The Cathryn Beeks Ordeal

Beeks is a boon to local artists: 'The goal should be to help other people, not to get rich'

By George Varga
POP MUSIC CRITIC

November 4, 2007

Having come of musical age in Florida, Ohio and the California high-desert city of Lancaster, where she lived from the age of 12 to 24, Riverside native Cathryn Beeks wasn't nurtured by the San Diego music scene until she moved here in late 1999.



TIM FLACK
Former escrow agent Cathryn Beeks has found far more fertile real estate to nurture in San Diego's talent-rich music scene. She hosts multiple local music showcases here each week, runs the ListenLocalSD Web site and leads the band The Ordeal.
But this tireless singer, songwriter and bandleader has helped nurture our music scene, on and off stage, more than almost any other local artist. Her efforts have helped hundreds of performers, be they obscure, well-known or somewhere in between.

The Web site she created here in 2004, ListenLocalSD.com, is a treasure-trove for (and about) solo artists and bands. Ditto her Listen Local Podcasts, the array of local showcase concerts she hosts weekly, and the annual Band Camp Music Fest (a two-day marathon held at the Mission Bay Boat & Ski Club).

“Cathryn is the cog of the local music scene,” said fellow singer-songwriter Barbara Nesbitt, who moved here two years from Virginia.

“I wish there was a ListenLocal Web site in every town. Cathryn is the reason why I have a band, why I started getting gigs, and why I made an album. She puts people together, musicians with musicians and musicians with venues. That's on top of her unbelievable voice and songwriting.”

MUSICIAN: Singer-songwriter Cathryn Beeks
LATEST ALBUM: “Desert Music” by The Cathryn Beeks Ordeal

NEXT PERFORMANCES: Nov. 15 at The Tiki in Pacific Beach (with the Ordeal); Nov. 18 at Brick By Brick (as part of Acoustic Alliance showcase)

WEB SITES: myspace.com/ cathrynbeeksordeal; ListenLocalSD.com

KEY QUOTE: “I've done all kinds of work in my life, and I've made a lot of money and no money. There's something special about people performing music that inspires me.”



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Cathryn Beeks will be interviewed by George Varga tomorrow from 2 to 3 p.m. on signonsandiego.com/ signonradio/.

Sven-Erik Seaholm, one of San Diego's most prolific indie music album producers, performed for a year here with Beeks in The Gandhi Method. He is also a regular participant in her Acoustic Alliance showcase concert series, which she has staged at Brick By Brick for the past three years.

“For Cathryn, it's all about presenting the songs to the audience, with the least amount of interference,” Seaholm said. “And she gives more people a chance to play in front of an audience in San Diego than anyone else I've known.”

For Beeks, taking care of business means taking care of other artists. She promotes their shows, their recipes (more than 50 were featured in the 2006 cookbook “Listen Local Cooks!”), and their songs (20 unsigned San Diego artists are on the compilation CD that accompanied the cookbook).

When asked, she happily discusses her rootsy rock band, The Cathryn Beeks Ordeal, and its accomplished 2006 album, “Desert Music.” But she seems more happy to cheer on other musicians, in particular budding young artists with few opportunities to perform live.

“For the past three years, I've done nothing but the Listen Local showcases. I had five last week and they were all shows where I promote other artists,” said Beeks, who lives in Spring Valley with her audio engineer boyfriend.

“The shows are free, but musicians know they are promoted really well. A guy in Arizona contacted me about starting a Listen Local in Tempe. I told him the goal should be to help other people, not to get rich.”

Beeks began playing guitar and singing while growing up in Lancaster, a town that once counted a young Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart among its residents. She later played in various cover bands before starting her first all-originals group, JunkQueen, in Cleveland in 1996.

A fan of such disparate artists as Melissa Etheridge, The Judds and Ani DiFranco, Beeks' songs are earthy and eloquent. One of them, “Keep Walking,” was inspired by Breast Cancer 3 Day, an annual fundraising walk that takes place in 12 cities nationally.

Beeks will sing it live Friday morning at 8 on KSON-FM and again that afternoon at the Breast Walkers camp at Crown Point. She'll also perform for the walkers Saturday and Sunday at Sunset View Elementary School in Ocean Beach.

These free gigs are in addition to the Listen Local acoustic showcase Beeks will host tomorrow at downtown's Dublin Square Irish Pub, where she'll also host an open mike night Wednesday. On Friday, she performs as part of a four-act bill at the Mission Bay Boat & Ski Club.

“This is a pretty easy week for me,” Beeks laughed. “Last week was really busy!”

- George Varga, Union Tribune San Diego

"Strong vocals, genuine lyrics, great musicianship: Cathryn Beeks and her “ordeal” create Americana/alt-country music to remind you that decent country songwriters actually still exist. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Shawn Colvin and Neko Case, Beeks’ music sounds skillfully produced and ready for the stage..." - Justin Roberts