New York apartmentApartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
which she maintains to this day, only paying $160 a month in rent. Around 2003 she bought a house in South Beach, Miami from a high school friend. In 2009 Marshall moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to share a house in Silver Lake, California
Silver Lake, California
Silver Lake is a town that existed near the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, between Ludlow, California and Death Valley Junction, California, in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California....
with her boyfriend. They also have a rental house in Malibu
Malibu
Malibu may refer to:Places:* Malibu, Baja California, a beach in Rosarito Beach Municipality, Baja California* Malibu, British Columbia, a camp near the entrance of Princess Louisa Inlet...
where she has a studio.
Relationships
When Marshall was working as a waitress in Atlanta her boyfriend passed away, causing her to have a breakdown. She says this coupled with the prevalence of heroin use amongst her friends and the loss of her best friend to AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
was the impetus for her moving to New York. Her boyfriend in New York helped her get a job in a restaurant, but she realised he was having an affair with the owner, a married woman with two children.
In late 1996, following a three-month tour co-headlining with the band Guv'ner
Guv'ner
Guv'ner was an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1993 following a relationship between members Charles Gansa and Pumpkin Wentzel. Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth discovered the band when he was handed a demo of theirs by Julia Cafritz of Pussy Galore, who had known Wentzel...
, Marshall disappeared from the music scene, initially working as a baby sitter
Babysitting
Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents. Babysitting is commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money.-General:...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
and then moving to a farmhouse
Farmhouse
Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T...
in Prosperity, South Carolina
Prosperity, South Carolina
Prosperity is a town in Newberry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,047 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Prosperity is located at ....
with then boyfriend Bill Callahan. The plan was to permanently retire from public performance but during a sleepless night resulting from a nightmare, Marshall wrote several new songs and returned to recording.
In 2001 Marshall was romantically involved with a runway model named Daniel, who was seven years younger than her. He left her in 2003 at a time when her drink and drug use was out of control. Marshall referred to him as “the ex-love of my life”.
Following the release of "The Greatest", Marshall cancelled previously arranged live shows in North America and Europe. She was struggling with a relationship with a young Miami investment banker.
According to an interview in January 2011, Marshall has been in a relationship with actor Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
since 2009 and lives with Ribisi and his 13 year old daughter in L.A..
Alcohol and mental health difficulties
By the turn of the century, Marshall's live performances had become erratic and unpredictable, with The New YorkerThe New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
suggesting, "It is foolhardy to describe a Cat Power event as a concert," citing "rambling confessions" and "[talking] to a friend's baby from the stage." Marshall later attributed this period to a drinking problem, telling HARP
HARP (magazine)
Harp was a print and online magazine that provided in-depth information on current music, mainly the adult album alternative genre, which encompasses a large variety of music...
magazine in 2006 "I didn't know I was messed up."
Marshall has admitted abusing alcohol in the past; in a 2006 interview with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, she declared herself to be sober
Sobriety
Sobriety is the condition of not having any measurable levels, or effects from, alcohol or other drugs that alter ones mood or behaviors. According to WHO "Lexicon of alcohol and drug terms..." sobriety is continued abstinence from alcohol and psychoactive drug use...
, which she defined as having had "seven drinks in seven months."
Following the cancellation of the arranged tour of "The Greatest" album in 2006, Marshall used the hiatus to recover from what she described as a "psychotic break," brought on by mental exhaustion and alcohol abuse, which had left her feeling suicidal. As part of her recovery, she was admitted to the psychiatric ward at Miami's Mount Sinai Medical Center
Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute
Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute is a hospital located at 4300 Alton Road in Miami Beach, Florida, and is the largest independent non-profit teaching hospital in the state. The institution was incorporated on March 11, 1946, and opened on its current location on Sunday, December...
but left after a week, stating "being in there wasn't me." She later likened the experience to "a pit of hell." Marshall gave a first person account of her breakdown in an interview for the November 2006 issue of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
.
Partial Discography
- Dear SirDear SirDear Sir is the debut album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power. It was released in 1995 on Runt Records. The 2001 Plain Recordings reissue adds the song "Great Expectations" as the eighth track. The cover art depicts text superimposed over a male torso. The album...
(1995) - Myra LeeMyra LeeMyra Lee is the second album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. The album is named after Marshall's mother. It was released in 1996 on the Smells Like Records label, but was recorded at the same time of Dear Sir, her previous album.-Track listing:#"Enough" – 5:42#"We All...
(1996) - What Would the Community ThinkWhat Would the Community ThinkWhat Would the Community Think is the third album by American singer-songwriter Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power. It was released in 1996 on Matador Records, and was produced by Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. The album has been noted for its array of musical styles, ranging from...
(1996) - Moon PixMoon PixMoon Pix is the fourth album by American singer-songwriter Cat Power . It was released in September 1998 on Matador Records....
(1998) - The Covers RecordThe Covers RecordThe Covers Record is the fifth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. The album consists almost entirely of cover songs. It was released in 2000 on Matador Records...
(2000) - You Are FreeYou Are FreeYou Are Free is the sixth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. It was released in 2003 on Matador Records. Dave Grohl of Nirvana and The Foo Fighters plays the drums and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam provides backing vocals on two tracks...
(2003) - The Greatest (2006)
- JukeboxJukebox (Cat Power album)Jukebox is the eighth album by American singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, also known by her stage name, Cat Power. It was released on January 22, 2008 on Matador Records...
(2008)
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Sleepwalkers | Dancer working as a FedEx Clerk | Short Short Short may refer to:* Short circuit, an accidental connection between two nodes of an electrical circuit* Short , stock-trading position* Short film, a cinema format* Short subject, a cinema format used almost interchangeably with short film... Credited as Chan Marshall |
| 2007 | My Blueberry Nights My Blueberry Nights My Blueberry Nights is a 2007 romance/drama/road film directed by Wong Kar Wai, his first feature in English. The screenplay by Wong and Lawrence Block is based on a short Chinese-language film written and directed by Wong... |
Katya | Credited as Chan Marshall |
| 2009 | American Widow | Singing Woman | Main Role |