Cat Shell

Cat Shell, Miami Beach resident, has been playing music in South Florida since 2007. Since her start, Cat has progressed from throwback Jazz & Blues to a more grown up sound that mixes R&B, Pop, and Neo-Soul. Her sound is sophisticated but laid-back, sexy but not over the top. For the past year, Cat has been working with keyboardist/producer Mau Quiros on her sophomore album "Illusion" due out this summer. This album includes cameos from some of Miami's best artists in addition to being mixed & mastered by Felipe Tichauer of Red Traxx Studios, whose portfolio includes work with Christina Aguilera, Rod Stewart, and Paulina Rubio to name a few.

Cat Shell plays in Miami on the regular at The Van Dyke Cafe and has also performed at other top venues including The Florida Room, B Bar, The Loews Hotel, and The Stage. She was featured just last week on Miami's Plum TV for her performance at "The Taste of Coral Gables" at the Westin Hotel.

Cat recently recorded her first music video for the album's title track "Illusion" at Miami's well-known B Bar inside the Betsy Hotel. Rodolphe Pierre-Louis of Dynamite Studios is credited for co-producing and directing the video.


For information on local shows, press, and contact, visit www.CatShellMusic.com. To add her on Facebook, visit www.Facebook.com/CatShell.
- Miami Metromix by Dawn Dubriel

The following text is a statement of my acceptance for a compilation album that benefits the victims of Hurricane Katrina. With every purchase, a portion of the proceeds go directly to the Salvation Army.


"We would like to thank you very much for your submission and we wish to advise that you song has been accepted."

We REALLY liked your song. !!!!!!!!!

Regards

Damien Reilly
Hurricane Healing
http://www.hurricanehealing.us

**cut & paste the following link:
http://www.musicane.com/Store/hurricanehealing/ProductView.aspx?ReleaseId=C876F4D3-38F1-4924-8F67-0322A6D8C0B6 - www.hurricanehealing.us

Delray Beach celebrates its 46th annual “Affair” Friday, March
28 through Sunday March 30
over a 10-block area of downtown.
The Delray Affair has a long and storied history, as it began originally as a gladiola festival celebrating the season. Now it’s an all-purpose arts and crafts
festival, with food and drink and live
entertainment on three stages, with additional strolling entertainment.

The Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce estimates 250,000 people flock to the festival, which has become a boon to tourism (It’s a Top 20 event in the Southeastern U.S. and a Top 200 event as voted by Sunshine Artists magazine).

Among the bragging rights are the
“best conch fritters this side of the Bahamas” and “the best festival food you can find.”

The Delray Affair is a prime showcase for South Florida musicians seeking a wider audience. Boca Raton-based singer-songwriter Cat Shell is an example of just such a musician. Cat recently released her first CD, “Cat’s Outta the Bag,” and this is her Delray Affair debut. She’s performing at 2:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Beer Garden at Swinton and Atlantic Avenue.

“It’s tough having a musical career in South Florida,’ she says. “Everything is so spread out. I learned about the Delray
Affair from my friend Jerry Leeman and he encouraged me to apply. I’m looking forward to it.”

Catherine Shell was born in Peoria,
Illinois the daughter of a radio personality. Because of his career, the family moved a lot. Dad is now in Fort Myers, and Cat performs with him when she visits.

“Dad really loves to perform,” she
says. “I feel like I’m doing this for the both of us.”

Cat has a distinctive husky voice that seems out of character with her fair, petite, delicate appearance. “My music is often described as jazz or blues, but it really is neither,” she
says. “I really have eclectic tastes in music, and I use a little bit of everything when I write.”

Other performers are Kristin Cappiello, Jerry Leeman, Steve Minotti, Eclipse, Jason Colanino, Adam Fine, Tommy Winch and more. Admission is free to
the Delray Affair. Call 279-1380, ext. 22 or visit www.delrayaffair.com. - Boca News

Cat Shell, a seductive
songstress from Delray
Beach, FL brings her unique
mix of jazz, blues, and acoustic
soul to the listening ears
of the world. Cat Shell’s music
has aura of familiarity and
radio-friendly artistry. Cat
Shell’s music can be heard and
purchased at the following
sites: www.MySpace.com/
CatShellMusic; www.CDBaby.
com/CatShell; iTunes (search
“Cat Shell”). - Atlantic Ave Magazine

When you first pop in Cat Shell's debut disc, Cat's Outta the Bag, you can't help but notice the retro sound of the lead-off track, "I'm Torn." It's full of simple and subtle guitar work, winsome sax, and the alluring vocal style that Shell is turning into her trademark. While this singer/songwriter calls Boca Raton home, she's got a sound that seems like it was nurtured in the juke joints of Louisiana or Mississippi. With jazz, blues, and folk-style musicianship, the disc is a nice addition to South Florida's music scene and helps give it some well-needed depth. Songs like "Night at Noon" and "After Midnight" take on love and relationships; the latter is the best song here. But this isn't the kind of pillow-talk baby-baby-baby style crooning that's hard to stomach if you're not in love. The songs hit with aplomb and fit most of the scenarios that love will drag you through. Even the tune "Peanut Butter & Jelly," which sounds like an outtake from a G. Love & Special Sauce track, delves into the joy of first connecting with a true love, but it's funny enough to avoid being cheesy. There's more to this disc than just amor, and "Category 5" is one of the bluesiest hurricane odes you'll ever hear. As a whole, Cat's Outta the Bag sounds like it was written strictly on feel and emotion, which isn't as common as it used to be. There's nothing intentionally poppy about it; you can think of the 10 songs on this disc as bedtime lullabies for adults.

- New Time Magazine 4/10/2008 by Jonathan Cunningham

On first encounter, the voice actually sounds ageless, a supple, sensuous caress that quietly croons about romance and longing while evoking the feel of smoky cabarets. It would be easy to identify those vocals with a well-known diva or to imagine they came from a weathered soul who's faced too many disappointments. The music is full of tragic tales, and surely they must trace back to some pain nestled deep within the singer.

As a self-described 20-something, Cat Shell is far too young to be have been stung by the bitter circumstances that afflicted her torch-singing forebears like Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, and Bessie Smith. But she does profess that being frequently uprooted as a child to follow her father's radio career, and the accumulated scars of shattered relationships, continues to resonate in her own singing style. The experiences were, at the very least, enough to infuse her material with a soulfulness both credible and clearly heartfelt. As evidenced by live performances that have taken her from South Beach to Delray, and songs well-documented on her aptly-named debut disc, Cat's Outta the Bag, hers is a supple blend of barroom blues, smooth jazz, and mellow middle-of-the-road pop that reflects ageless musical traditions seemingly out of sync with today's trends and chart status.

"So many people come up to me after our live shows and tell me how refreshing it is to hear something other than your typical top-40 cover band," she confides. "I think if you really are true to who you are, people can see that right away, and I really believe that people still appreciate a genuine artist. To me it's like a big bowl of old-fashioned vanilla ice cream... it never gets old no matter how many times you try it."

Originally from Peoria, Illinois, Shell has lived in Florida off and on since the age of 7, eventually settling in Boca Raton. Her interest in music was spawned early on, thanks to the influence of a music-centric family. Her father was a singer, and both her mother and brother played guitar. Not surprisingly, her parents met while they were sharing the stage in an amateur theater production. "My dad introduced me to the greats early on — Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat Cole, plus a lot of cheesy 1950s pop," she recalls. "My mom was a big Beatles fan, and she used to bring me to those tribute band shows all the time as a kid. She was also into Patsy Cline and a lot of folk music. My older brother got me into a lot of classic '70s music — the Eagles, Doobie Brothers, Bread — but he also introduced me to the world of jazz, stuff like Diana Krall, Miles Davis, and Michael Franks, and I really dug it. As I got older, I really fell into jazz, neo-soul, and blues, stuff like Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, Jill Scott, India Arie, Ray Charles, and John Legend. I really like music that has a lot of soul."

Even so, when asked about her influences, Shell declines to cite specifics, saying instead that her musical fodder is mostly derived from firsthand experience. "The thing about Cat Shell is that she's not just a singer," says Renda Writer, a local poet. "She's an artist. A singer just sings, but an artist has a certain way of looking at life that's a little different — and that's how Cat sees life." That said, the songs contained on Cat's Outta the Bag — all of them originals save a seductive cover of Tom Waits' "Ice Cream Man" and a vintage-sounding remake of the enticing "Dream a Little Dream" — are filled with whimsical reflections unapologetically sexual and suggestive. From the playful duet "Peanut Butter & Jelly," with its references awash in innuendo, to the obvious indulgence of "After Midnight" and "Night at Noon," the emphasis on intimacy becomes a consistent theme. "I guess you'd say I'm a bit on the romantic side," she confesses with a somewhat embarrassed chuckle. "But these songs all come from the same person so it shouldn't be surprising that there's a somewhat similar theme."

Whatever the motivation, Shell's obsession with music proved compelling enough to convince her that she should abandon a health marketing job three years ago and shift her focus to music and modeling. "I was trying to do the nine-to-five thing, and I was miserable," she says. "After going out to open mic auditions and putting myself out there, I realized that people really liked what I was doing."

For the most part, Shell's opted to manage her career on her own, gaining her first national exposure by placing as a top five finalist in the 2006 VH1 Songwriting Contest after submitting "Night At Noon." Mostly, though, she's been focusing on gaining a name on the local club circuit and building a solid base of fans. She's also made her album available online at www.CDBaby.com/CatShell and on iTunes, in addition to setting up her own site on MySpace.

Ultimately though, it's been word of mouth that's served Shell well. Her dazzling good looks haven't hurt either, but it's the mix of music that she and - New Times Magazine 4/10/2008 by Lee Zimmerman

Original Article:
http://southflorida.metromix.com/music/photogallery/rockers-on-the-storm/589864/content?photo=5

"Category 5," by bluesy singer-songwriter Cat Shell, offers a melody that can calm rattled nerves as a storm reaches its peak. In this song, written in response to Hurricane Katrina, Shell sings of a storm she feels in her veins: "It sounds just like a freight train blowing through my windowpane/I scream God's name/But I can't hear my own brain/I'm so alone and I'm so afraid/I'm going insane." By the time she pleads, "Save me, save me, from this hurricane" you know that if there is a God who can hear Shell's angelic yet sultry voice, the singer will be rescued. "Category 5" is featured on Shell's 2007 CD, "Cat's Outta the Bag." Shell has several upcoming shows listed on her Web site, Myspace.com/catshellmusic.

- Colleen Dougher - City Link

Check out Renda Writer's CD review in New Times Magazine:

http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/2006-08-17/music/subtropical.html

It's a very positive review and there's a mention of my vocals too....we did a track together called "Love Games". If you guys want to hear it, buy his album. You can email him at rendawriter@hotmail.com for purchase info.

Thanks for the support!

- New Times Magazine

My song "Night at Noon" was chosen as a top 5 finalist in the VH1 songwriting contest! Check it out at :

http://www.songoftheyear.com/winners/2006/032006.htm



- Songoftheyear.com