Catherine Feeny

Catherine Feeny (born 1976) is an American singer/songwriter based in Portland, Oregon. She grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania, studied in Washington, D.C., and finally relocated to Los Angeles, where she started seriously writing her own songs. Her first album, Catherine Feeny was produced by fellow singer/songwriter Joe Purdy and was released in the UK in January 2003. Shortly later, she met producer Sebastian Rogers who then produced her second album: Hurricane Glass, which was released in the UK in June 2006. It includes the single Mr Blue which features in the 2006 film Running With Scissors, starring Annette Bening and Gwyneth Paltrow and based on the Augusten Burroughs book of the same name. For several years she lived in Norwich before moving to Oregon in 2008, where her third album, entitled People in the Hole, was recorded and made available to fans at www.catherinefeeny.com. She also released the album "Remember where you are" as part of the group Come Gather Round Us. She was originally signed to UK indie Tallgrass Records before signing to EMI in 2007. She is published by Warner-Chappell. She has toured with Hal, Aberfeldy, Martha Wainwright, Dr. John, John Prine, Suzanne Vega, and The Hotel Cafe Tour. She has accompanied Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics on the "Only The Names Have Been Changed" tour. Her passion for music was evident early on. She sang as a child, took classical voice lessons and played both the piano and the violin. It wasn't until she started singing in bands as a teenager that the guitar became her instrument of choice. "I took it up because I could play songs that I loved right away. In fact, I stole my Dad's guitar when I started playing." Influenced by a variety of genres and artists including Joni Mitchell, The Smiths, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth and Sinead O'Connor, Catherine's musical tastes have clearly encouraged her own creative style. "I've always loved a well-written song," she comments. "When I'm in the zone, writing is the most satisfying thing in the world. It can be so magical." Album highlights include the heart-on-sleeve opening track Touch Back Down, the Lucinda Williams-esque Hurricane Glass, the politically weighted Unsteady Ground and Mr Blue with its immaculate pop streak. "It's a struggle for me to be honest sometimes because I like to please people, but I think I'm pretty honest with myself. It's strange when you encounter people who aren't. That 'disconnect' inspired Touch Back Down. Unsteady Ground is about the crap the government and the media were feeding us before we attacked Iraq, while the title track 'Hurricane Glass' is about the death that comes before a rebirth." "Performing live is something I work very hard at. There are many distractions to the little creative voice that whispers in my ear and makes me who I am as an artist, but I enjoy rising to a challenge - it let's you know you're alive." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.