Cate Le Bon

Cate Le Bon

Le Bon performing at The Arch, Village Underground, London on 23 April 2012
Background information
Birth name Cate Timothy
Born (1983-03-04) 4 March 1983
Penboyr, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Genres Folk, rock, pop
Occupation(s) Songwriter, musician
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 2007–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website catelebon.com

Cate Le Bon (born Cate Timothy on 4 March 1983[1]) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, now based in Los Angeles. She sings in both English and Welsh.[2]

Career

Le Bon was born in Penboyr, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and first gained public attention when she supported Gruff Rhys (of the Super Furry Animals) on his 2007 solo UK tour. She appeared as a guest vocalist on Neon Neon's 2008 single "I Lust U" from their album Stainless Style. Under her original name she provided backing vocals on Richard James's debut solo album The Seven Sleepers Den in 2006. She also appeared on his second solo album, We Went Riding, from 2010.

Le Bon worked with Funeral for a Friend frontman Matt Davies on his solo album Impressionist Road Map of The West between December 2005 and August 2006. The album was released in 2007.[3]

Her first official release was a Welsh language EP, Edrych yn Llygaid Ceffyl Benthyg ("Looking in the Eyes of a Borrowed Horse", similar to the English expression "to look a gift horse in the mouth"), on Peski Records in 2008.[4] She also self-released the double A-side debut single "No One Can Drag Me Down" / "Disappear" (described by Gruff Rhys as “Bobbie Gentry and Nico fight over a Casio keyboard; melody wins!”) on her website. Le Bon worked alongside Gorky's Zygotic Mynci's Megan Childs, who contributed violin, and Super Furry Animals and Thrills collaborator John Thomas, who added pedal steel.[5]

Her debut album, Me Oh My (previously known by the working title Pet Deaths), was released in 2009.

In 2010, Le Bon provided backing vocals on several tracks from The Gentle Good's second album, Tethered for the Storm. She also collaborated with Race Horses lead singer Meilyr Jones on the project Yoke.[6] In 2011, Lex Records artist Boom Bip featured Le Bon's voice on the track "Do as I Do" on the Zig Zaj release.

In 2012, Le Bon released the album Cyrk, followed by the Cyrk II EP.

In January 2013, Le Bon moved to Los Angeles to further her career in the US.[7] Her latest album, Mug Museum, released November 2013, was produced by Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick in Los Angeles, and features her then partner H. Hawkline on guitar and Sweet Baboo on bass. She provided guest vocals on the track "Slow Train" from Kevin Morby's debut album Harlem River and on the track "Coming Through" which appears on the album Nobody Knows. by Willis Earl Beal.

In September and October 2013, Le Bon supported Manic Street Preachers on several of their UK tour dates. She performed lead vocals on the track "4 Lonely Roads" from their album Rewind the Film, released in September 2013.

She was due to host a music festival in Cardigan, Wales in August 2014, but it was cancelled due to licensing issues.[8]

In 2015, Le Bon and Tim Presley announced a debut album named Hermits on Holiday for their new collaboration, DRINKS. It was released in August 2015.[9]

Le Bon released her fourth studio album, Crab Day, on 15 April 2016 on Drag City to critical acclaim. The album was produced by Josiah Steinbrick and Noah Georgeson and recorded at Panoramic House, a hilltop mansion in the coastal town of Stinson Beach, California.[10]

Style

Le Bon is singled out by critics for her "beautiful, haunting voice". Le Bon claimed that "early experiences with a string of pet deaths had a profound lasting effect on me" and informed her initial self-admitted "abnormal fixation with death".[11]

Solo discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

References

  1. ↑ "Cate Timothy Director Profile". Endole. 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  2. ↑ Sabrina Sweeney (18 August 2014). "Cate Le Bon: Living for the music". BBC News. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "BBC Wales - Music - The Secret Show - Biography". Bbc.co.uk. 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  4. ↑ "Peski - About Cate Le Bon". Peski Records.
  5. ↑ "Gruff Rhys collaborator readies debut release". NME. 3 April 2007.
  6. ↑ "Yoke. Cate Le Bon & Mei Race Horses on Vimeo". Vimeo.com. 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  7. ↑ "Cate Le Bon on Twitter: "@husharbors moving to LA for a wee while at the end of Jan! blwyddyn newydd dda! X"". Twitter.com. 2013-01-04. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  8. ↑ "Cate Le Bon Mas Mas festival in Cardigan cancelled". BBC News. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  9. ↑ Bob Boilen (18 May 2015). "Song Premiere: DRINKS, 'Hermits on Holiday'". NPR.
  10. ↑ Mejia, Paula (2016-04-16). "'The World Is Absolute Nonsense': The Cosmic Quest Of Cate Le Bon". NPR Music. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  11. ↑ Archived December 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

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