Kathy Mattea
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| Kathy Mattea | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kathleen Alice Mattea |
| Born | June 21, 1959 South Charleston, West Virginia, United States |
| Origin | Cross Lanes, West Virginia |
| Genre(s) | country, bluegrass |
| Occupation(s) | singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1983-present |
| Label(s) | Mercury Nashville, MCA Nashville, Narada |
| Website | mattea.com |
Kathy Mattea, full name Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959 in South Charleston, West Virginia), is a female country music and bluegrass performer who often brings celtic sounds to her music, particularly with her release of Love Travels, one of her most critically popular albums.
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[edit] Biography
She was born in South Charleston because it had the nearest hospital to her parents' home in Cross Lanes, where she grew up, graduating from nearby Nitro High School. She discovered her love of singing at Girl Scout camp. In 1976, while attending West Virginia University, she joined the bluegrass band Pennsboro, and two years later dropped out of school to move to Nashville. She worked as a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame, did backup vocal work for Bobby Goldsboro, and sang demos for several Nashville songwriters and publishers including Nashville songwriter/producer Byron Hill who brought her to the attention of Frank Jones (then head of Mercury Records), who signed her to her first record deal in 1983.
Mattea is 25% Scottish and 25% Italian on her Fathers side and of Welsh blood on her mothers side. Mattea's third album, 1986's folky Walk the Way the Wind Blows, proved to be her breakthrough both critically and commercially. Her cover of Nanci Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime" was her first major hit, reaching #3 (and in addition, earned Griffith notice as a songwriter), and the album produced three other top ten songs: "Walk the Way the Wind Blows" (#10), "You're the Power"(#5), and "Train of Memories" (#6). "Love at the Five and Dime" also drew attention because well-known country singer Don Williams sang harmony vocals on the track.
Further hit songs include her first #1, "Goin' Gone"; the truck-driving song "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" (1988); "Come From the Heart" and "Burnin' Old Memories" (both #1 hits in 1989); "She Came From Fort Worth" (1990); "Lonesome Standard Time" (1992); "Walking Away a Winner" (1994); "Nobody's Gonna Rain on Our Parade" (1994); "Maybe She's Human" (1994); and "455 Rocket" (1997). "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" in late May 1988, became the first single by a solo female to spend multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard country singles chart since Dolly Parton's "You're the Only One" in August 1979; both singles were on top of that chart for two weeks.
The heartrending "Where've You Been," which Mattea's husband Jon Vezner co-wrote with singer/songwriter Don Henry, reached #10 on the country chart and won her a 1990 Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal. Mattea is a repeat winner of the County Music Associations Female Vocalist of the Year, which she won on the success of "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" and "Where've You Been."
Mattea won another Grammy in 1993 for her gospel-oriented Christmas album, Good News. Her first single from the album, "Mary, Did You Know?," went on to be covered by Kenny Rogers with Wynonna Judd, as well as Reba McEntire.
Mattea subsequently moved to MCA Nashville[1] and, in 2000, released the ballad-heavy The Innocent Years, a heartfelt tribute to her ailing father. Wanting to explore her taste for Celtic folk, Mattea hopped labels to Narada, for whom she debuted in 2002 with the eclectic Roses.
With her social activism and her taste for songs with introspective lyrics, it has been often said that Mattea owes as much to the traditions of folk music as mainstream country.
Her 2008 release, Coal, combined her social activism with songs about coal-mining. It debuted at #64 on the country albums chart.
Though her recent work has failed to make the country charts, Mattea continued to enjoy a strong following throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s; her albums are critically well-received, and she continues to tour and perform. She continues to have strong support from a very active fan club, whose members refer to themselves as Matteaheads.
[edit] Social activism
In 1991, Mattea took part in Voices That Care, a multi-artist project that featured other top names in music for a one-off single to raise money for the allied troops in the Gulf War. The project included Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers and Randy Travis.
She has also been heavily involved in HIV/AIDS-related charities, beginning in the early 1990s, and is often credited with leading the country music community, commonly regarded as the last segment of the entertainment industry to address the AIDS epidemic, to finally do so.
She performed with Mary Chapin Carpenter on VH1's very first Save The Music concert, which also starred Bette Midler.
Mattea currently travels the country presenting Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and speaking to crowds about the importance of fighting global warming and the environmental and physical devastation of coal mining.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | RIAA | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US 200 | ||||
| 1984 | Kathy Mattea | 42 | - | Mercury | |
| 1985 | From My Heart | 42 | - | ||
| 1986 | Walk the Way the Wind Blows | 13 | - | ||
| 1987 | Untasted Honey | 11 | - | Gold | |
| 1989 | Willow in the Wind | 6 | 82 | Gold | |
| 1990 | A Collection of Hits | 8 | 80 | Platinum | |
| 1991 | Time Passes By | 9 | 72 | Gold | |
| 1992 | Lonesome Standard Time | 41 | 182 | Gold | |
| 1993 | Good News | 51 | - | ||
| 1994 | Walking Away a Winner | 12 | 87 | Gold | |
| 1997 | Love Travels | 15 | 121 | ||
| 2000 | The Innocent Years | 35 | - | MCA | |
| 2002 | Roses | 38 | - | Narada | |
| 2003 | Joy for Christmas Day | 69 | - | ||
| 2005 | Right Out of Nowhere | 73 | - | ||
| 2006 | The Definitive Collection | - | - | Mercury | |
| 2008 | CoalA | 64 | - | Captain Potato | |
- APeaked at #1 on Top Bluegrass Albums.
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | US Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | "Street Talk" | 25 | Kathy Mattea |
| 1984 | "Someone Is Falling In Love" | 26 | |
| "You've Got a Soft Place to Fall" | 44 | ||
| "That's Easy for You to Say" | 50 | ||
| 1985 | "It's Your Reputation Talkin'" | 34 | From My Heart |
| "He Won't Give In" | 22 | ||
| "Heart of the Country" | 46 | ||
| 1986 | "Love at the Five and Dime" | 3 | Walk the Way the Wind Blows |
| "Walk the Way the Wind Blows" | 10 | ||
| 1987 | "You're the Power" | 5 | |
| "Train of Memories" | 6 | ||
| "Goin' Gone" | 1 | Untasted Honey | |
| 1988 | "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" | 1 | |
| "Untold Stories" | 4 | ||
| "Life As We Knew It" | 4 | ||
| 1989 | "Come from the Heart" | 1 | Willow in the Wind |
| "Burnin' Old Memories" | 1 | ||
| "Where've You Been"A | 10 | ||
| 1990 | "She Came From Fort Worth" | 2 | |
| "The Battle Hymn of Love" (w/ Tim O'Brien) | 9 | A Collection of Hits | |
| "A Few Good Things Remain" | 9 | ||
| 1991 | "Time Passes By" | 7 | Time Passes By |
| "Whole Lotta Holes" | 18 | ||
| "Asking Us to Dance" | 27 | ||
| 1992 | "Lonesome Standard Time" | 11 | Lonesome Standard Time |
| "Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)" | 19 | ||
| 1993 | "Seeds" | 50 | |
| "Listen to the Radio" | 64 | ||
| "Mary, Did You Know?"B | Good News | ||
| 1994 | "Walking Away a Winner" | 3 | Walking Away a Winner |
| "Nobody's Gonna Rain On Our Parade" | 13 | ||
| "Maybe She's Human" | 34 | ||
| 1995 | "Clown in Your Rodeo" | 20 | |
| 1997 | "455 Rocket" | 21 | Love Travels |
| "Love Travels" | 39 | ||
| 2000 | "The Trouble with Angels" | 53 | The Innocent Years |
| "BFD" | 63 | ||
| 2002 | "They Are the Roses"B | Roses | |
| 2006 | "Live It"B | Right Out of Nowhere |
- A"Where've You Been" also peaked at #25 on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.
- BFailed to chart.
[edit] References
- Millard, Bob. (1998). "Kathy Mattea". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 329-330.
