Kat Edmonson

Kat Edmonson

Kat Edmonson signing CDs in Freiburg, Germany, November 17, 2013
Background information
Birth name Katherine Edmonson
Born August 3, 1983
Origin Houston, Texas, USA
Genres vintage pop, traditional pop, easy listening, jazz, lounge music, baroque pop, bossa nova
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter
Years active 2002–present
Labels Convivium, Spinnerette Records, Sony Masterworks
Website www.katedmonson.com

Katherine "Kat" Edmonson (born August 3, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter who moved first to Austin, Texas, then Brooklyn, New York.[1]

Early life

Edmonson grew up as an only child with a single mother in Houston, Texas. Her mother introduced her with records, films and musicals to the Great American Songbook,[2] the classics of American popular music from the 1920s to the 1950s. Kat Edmonson wrote her first song at the age of nine.[3]

Musical career

In 2002 Edmonson auditioned for the second season of American Idol and made it into the group of 48 invited to Hollywood.[4] Subsequently she moved to Austin, Texas and decided to become a professional musician.[5] After years as a singer in the local club scene she released her debut album Take to the Sky in 2009, composed of creative interpretations of standards and pop hits. Take to the Sky reached the top 20 of the Billboard jazz charts.[2]

Edmonson sang a duet with Lyle Lovett on the classic "Baby, It's Cold Outside", featured on his 2012 album, Release Me. Touring with Lovett led to a joint appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[2] Lovett also performed the duet "Long Way Home" on her second studio album, Way Down Low.

Way Down Low, consisting mostly of original work, came out in 2012, funded by a Kickstarter campaign.[6] Way Down Low received warm critical reception from the New York Times[7] and NPR[3] and reached #1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and on the iTunes singer-songwriter and jazz charts. She appeared on Austin City Limits, A Prairie Home Companion and had her songs featured on several television shows and commercials. Her song "Lucky" is featured twice in the Tina Fey and Paul Rudd film Admission, appearing as the end-credit song. She coined the term "vintage pop" to describe the type of music she makes and defined it as being reminiscent of popular music from bygone eras.[8]

In the spring of 2013, Edmonson made her first U.S. tour with 11 concerts as a headliner. The following summer she played several festivals in Europe, including the Montreux Jazz Festival. As the opening act for Jamie Cullum she toured the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Spain and France in the fall of 2013. She has also toured with Michael Kiwanuka, Chris Isaak and Gary Clark, Jr..

Her third album The Big Picture was released on September 30, 2014 through Sony Masterworks. The Big Picture builds upon her previous works, but offers even more of her writing (she wrote or co-wrote 11 of 12 songs on the album).[9] Like her second album, it reached #1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart.[10]

Discography

Kat Edmonson
(Aarhus Jazz Festival in Denmark 2013)
Photo Hreinn Gudlaugsson

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ Martin Chilton: Kat Edmonson kickstarts her own success, The Telegraph, July 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Justin Eshak: IMDb Mini Biography.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Kat Edmonson 'Just Wasn't Made For These Times'", NPR, April 17, 2012.
  4. ↑ JamBase: Kat Edmonson Bio
  5. ↑ Adam Schragin: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, The Austin Chronicle, April 6, 2012.
  6. ↑ Adam Schragin: Kickstart My Heart, The Austin Chronicle, February 24, 2012.
  7. ↑ Jon Caramanica and Nate Chinen. "Future, SWV and Kat Edmonson Release New Albums", The New York Times, April 16, 2012.
  8. ↑ Victoriah Szirmai: Popular music from bygone eras, Kat Edmonson im Klangverführer-Interview, July 9, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Kat Edmonson: 'I Hear Myself As An Instrument'". National Public Radio. September 27, 2014.
  10. ↑ Billboard Heatseekers Charts

External links