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SOULFUL BOSTON-BASED SINGER/SONGWRITER “KATRIN” GEARING UP FOR LATE SPRING RELEASE OF NEW CD, "FRAIL TO FEARLESS", PRODUCED BY LEGENDARY DRUMMER AND PRODUCER JERRY MAROTTA
2/22/2012
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It’s been three years since the release of her last CD, "Soul Wide Open", and now Boston-based singer/songwriter Katrin is eagerly gearing up for the late Spring release of her fourth self-released studio disc, "Frail to Fearless". Marking her first national release, the new record features some of the most respected players in the industry - legendary drummer and producer Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Hall & Oates, among others); bassist Tony Levin (John Lennon, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson); guitarist Bill Dillon (McCartney, Robbie Robertson, Sheryl Crow, King Crimson); and guitarist/harmonica player John Sebastian (Lovin' Spoonful).
Described by "Metronone Magazine"’s Douglas Sloan as having a voice “thick and resonating with body and soul, Katrin sings with the passion of a woman using her last breath on earth”, her career highlights include opening for Joan Armatrading, Chris Isaak, Huey Lewis and The News, and the Fixx, plus touring through Europe to the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. She also played the Sunset Jazz Club in Paris, and won a songwriting award from the Mountain Stage Newsong Festival.
The essence of a self-made musician, Katrin (last name Roush), grew up in the suburbs of Boston and started performing as a busker in Harvard Square and Faneuil Hall, where she stayed and played for three summers. "It toughened me up and made me more comfortable interacting with people,'' she recalls. That journey is reflected in her voice and pure, raw and honest songs.
"Frail to Fearless" was produced by Jerry Marotta, who was first introduced to Katrin in 2009. In addition to producing the disc, Marotta plays drums throughout, as well as bass on a few songs. The record was recorded in West Hurley, NY at his Dreamland Studios, (whose clients have ranged from the B-52s, Fleet Foxes to Sheryl Crow), as well as Jersville in Woodstock. Mastered by Chris Athens, engineered by Matt Cullen, Adam Armstrong, Peter Caigan, Eli Walker, Russ McCay and Patrick Dicenso and mixed by Joe Blaney, the tracks “Home” and “Cobblestones” were mixed by multi-Grammy winner Tchad Blake, the man behind a number of Tom Waits and Pearl Jam records, as well as The Black Keys’ latest album, "Brothers".
On "Frail to Fearless", in addition to Marotta on drums and her band of longtime friends Scott Tarulli (electric and high strung guitars), John Harrington (acoustic, electric and high strung guitars) and bassist Alison Keslow, Katrin is backed on various tracks by a dream team of Marotta’s fellow band mates, Levin and Dillon, as well as Sebastian, who makes a special guest appearance on the track “Dreams”. The record has a singer-songwriter base, but also a soulfulness that came from her rock, soul and R&B influences. According to Katrin, "I don't consider myself just a singer-songwriter. I always felt a little too edgy for that.''
"Frail to Fearless" is a consummate project with all-original songs gleaned from Katrin's experience (notably about love's ups and downs) and all of it is rendered with the ultimately positive tone that is her calling card. According to Katrin, "I've always tried to maintain a sense of being positive even if it's a negative situation. I never write end-of-the-world type songs. I always try to find the light at the end of the tunnel.''
The new disc spans the evocative ballad "Cobblestones'' (a glimpse back at her busking days in Boston, which she co-wrote with Marotta and features guest vocals by longtime Styx band member and chart topping solo artist Lawrence Gowan, in addition to backing vocals by singer/songwriter and Leonard Cohen collaborator Anjani Thomas); the love song "Breeze'' ("the tide will take us where we need to be,'' she sings); a rearranged version of her powerful anti-war track "Blame''; and a beautiful cover of Led Zeppelin’ “That’s The Way”.
The first track from "Frail to Fearless", “Far Away” is Katrin’s insight on the end of a previous relationship and here are links to check out the song and video:
Click here to download and stream “Far Away”:
http://soundcloud.com/katrin-1122/03-far-away
Here’s a link to the video for “Far Away”, which was directed by Adam Moyer, a director from the top-rated cable show "American Chopper":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-R7eOWCFws&feature=youtu.be
Ever the hard worker, Katrin is poised to reach a new level with "Frail to Fearless" and producer Marotta envisions a bright future ahead. "She is phenomenally talented...I have worked with Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow, but I've never worked before with anyone who could do 10 takes or more on a five-and-a-half minute song and every take is consistently solid. Katrin can do that.'' Enhanced by her steady work ethic, the future will be bright indeed as she continues to develop into an artist with an exceptional ability to connect to live audiences and listeners in a way that few singer-songwriters can.
http://www.KatrinMusic.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katrin-Fan-Page/365790738271
http://www.reverbnation.com/katrin
| Himalayan Bear announces E Coast dates - 3rd album
10/27/2011
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Victoria, BC’s Himalayan Bear aka Ryan Beattie will be celebrating the release of his third album Hard Times, with a series of East Coast performances. On Hard Times Beattie (guitarist for Frog Eyes, Chet), exhibits an indisputable level of ingenuity, a fetish for reverb and a voice that is as delicate as it is potent. The new album was recorded in Victoria, BC Canada primarily at close friend Myke Hall’s basement studio at The Last Resort as well as part at Beattie’s own studio co-produced by Myke and Ryan. Hard Times is being released October 11 on Absolutely Kosher Records. Early press response has been excellent:
…He's been making music since his teens, but it wasn't until his early twenties that Beattie discovered he could sing as mournfully as his heroes. His voice can be low, soothing, and subdued in one moment, only to launch into a howling falsetto in the next.
Although Hard Times often evokes the leisurely tropical repose of the Hawaiian music Beattie enjoys, it also meanders into the shadowy, foreboding wilderness where he resides…France Cappell /Bay Guardian 10/18
I know this one sounds like a downer, but I find beauty in this track from the artist otherwise known as Ryan Beattie. Whitney Matheson/ usatoday.com/communities/popcandy 7/13
Ryan Beattie, the Himalayan Bear, has obviously sprung from the same roots as Buddy Holly, Elvis Costello, Roy Orbison, Billy Burnette, and the twangier side of Lindsay Buckingham. He takes an intensely personal tack in all he does, so there's a decidedly eccentric bent to the old-timey environment he sets up, … There's that kinda Twin Peaksy vibe here, reminiscent while weird and almost creepy (so, yeah, think of Blue Velvet and madman Dennis Hopper as well)… Mark Tucker/AcousticMusic.com 7/22
… Beattie crafts some great sounding songs and atmosphere throughout the record and keeps things interesting from start to finish. Keep an eye out for this one. Adam Bubolz/Reviler.org 10/11
This Bear sounds like a Morrissey who could change the oil on his car. Jake Austen/Rocktober.com 6/25
Hard Times was recorded over the course of a year between Feb 2010 and Feb 2011. The core personnel on most tracks comprised Marek Tyler on drums, Dennis Siemens on double bass, Dan Weisenberger on lap steel, Eric Gallipo on trumpet, Scott Henderson on saxophone and Tolan McNeil on electric bass and lap steel. The Last Resort is the home of pirate-country singer Carolyn Mark and Myke, but it also operates as an informal hub of musical activity in Victoria with local musicians dropping in to hang-out, brainstorm and jam at any time of day or night. As a result, there were plenty of occasions when a friend or colleague was relaxing upstairs who played, say, saxophone. "I think this song needs some loose-cannon sax here." Myke would say and I’d reply, "Scott Henderson's upstairs!! I'll get him." It was a very casual and social environment to record.
Hard Times finds Beattie once again exercising his unbridled ability to take his listeners to an emotional breaking point only to release his lyrical grip and lead them to another region of consciousness through a song by song lineage that is as beautiful as it is merciless. The listener is given full allowance to bear witness to sounds that may resemble the slow jubilation of a lazy tropical contentment or a foreboding acceptance of a hypothermic state where the brain tells a freezing body that everything is just fine. This is the true power of Beattie’s words and arrangements, his merits lie solely in his restraint, wavering on a threshold that can lift the heart one minute only to break it the next, but no matter what the outcome - leaves the listener yearning for more.
Ryan is a Victoria native, having spent his teen years Vancouver before moving back in the late 90’s. He started making records in his parents’ basement as a teenager having completed some 15 recording projects to date. In 2003, he started the critically acclaimed band “Chet” which is currently on hiatus. For the past four years he’s been the guitarist for Frog Eyes, touring extensively with them.
Hard Times marks the third album from Himalayan Bear, following 2005’s Lo Lonesome Island and 2007’s ...Attacks The Brilliant Air. He plans to tour in support of his Himalayan Bear pursuits for the next period of his musical life.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Himalayan-Bear/155690741109397
http://himalayanbear.bandcamp.com/
http://www.myspace.com/himalayanbear
Himalayan Bear Tour Dates
Nov. 26th – Victoria, BC – Lucky Bar +
Nov. 29th – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern +
Nov. 30th – Ottawa, ON – Raw Sugar Cafe +
Dec. 1st – Montreal, QC – Casa del Popolo +
Dec. 2nd – Quebec, QC – Le Cercle +
Dec. 4th – Hamden, CT – The Space +
Dec. 5th – Boston, MA – Church of Boston +
Dec. 6th – Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory * +
Dec. 7th – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s +
Dec. 8th – Arlington, VA – IOTA Club & Cafe +
Dec. 9th – Durham, NC – The Pinhook +
Dec. 10th – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn +
Dec. 11th – Knoxville, TN – Pilot Light +
Dec. 12th – Nashville, TN – The Basement +
Dec. 13th – St Louis, MO – Cicero’s +
Dec. 14th – Chicago, IL – Double Door +
Dec. 15th - Grand Rapids, MI – The Pyramid Scheme +
Dec. 16th - London, ON – Call the Office +
Dec. 17th - Waterloo, ON – Jane Bond Restaurant +
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