Katherine Louella "Katy" Moffatt (born November 19, 1950) is an American musician, lyricist, composer, vocalist. She is the sister of country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Hugh Moffatt

Hugh Moffatt

Hugh Moffatt is an American country singer and songwriter. In the 1970s and 1980s several artists made hits out of his songs. He has also released critically acclaimed albums of his own.-Beginnings:...

.

Midnight Radio

Moffatt became impassioned by music as a child growing up in Fort Worth. She was captivated by Broadway show tunes, the Beatles, and the Motown sound, and has said that she was such an avid listener to Top 40 radio that "I used to come home from school, have dinner, go to bed, and set the alarm for midnight. Then I'd get up and do my homework and listen to the radio. It was my favorite time - I could be alone with the music."

Early Influences

Moffatt points to the influence of the Beatles and the bands of the British Invasion

British Invasion

The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...

 as inspiring her to learn the guitar. She credits Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...

's "Dress Rehearsal Rag" for making her want to perform and says folk singers like Judy Collins

Judy Collins

Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...

, Phil Ochs

Phil Ochs

Philip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...

, and Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....

 were her models. Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

 and the versatile vocalist, Tracy Nelson

Tracy Nelson (singer)

-Youth in Wisconsin:Nelson was born and grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. There she first learned about R&B music from WLAC radio in Nashville. In her teens, Nelson sang folk music in coffeehouses and with a group called The Fuller's Wood Singers and was lead singer in a band called The Fabulous...

 were also important influences.

Early life and career

Moffatt was born in Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

. She left Fort Worth to attend Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

 in New Orleans but ended up studying at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico

St. John's College, U.S.

St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...

. In Sante Fe, she developed a local following performing her songs at the College. Her local fame won her a part as a folk singer in Tom Laughlin

Tom Laughlin

Tom Laughlin is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator and political activist. Laughlin is best known for his series of Billy Jack films. He has been married to Delores Taylor since 1954. Taylor has also co-produced and acted in all four of the Billy Jack films...

's movie, "Billy Jack

Billy Jack

Billy Jack is a 1971 action film. It is the second, and highest grossing, in a series of motion pictures centering on a character of the same name, played by Tom Laughlin who also directed and co-wrote the script. Filming began in Prescott, Arizona, in fall 1969, but the movie was not completed...

." In 1971, this aspiring singer/songwriter moved to Denver, Colorado to find an audience in the growing musical community there. While working a regular cocktail hour gig at a Denver hotel, Moffatt met Mary Flower and Randy Handley and who, along with Lon Ephraim, formed a band called Flower, Handley, and Moffatt. The band developed a following and traveled all over the state performing. Eventually, Moffatt and Flower became a duo and toured on the national coffeehouse circuit.

Moffatt's frequent gigs as a solo performer at Ebbets Field, a prominent Denver music club, opened a door to the mainstream recording industry. From 1975 to 1979, she recorded for Columbia Records; making several singles and two albums, Katy (produced by Billy Sherrill

Billy Sherrill

Billy Sherrill is a record producer and arranger who is most famous for his association with a number of country artists, most notably Tammy Wynette...

) and Kissin' in the California Sun.

On the Road and Recording Career

Coinciding with her recording at Columbia, Moffatt opened for such performers as Charlie Daniels, Warren Zevon, Muddy Waters, and Steve Martin, and she toured with Leo Kottke. She also worked with Willie Nelson and Andrew Gold, appeared with Poco and John Prine, and toured with Jerry Jeff Walker, J.D. Souther and the Allman Brothers. For a brief time in the early 1980s, while waiting out two management contracts, Moffatt was a sought-after and featured touring harmony and duet singer for four prominent acts.

With that music industry experience behind her, she returned to making records including recording several songs for the short-lived Permian record label that were released to country radio and pursued an ever-expansive solo artist's path. She began making records as she wanted them to be made and licensed several gems which became favorites and remain so within her body of work thus far, including "Walkin' On the Moon", "The Greatest Show on Earth" (aka "The Evangeline Hotel"), "Hearts Gone Wild", and "Angel Town".

Like many American singer/songwriters, Katy Moffatt is honored both abroad and in her own country. She regularly tours Europe and the U.K.

Discography

Playin' Fool Strictly Country Records, 2010

Trilogy Floating World/Evangeline, 2009

Fewer Things Zeppelin, 2008

Up Close and Personal Fuel, 2005

Cowboy Girl Shanachie, 2001

Loose Diamond Hightone, 1999

Angel Town HMG, 1998

Midnight Radio Watermelon, 1996

Sleepless Nights (with Kate Brislin) Rounder, 1996

Hearts Gone Wild Watermelon, 1994

The Evangeline Hotel Philo, 1993

Indoor Fireworks Red Moon, 1992

Dance Me Outside (with Hugh Moffatt) Philo, 1992

Child Bride Philo, 1989

Walkin’ on the Moon Philo, 1989

Kissin’ in the California Sun CBS, 1978

Katy CBS, 1976

External links

• Official Website Katy Moffatt: Americana Musician