Cat Power Officially Hits the Masses

Was it really 11 summers ago... ?!

Summer of 1996. About 20 of us sat in the hidden basement of the old Tokyo Rose, the now-defunct but forever legendary Charlottesville sushi restaurant-stroke-indie-hipster dive, watching Chan Marshall with her back to us, nervously strumming on her guitar and avoiding eye contact with the already enamored crowd. Sounding like a goddess. Wearing a Hanes T-shirt and Chucks.

Her voice was nothing short of mesmerizing. When I began to intern at Matador Records a year later, I'd occasionally see her out at gigs in NYC and through friends of friends, especially the Louisville, KY crowd. She always felt more like "one of us" than "one of them".

In the spring of 2003, her album You Are Free became the soundtrack of that era in my life, a season full of marathon, 8-hour long Saturday printmaking and lithography sessions, surfing in Brazil and the momentous decision to leave McKinsey and return to U.Va. after five long years.

The two most recent shows I saw her play were in London, June 2006 at the Barbican and again in November at the Roundhouse. JBD was there both times, and they must have been memorable in some way, as he now lists her among his favorites on Facebook...

So, I just had to smile when I saw this headline on BBC news a few minutes ago: Singer Power Wins US Music Prize.

I guess all I can say is it's about time.