Cate Le Bon

Cate Le Bon

Le Bon performing at The Arch, Village Underground, London on 23 April 2012
Background information
Birth name Cate Timothy
Born 4 March 1983
Penboyr, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Genres Folk, rock, pop
Occupation(s) Songwriter, musician
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 2007-present
Labels Turnstile
Associated acts Neon Neon, Gruff Rhys, Super Furry Animals, Y Niwl, Richard James, H. Hawkline, Sweet Baboo, The Gentle Good, Manic Street Preachers
Website catelebon.com

Cate Le Bon (born Cate Timothy 4 March 1983 in Penboyr, Carmarthenshire[1][2]) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, now based in Los Angeles. She sings in both English and Welsh.[3]

Le Bon first gained public attention when she supported Gruff Rhys (of the Super Furry Animals) on his 2007 solo UK tour. She has since played Glastonbury, Latitude and the Green Man Festival. Le Bon appeared as a guest vocalist on Neon Neon's 2008 single "I Lust U" from their album Stainless Style. She also performed lead vocals on the track 4 Lonely Roads from the Manic Street Preachers album Rewind the Film, released in September 2013.

Career

Le Bon worked with Funeral for a Friend frontman Matt Davies on his solo album Impressionist Road Map Of The West between December 2005 and August 2006. The album was released in 2007.[4]

Her first official release was a Welsh language EP, Edrych yn Llygaid Ceffyl Benthyg ("Looking in the Eyes of a Borrowed Horse", similar to the English expression "to look a gift horse in the mouth"), on Peski Records in 2008.[5] She also self-released the double A-side debut single "No One Can Drag Me Down / Disappear" (described by Gruff Rhys as “Bobbie Gentry and Nico fight over a Casio keyboard; melody wins!”) on her website. Le Bon worked alongside Gorky's Zygotic Mynci's Megan Childs, who contributed violin, and Super Furry Animals and Thrills collaborator John Thomas, who added pedal steel.[6]

Her debut album, Me Oh My (previously known by the working title Pet Deaths), was released in 2009.

In 2010, Le Bon provided backing vocals on several tracks from The Gentle Good's second album, Tethered for the Storm.

In 2011, Lex Records artist Boom Bip featured Le Bon's voice on the track "Do as I Do" on the Zig Zaj release.

In 2012, Le Bon released the album Cyrk, followed by the Cyrk II EP.

In January 2013, Le Bon moved to Los Angeles to further her career in the US.[7] Her latest album, Mug Museum, released November 2013, was produced by Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick in Los Angeles, and features her partner H. Hawkline on guitar and Sweet Baboo on bass. She also provided guest vocals on the track "Slow Train" from Kevin Morby's debut album Harlem River.

In September and October 2013, Le Bon supported Manic Street Preachers on several of their tour dates.

She was due to host a music festival in August 2014, but it was cancelled.[8]

Style

Le Bon is most singled out by critics for her optimistic lyrical content and her "joyful voice". Le Bon claimed that "early experiences watching Disney cartoons had a profound lasting effect on me" and inform her self-admitted "abnormal fixation with happiness".[9]

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

References

  1. ↑ http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-births-1837-2006?firstname=cate&lastname=timothy
  2. ↑ http://www.endole.co.uk/profile/5817139/cate-timothy
  3. ↑ Sabrina Sweeney (18 August 2014). "Cate Le Bon: Living for the music". BBC News. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  4. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/secret-show/pages/biography.shtml
  5. ↑ "Peski - About Cate Le Bon". Peski Records.
  6. ↑ "Gruff Rhys collaborator readies debut release". NME. 3 April 2007.
  7. ↑ Twitter / CateLeBon: @husharbors moving to LA for
  8. ↑ "Cate Le Bon Mas Mas festival in Cardigan cancelled". BBC News. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  9. ↑ BBC Wales - Music - Cate Le Bon

External links