Catherine Feeny January 31, 2010

Catherine recently moved to Portland, Oregon. When not touring, she indulges a newfound passion for growing vegetables. She enjoys performing in intimate venues, and in 2008 drove 12,000 miles with her husband-to-be in a 1990 Mazda 323 called Swansong playing more than 40 planned and impromptu shows in dens, livingrooms and gardens all over the United States. Her favorite feeling is that of the universal commune that comes when writing a song entirely by intuition.

Previous to arriving in Portland, Catherine lived for several years in Norfolk, England, releasing her second album to critical acclaim. ” ‘Hurricane Glass’ is one of those albums that soothes the listener into quietude… and only then coils its complications and ambiguities around you,” wrote Dain Cairns in the The Sunday Times.

After being picked up for the film “Running with Scissors,” and featured in “The O.C.,” the album’s lightning-rod track “Mr. Blue” reached the A-list at Britain’s most listened-to radio station, BBC Radio 2. Catherine toured the British Isles extensively, both as a headline act and in support of such artists as Martha Wainwright, Kelly Jones (The Stereophonics) and The Indigo Girls.

She discovered a passion for music early. Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Catherine took guitar lessons at a local music shop, learning Led Zeppelin and The Cure covers, while also studying classical vocal techniques at Settlement Music School. Her love for popular music won out over her interest in opera, however, and in high school she joined a punk 4-piece called LAMPshADe that played at Philadelphia institutions J.C. Dobbs and the Khyber Pass.

After college, Catherine moved to Los Angeles and found her place in a burgeoning singer-songwriter scene. Playing open mics and small shows, she gradually built an audience. In 2003, she recorded a sparse self-titled debut with artist/producer Joe Purdy, which found an enthusiastic audience in Americana circles in Europe as well as America.

That same year, a performance at premiere LA acoustic club The Hotel Cafe caught the eye of English artist/producer Sebastian Rogers. After seeing a few shows, Rogers became so enamored of her songs that he offered to produce her second album. He made the album entirely on credit, promising to pay the studio and the musicians when Feeny got signed.

The album was picked up by EMI, but after a corporate takeover at the company, Catherine was dropped from the label. Her third album, “People in the Hole ” in hand, she moved back to the States to find a way function as a singer-songwriter outside of the major-label machine.

In August 2009, Catherine made an exclusive pre-release copy of her new album available via CatherineFeeny.com. She is looking forward to her first club tour of the United States!

Official Website: http://www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco/jazzclub/artist/show/1084