You Never Cease To Amaze Me

Cat Power. By far my favorite artist I have ever encountered, I believe she is the most underrated artist of her time. Her distinct voice, along with her entrancing melodies, earn her the number one spot in my book....

"Charlyn Marie Marshall was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 21, 1972. She spent her early childhood moving among Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. She quit high school while living in Atlanta and began performing as Cat Power, and In 1992 she moved to New York City and continued playing with underground rockers, attracting the attention of Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelly. In December 1994, she recorded her first two albums of punk-inspired folk, country and blues songs — Dear Sir, released the following year on Plain Recordings, and Myra Lee, released in 1996 on Shelly's Smells Like label – with indie guitarist Tim Foljahn and Shelly on drums. The larger independent label Matador Records signed Marshall in 1996 and released her third Cat Power album, the critically acclaimed What Would the Community Think, on which she continued referencing country and blues while maintaining her signature slow-burning vocal delivery.
After a three-month tour, Marshall dropped out of the music scene and began working as a babysitter in Portland, Oregon, before moving to a farmhouse in South Carolina ostensibly to retire.Having tired of her own compositions, she began performing cover songs that would appear on her next album, 2000's The Covers Record. Some of the songs that didn't make it on that album — including Bob Dylan's "Hard Times in New York Town" and a much-abbreviated, ethereal version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird"
In 2003, she released You Are Free featuring guest vocals from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl on drums. The following year, she issued an experimental DVD, Speaking for Trees,
In 2005, she hit road again where she began working on songs that would appear on Cat Power's highly acclaimed album of the following year, The Greatest (Number 34), which marked a radical improvement in sound and production. The album featured Memphis guitarist Mabon "Teenie" Hodges and his bass-playing brother Leroy "Flick" Hodges, veterans of Al Green's band. Shortly thereafter, Marshall cancelled her U.S. tour as a result of a nervous breakdown her record label said stemmed from exhaustion and alcohol abuse.
In spring 2006, she resumed touring, alone as well as with the Memphis Rhythm Band. That same year, she put together The Dirty Delta Blues Band with guitarists Judah Bauer (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), Gregg Foreman (The Delta 72) and Erik Paparazzi (Lizard Music), and drummer Jim White (Dirty Three). Jukebox which came out in early-2008 was a sequel to 2000's The Covers Record admirably interpreting songs by the likes of Dylan, Hank Williams and Sinatra. "

~ Rolling Stone Magazine

Personally, I was too young to have followed her career from the beginning. However when I discovered her 3 years ago, I have never stopped listening to her. I've seen her in concert, and it was nothing short of perfection. I keep searching and searching to find someone better than her, but I still can't. I can't even count the number of times I've popped in one of her albums during a drive, or just tuned out for a few hours with my head phones blasting her tunes. She is amazing, and I hope that one day she will be honored for the respect she deserves.