I'm sitting at MaryAnn's house with time on my hands, so I decided to finally get around to writing about the no. 2 singer on my top 10 list. I've got pictures from our visit with MaryAnn and family and will give a report upon our arrival home. I first became aware of Kathy Mattea while car pooling with a country music nut in the early 90’s. My first impression wasn’t much but then I heard her song “Time Passes By” and liked it so well I decided to by the cassette of the same name. I was totally surprised by the rest of the album. With the exception of “A Whole Lot of Holes” it was unlike anything I’d associated with country music. It has a much stronger folk sensibility to it than I’d expected. In short, I was sold. I drove my family nuts by playing along on my guitar to her version of “From a Distance”. Shortly thereafter I went into a musical funk and didn’t listen to much of anything but oldies rock on the radio. Fast forward to the early 2000’s. I don’t remember the exact year, but it was when I finally awoke to the world of cds and I installed a player in my newly acquired Saturn. I started checking out cds from the library as well as purchasing some here and there. I got my hands on everything the library had of Kathy’s and was delighted to learn that she was still active and making great music. Her latest album at that time was “The Innocent Years”. I loved it but was surprised to learn it didn’t sell well and was the end of the line for her with Mercury. I also learned that one of the librarians at Orem Public Library happened to be Kathy’s fan club president. Her name is Sue Phelps. Through her acquaintance I became very informed of Kathy’s work and the fine person she is. I’ve since acquired the majority of her cds and have attended a number of her performances, meeting her personally 3 different times. She really is a class act. To fully appreciate her you must attend a live performance. She is a totally complete performer connecting well with the audience and her band is awesome. She definitely deserves a high spot in my top ten!
Here are some photos from our trip to MaryAnn's home in Las Vegas. The out door pictures are at Red Spring on the back of Red Rocks. We picnicked and "hiked" there. The shopping shots are from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. As you can see, we had a great time!
