Cat Power

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The daughter of divorced parents, Chan (pronounced "Shawn") Marshall was born in Georgia. Her childhood involved much upheaval, with Marshall living throughout the Southern United States (Greensboro, North Carolina; Bartlett, Tennessee; and Georgia and South Carolina,) back and forth between parents. In interviews she has openly discussed her childhood and stated that the constant travelling prepared her for the touring life of a professional musician.

After dropping out of high school, she started performing under the name Cat Power while in Atlanta, backed by musicians Glen Thrasher, Mark Moore, and others. In 1990 She moved to New York City with Glen Thrasher. It was Thrasher who introduced her to New York's Free-jazz and experimental music scene. In particular she cites a concert by the avant-garde jazz composer Anthony Braxton with giving her the confidence to perform in public. Her first New York show was at a warehouse in Brooklyn and she has described her early shows as "more improvisational." [1]. One of her shows during this period was as the support act to Man or Astro-man? and consisted of her playing a two string guitar and singing the word "no" for 15 minutes[2]. Around this time she made the acquaintance of God Is My Co-Pilot, a relationship that resulted in them releasing her first single Headlights in a limited run of 500 copies on their Making of Americans label.

In 1994 she opened for Liz Phair in New York. In attendance were Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Tim Foljahn of Two Dollar Guitar, who encouraged her to record, and played on her first two albums, 1995's Dear Sir and 1996's Myra Lee. Both albums were recorded in New York on the same day in December 1994 and display a lack of conventional song structures possibly influenced by the experimental music that Thrasher had introduced her to. In 1996 She was signed to Matador Records, and released her third album, What Would the Community Think, which spawned a single and music video, "Nude as the News".

Marshall, Circa 1999

Following a three-month tour in late 1996, with the band Guv'ner and in support of the release of What Would the Community Think, Marshall disappeared from the musical scene, initially working as a baby sitter in Portland, Oregon and then moving to a farmhouse in Prosperity, South Carolina with then boyfriend Bill Callahan (who performs under the name Smog). The plan was to permanently retire from music but during a sleepless night resulting from a nightmare, Marshall wrote several new songs. These songs would make up the bulk of Moon Pix. The record was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne in eleven days with backing musicians Mick Turner and Jim White of the Dirty Three. [3] The album was well-received by critics, and gained her recognition in the indie rock scene. However, during subsequent tours Marshall states that she had grown tired of her own material. This resulted in a series of shows during 1999 where Marshall provided musical accompaniment to the silent movie The Passion of Joan of Arc. The shows combined original material and many covers, many of which would later see release on The Covers record, a collection of cover songs recorded at various sessions in 1998 and 1999. A selection of covers that didn't make it on to the album were recorded at Peel Acres, home of the highly influential and legendary British DJ John Peel. The session was broadcast on his BBC Radio 1 show and featured Marshall's own interpretations of Bob Dylan's "Hard Times in New York Town" amongst others.

In 2003 she resumed releasing original material with You Are Free, a diverse and critically applauded album which featured guest musicians such as Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, and the Dirty Three's Warren Ellis. A music video was released for the song "He War" and found moderate exposure on MTV2's Subterranean.

The year 2004 saw the release of the critically polarizing DVD Speaking for Trees, which featured a single, nearly 2-hour static shot of Marshall performing in a woodland, and was accompanied by an audio CD containing the 18-minute song "Willie Deadwilder", featuring M. Ward on guitar. 2005 found Marshall out on the road again, touring the world and playing sold-out solo shows, including an Australian tour supporting Nick Cave. The shows largely consisted of material that would appear on her next album.

Her latest record, The Greatest, was released in January, 2006. This was not a greatest hits Record but rather the Matador Records-arranged collaboration with Al Green's guitarist Teenie Hodges and many other talented musicians. A tour followed in the Fall of 2006, during which she began dating journalist Scott Indrisek.

early in 2006, Marshall announced the cancellation of her upcoming United States Tour, citing "health-related issues". A few days later, Matador announced the cancellation of her two shows in London and Paris. In a interview she revealed that the cancellation was to due to her recent recovery from alcoholism. She resumed touring in April 2006, playing some of the most well received shows of her career both with the Memphis Rhythm band and as a solo performer.

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