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Catie Curtis
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 Truth
From Lies Catie Curtis
On her 1995 debut, Curtis hints at the wise
songwriting of her more mature work, even if she doesn't always
seem sure of the way there. She stumbles a bit with forced images
(the lover in "Crocodile Tears" threatens to gobble her
up), awkward humor (in "Slave to My Belly" she converses
with her tummy), and a few strained defenses of her sexuality. At
the same time, Curtis offers what remains her finest song,
"Troubled Mind," with its braided, fingerstyle guitar
figures and simple, pure refrain: "I'm tired from all the
weight / I'm tired of being strong / So won't you come and stay /
And let me lay down in your arms." Curtis is often compared
to Shawn Colvin, but Colvin hasn't written or sung this soulfully
since her own debut. Guest spots from fellow New Englanders John
Gorka (harmony) and Patty Larkin (guitar) complement Curtis's
lucid, clean folk rock. --Roy Kasten
 Crash
Course In Roses Catie Curtis
A Crash Course in Roses finds
Boston-based singer-songwriter Catie Curtis streamlining the sound
that made her 1997 self-titled release a critical breakthrough.
Eschewing lush string and horn arrangements, she allows her
songwriting and singing to take center stage on this 13-song set
of midtempo, acoustic-flavored folk-pop. An excellent group of
musicians (including Morphine drummer Billy Conway) create an
intimate backdrop for Curtis's warm, enticing voice. The spare,
no-frills arrangements complement the simple honesty of love songs
such as "Gave Me Love" and "Magnolia Street."
While Curtis clearly works the same musical and emotional terrain
as Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter (who sings backup vocals
here), she lacks their lyrical and musical bite. These are pretty
songs and, taken together, they make for a pretty--though not
exceptional--collection. --Percy Keegan
Catie
Curtis won the Best Album Award from the Gay and Lesbian American
Music Awards for Crash
Course in Roses.
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This site hosts a biography, discography with
lyrics and chords to many of Catie's songs, tour dates, contact
information, a scrapbook, articles and reviews.
Excerpt:
Catie Curtis, one of the most promising talents
to emerge from today's singer/songwriter scene, returns on October
7 with her second album for Guardian Records. Produced by Roy
Bittan, pianist for Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band, the
self-titled Catie
Curtis showcases the artist's pure, affecting vocals and
piercingly honest songwriting.
The introspective nature of curtis' songs are
intensified on this new project by a top-notch team of musical
players. Roy Bittan handles keyboards, Kenny Aronoff (John
Mellencamp) guests on drums, Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel) provides
the bass, and Catie's longtime touring partner, Jimmy Ryan, rounds
out the team on electric and acoustic mandolin. Curtis, herself,
provides guitar.
Curtis likes to be called a "story
collector." For Catie Curtis, she has written songs
based on everything from bits of conversation overheard while on
the road, to headlines of forgotten news stories, to the lives of
the people who populate small New England towns such as the one in
which she was raised...
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Excerpt:
An engaging live performer, dubbed "a folk
rock goddess" by the New Yorker, Catie Curtis brings a rawer,
rootsy sound to her Rykodisc debut, A CRASH COURSE IN ROSES. Her
third album is equal parts urban folk, acoustic rock, and pop, all
of it lyrical, immediate, and illuminating music, with songs that
communicate emotional depths with honesty and clarity. Her direct
and powerful lyrics often deal with life’s dramatic complexities
and difficult sidesteps, making each listening experience an
intimate encounter. True to form, Catie’s new album is rich with
experience and long on feeling...
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By Kim Tyburski
Excerpt:
An engaging live performer, based in the Boston,
Massachusetts area, Catie brings a rawer, rootsy sound to her Rykodisc
debut A Crash
Course In Roses. With the musicians given freedom to
improvise, they created sinuous grooves that energized her songs,
and with the lushness of pop and the lyrical vibrancy of folk that
have been mainstays of her musical sound, result on Roses is rich
with experience and long on the feeling. While her last albums
were pieces of introspection-sending people inward to work through
their emotions, Catie wanted this album to rock with the kind of
subtle force that would invigorate people as they deal with life's
problems. Her songs tackle potent themes (death and love among
them), exploring the nature of life when impacted with sudden,
dramatic events. An album, made not so much of lightness, but of
the things that give strength to move away from darkness.
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This site, from from Aqua Girl 2000, hosts
excerpts from an interview with Catie Curtis by Gregg Shapiro,
July 28, 1999
Excerpt:
GS: As an out artist, you haven't shied away
from gay themes in your songs, and that remains true with some of
the songs on "A Crash Course In Roses," as well.
CC: The obvious one is "What's The
Matter." I grew up in a small town in Maine, and by the time
I hit 12 years old, I started to feel like there wasn't a real
respect for difference. It's not like growing up in a Native
American community where they have two-spirit people. It's sacred
and they appreciate it. Uniqueness is a little bit suspect (where
I come from) and "What's The Matter," is addressing
that. Whether it's about being gay - it mentions in the bridge,
"What if I am Black or Jew/straight or queer/mother of
two," that whole thing. That is, for me, an obviously
gay-themed song. Then there's the first track, "Gave Me
Love," even though it's very subtle, to me it has a gay
subtext because it's about a dream that I had when I was first
coming out. I used to have this dream in high school about being
chased and being afraid and I'm sure it was about being afraid of
coming out. I finally had this amazing dream one night about
running along the beach in Maine where I grew up and how the
police were chasing me, (like the line in the song) "The blue
men out on the beach." I was being chased and then I ran into
the arms of the woman that I was falling in love with and I got
this total hit of "It doesn't matter. You don't have to run.
Love is so powerful. There's nothing to fear." It was this
amazing, unconditional love feeling that I had in this
dream. It was totally life altering in terms of being
comfortable with coming out. "Gave Me Love," to me, is
partly about the gay subtext of "Don't give up on me, I'm not
going to be afraid to love."
There's
more...
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Names Index:
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