Gene Watson Peer's Quote from Katy Moffatt: July 2009
Gene Watson's peers within the country music industry believe in the sheer talent of this unassuming man from east Texas, so much so that Gene is regarded by many of them as 'the singer's singer' - and rightly so!
All of Gene Watson's Peers who were contacted during 2009 were most gracious with their time and words. It is here, within this special part of the Gene Watson Fan Site, that you have an opportunity to read a quote from Katy Moffatt, which she submitted to this site on Thursday 2 July 2009.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to Katy Moffatt who made a special contribution to this unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star Hero'.
Katy Moffatt
This quote was submitted on Thursday 2 July 2009.
'Gene Watson is among a scant handful of truly great vocal artists to come out of country music.
He is the soul of credibility, a consistent selector of terrific songs and a tremendous personal influence for me.
To emulate his delivery is desirable, but impossible, so the best we can do is continue to listen and be amazed'.
Thank you, Katy Moffatt, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Katy Moffatt...
Katy Moffatt saw the release of her debut album 'Katy' (Columbia Records, 1976) on Columbia Records in 1976 and since then has continued to grow and expand her own artistry so effectively that November 2002 saw the reissue of her first two Columbia albums on CD.
In 2008, Katy Moffatt participated, by special invitation, in a star-studded tribute to Les Paul which was presented by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Hers is a career marked by consistent critical acclaim, industry appreciation (a 1985 Academy of Country Music nomination as 'Best New Female Vocalist'), movie appearances ('Billy Jack', 'Hard Country' and 'The Thing Called Love'), songs covered by talents such as Hoyt Axton (Friday 25 March 1938 - Tuesday 26 October 1999) and Janie Fricke, and an album that outsold Garth Brooks on the UK country music charts ('The Greatest Show On Earth' aka 'The Evangeline Hotel', which stayed on those charts for six months).
Katy Moffatt has been learning her lessons well ever since she first became enthralled with music as a child growing up in Fort Worth, Texas where she was born in 1950 - she is the younger sister of singer/songwriter Hugh Moffatt.
Captivated by Broadway show tunes, The Beatles and Motown, she was an avid listener to Top 40 radio and has been quoted as saying '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 favourite time - I could be alone with the music'.
This Katy Moffatt recalls in 'Midnight Radio' (Watermelon Records, 1996), the title song of her lauded, second album for Austin, Texas-based Watermelon Records, which was preceded by the Gavin Americana Chart success 'Hearts Gone Wild' (Watermelon Records, 1994).
By the time she was in high school, Katy Moffatt was absorbing the music of Tom Rush, Judy Collins and Leonard Cohen, whose ‘Dress Rehearsal Rag’ made her want to perform. Later, Tracy Nelson and Ella Fitzgerald, whose version of the Cole Porter gem, ‘Miss Otis Regrets’, would later inspire Katy’s brilliant acoustic adaptation of the song on her album 'Angel Town' (HMG Records, 1998).
These songs became vocal touchstones for Katy, who recalled that as soon as she started performing, she knew this was what she wanted to do. But there weren’t many places for a young girl like her to perform. Early gigs included a small Fort Worth coffeehouse, an old folks home (where her audience included Willie Nelson’s grandmother) and a Neiman-Marcus fashion show with a then-trendy folk music theme.
During her college years in Santa Fe, Katy Moffatt fronted blues and jug-band groups, starred in her one and only musical ('The Fantastiks') and was cast as a folksinger in 'Billy Jack'. After college, she spent time in Austin opening shows for the likes of Jerry Jeff Walker and Willis Alan Ramsey before landing in Denver, where she was eventually discovered by Columbia Records in 1975, a label that issued two country-rock albums, 'Katy' (Columbia Records, 1976), which was produced by Billy Sherrill, and 'Kissin' In The California Sun' (Columbia Records, 1978), the latter of which featured members of The Allman Brothers.
Neither release broke Katy Moffatt commercially, so she made ends meet as a backup singer, working with the likes of Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, Poco, John Prine, Tanya Tucker and Lynn Anderson, among others.
Katy Moffatt moved to California in 1979 and found herself within a burgeoning community of like-minded country rockers and, after recording another unreleased album (whose three single releases earned her the ACM nomination), she appeared on the groundbreaking 'A Town South Of Bakersfield' compilation amid kindred spirits such as Dwight Yoakum and Rosie Flores.
Three new film offers had her cast as a singing performer in 'Hard Country' (with Michael Martin Murphey), 'Honeymoon In Vegas' and the Peter Bogdanovitch-directed 'The Thing Called Love'.
Sessions with Steve Berlin of Los Lobos yielded the album 'Child Bride' (Philo Records, 1989), whose European release spurred Katy's growing popularity on the continent.
After meeting Tom Russell and his guitar-playing sidekick Andrew Hardin at the Kerrville Music Festival in Texas in 1986, Katy Moffatt began an ongoing song-writing relationship with Tom Russell, and recorded 'Walking On The Moon' (Philo/Rounder Records, 1989) with Hardin; Rounder Records followed it with the US issue of 'Child Bride' in 1990.
'Walking On The Moon' (Philo/Rounder Records, 1989) includes three songs co-written by Katy with Tom Russell, namely the title track, 'If Anything Comes To Mind' and 'I'll Take The Blame'.
Janie Fricke recorded Katy Moffatt's 'Walking On The Moon' (co-written with Tom Russell) and included the track on 'Saddle The Wind' (Columbia Records, 1988).
Katy Moffatt saw the release of 'The Greatest Show On Earth' (Philo Records, 1993), the release of which prompted legal action by the Ringling Brothers circus, predicating a name change to 'The Evangeline Hotel' (Philo Records, 1993), but by then Katy Moffatt had reclaimed her place as one of America’s most honest and affecting singer-songwriters.
'The Evangeline Hotel' had previously been included on Tom Russell's 'Hurricane Hotel' (Philo Records, 1991).
In 1992, Katy Moffatt saw the release of the highly acclaimed 'Dance Me Outside' (Philo Records, 1992), a duets project with her brother, the extraordinarily talented Hugh Moffatt; while on the subject of highly acclaimed album releases, attention must be drawn to Hugh Moffatt's 'Loving You' (Rounder Records, 1989).
Katy Moffatt contributed her distinctive vocals to 'I Can't Be Myself', a track included on 'Tulare Dust' (Hightone Records, 1994), the acclaimed songwriters’ tribute to the legendary country music icon Merle Haggard.
Merle Haggard wrote and recorded 'I Can't Be Myself' and included the track on 'Hag' (Capitol Records, 1971); when released as a single, 'I Can't Be Myself' reached No.3 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1971.
Further Katy Moffatt album releases included 'Sleepless Nights' (Rounder Records, 1996) and 'Angel Town' (HMG Records, 1998).
With the release of 'Loose Diamond' (Hightone Records, 1999), Katy Moffatt teamed up with her label-mate and Grammy award-winning Dave Alvin as her producer for the first time.
'Cowboy Girl' (Shanachie Records, 2001) was a collection of traditional, and traditional-style, western songs and was issued in 2001.
After some thirty years of solo performances from New York to Vancouver, from London to the Blue Mountains of Australia, Katy Moffatt delivered her first live solo offering; 'Up Close And Personal' (Fuel Records, 2005) was yet another very special collection of music.
'Fewer Things' (Zeppelin Records, 2008) was the third addition to the luminous canon of unique acoustic collaborations between Katy Moffatt and Andrew Hardin which, following the revered 'Walking On The Moon' (Philo/Rounder Records, 1989) and 'Angel Town' (HMG Records, 1998).
Produced by Hardin, 'Fewer Things' was a collection of eleven songs; there were five originals, two of which were written by Katy Moffatt and Tom Russell. Other gems from favoured writers included previously undiscovered songs from John Hiatt, Pat McLaughlin and Jeff Rymes (of The Lonesome Strangers), as well as muscular contributions by Stephen Bruton and Nick Lowe.
Visit Katy Moffatt's Official Site