KATRINA
BIOGRAPHYThe success of Katrina’s latest single ‘Shame On Me’ has confirmed her status as a rising music star in America. With the single playlisted at stations across the country and reaching #1 on Clear Channel's 'NEW! Artists to Watch' chart, the LA-based singer’s decision to return to music has been justified.
When Katrina was 11 she appeared on the “American Idol” precursor “Star Search,” which was also a launching pad for Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Usher and Justin Timberlake, among other household names. Katrina won in the Junior Vocalist category, having appeared on the show eight times in a row, beating the late R&B star Aaliyah in the process.
With a glittering career ahead of her, she was pursued by record companies. However, Katrina declined their offers. Her success on ‘Star Search’ meant she was recognised everywhere she went, which she found startling. “I just wanted to be a kid,” she recalls.
Katrina spent the following years performing in her school choir, singing backup for friends’ bands and writing her own songs. She then finished college, went to law school, got a Masters in Entertainment and Media Law and did stints in criminal defence and workers’ compensation. Then she went to see Cher...
“I’ve always been a huge fan,” she says. “I went to see Cher in Las Vegas and walked out of that show in tears, saying, “I can’t do this anymore””.
The decision may have been simmering for a decade, but it was made in a flash. “I always knew I’d go back to singing,” says Katrina, who quit her job and spent the following year writing songs on piano, exploring the blues, performing in clubs and learning how to play a ’63 Gibson SG.
After a few false starts, she was introduced to Grammy-winning producer/engineer Val Garay (James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Neil Diamond, Elton John and Kim Carnes) and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Hayes (Bonnie Raitt, Cher, Natalie Cole), who says he was drawn to Katrina by the distinctiveness of her voice, her “incredible” range and her “fearlessness” as a writer. A year after that fruitful first writing collaboration Katrina finished recording her debut album, ‘In the Blink of an Eye’. “It was one year to the day,” she marvels.
The phrase “in the blink of an eye” is from a song on the album called ‘Taken’. “That lyric evokes so many emotions for me, visuals of moments in my life,” Katrina explains. “The songs on this album are like snapshots – click, and those moments are frozen in time. They’re what you remember; they’re what inspire me to write.”
Katrina brought these moments alive for listeners in collaboration with Garay. The creative chemistry between them was clear from the start and forthcoming single, “So Eden,” for instance, was born during their first session together, at Hayes’ studio in San Rafael, California.
“It’s a pop record,” Katrina says of the finished work, “but I’ve always been influenced by rock music, and Val’s work influenced me a long time before I met him. Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Kim Carnes, the Motels, Dramarama – I know all that stuff from the radio. I still hear it all the time. I’ve learned so much from him.”
Of her musical homecoming, Katrina says, “When the time came, I knew it was right and I haven’t looked back. I’m doing what I love most – this was meant to be.”
Katrina’s new single ‘So Eden is released on February 6th 2012, and her debut album ‘In the Blink of an Eye’ is scheduled for release on February 13th 2012 on Red Red Records / Sony RED.
For further information please contact Dave Clarke at:
Tel:+44 (0) 7966 557774 or E-Mail: dave@planetearthpublicity.com
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