Ladies, C: Cat Power

Song: "Woman Left Lonely"
From the album Jukebox

Cat Power:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: Wow, Chris, Cat Power is older than you. I didn't think such a thing was possible.

Chan Marshall was born in Georgie on January 21, 1972. After dropping out of high school, she took on the name Cat Power to perform around Atlanta. In the early-Nineties, Cat Power moved to New York City where she opened for acts like Liz Phair, leading to her work with Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley.

I've been reading a 2006 interview with Spin magazine, and Cat Power sounds a bit crazy. She was an alcoholic for a long time, and she's been noted for seeing visions... She's been diagnosed with severe depression. This is an excerpt from the interview:

On the fourth day, I woke up and I was like, "Shit, Susanna is not coming back. Maybe Susanna is just part of your split personality. Maybe everyone's part of your split personality. Maybe your mom doesn't exist. Maybe you aren't you. Maybe you're really 75 years old and you're homeless with cancer and you're on a respirator, and when you open your eyes, you're going to see that you're dying." So I got out of bed and went right up to the mirror. At this point, I was raw. I hadn't seen myself. I hadn't brushed my hair. I wondered [if I looked in the mirror], would it be me? And I looked. And I looked like me. Like the inside of me. Like a little kid. When I saw my face, all I wanted to do was protect that person. And I realized, "What are you doing here?"

Anyway, "Woman Left Lonely" is a Janis Joplin cover. — BJ