Adult Alternative with a rootsy blend of acoustic and electric guitar. Soundscape projects a homespun feel that incorporates a wide range of earthy "acoustic accessories" The focus here is on the songwriting.

13 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, ROCK: Roots Rock



Details:
Jimmy Catlett is a songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist hailing from Richmond, Virginia. After releasing an album and touring the east coast with Dirty Secrets, Jimmy formed DumDums in the late 90's and released 2 records on Black Hole Records. In 2001, he joined up with ex Dirty Secrets members to form Nat King Kong. Nat King Kong performed regionally behind their CD and received national airplay on Billy Zero's XM Satellite Radio show for unsigned artists.

Choosing to focus his energy on a solo career and a new recording project, Jimmy enlisted the aid of producer and drummer Kim Haynie; a former member of Los Angeles-based Wit Lincolns. The pair chose Haynie's former bandmate Kevin Pittman and ex-Cracker member Bob Rupe for production and engineering duties.

After sorting through tracks culled from nearly a dozen CD's of demo material, songs were selected and principal recording began in May 2004. The album is titled Waiting to Fall Off the Earth and is a departure from previous album work that showcased a more electric side. With thirteen tracks in all, listeners are taken down a stripped down highway of rootsy twists and turns. Much of the material was conceived in Jimmy's home recording studio and is lyrically influenced from trips to revisit his ancestral Ireland. There is an additional tip of the hat to longtime influences Neil Young and Elvis Costello.

The soundscape of the album consists of an earthy variety of acoustic instruments (Dobro, Autoharp, Mandolin and Harmonica) that paint intimate tales of relationships and life events. At the same time, this batch offers more eclectic tracks that are colored with sounds of backward guitar tape loops, eBow, and vintage Mellotron keyboard. All of this is built around a common thread of Catlett's 6 &12 string acoustic guitar, slide guitar and personal vocals.

Local newspaper columns have previously focused on Catlett's guitar prowess in earlier work but Waiting to Fall Off the Earth allows him the ability to stretch out and feature his songwriting skills that easily bring to mind comparisons of Freedy Johnston, Peter Case and Jeff Tweedy. The album will be appreciated broadly by peer musicians and has great crossover potential for both adult alternative and progressive Americana radio formats.

The CD is slated for independent release in May of 2005 and will include a local album release concert, in store appearances, and radio/television appearances in Virginia. Jimmy Catlett is an active member of ASCAP and is currently managed by Oakstone Management Inc.