With the distinctly sweet twang in her voice and her usual spirit and spark, Catie shines brighter than ever on this 1999 release, which beautifully displays the emotional sincerity and musical vibrancy of her vocals and songwriting. The 13 tracks travel through a range of stories and sounds with a loose and energetic vibe, as Catie and her band (including a djembe, wurlitzer, and electric mandolin player) improvise and rock out to create a rich and honest recording. Especially singable are Gave Me Love, World Don't Owe Me, and Look At You Now.

A Crash Course in Roses is Catie Curtis' fifth studio album, released on August 3, 1999.

The album contains numerous love songs, with "Magnolia Street"—a song about the realization that one is in love—gaining some radio airplay. While the album did not make the Billboard Music Charts, it was her most successful at that stage.

In addition to the love songs which make up the majority of the album, A Crash Course in Roses also bears two other songs—"What's the Matter, a criticism of her hometown of Saco, Maine for rejecting her when she came out as a lesbian and "Roses, the story of a soldier conscripted into World War I.

Numerous other singer-songwriters appear in supporting roles on the album, including Mary Chapin Carpenter and Melissa Ferrick.

Personnel

*Catie Curtis – Vocals, producer, Wurlitzer, acoustic guitar, piano

*Michael Maxwell – gut string guitar

*Hugh McCracken – harmonica

*Sammy Merendino – tambourine, drum programming

*Jim Robeson – engineer

*Catherine Russell – gut string guitar

*Ben Wisch – producer, engineer, mixing, Wurlitzer

*Tom "T-Bone" Wolk – accordion, sound effects, bass

*Jim Ryan – gut string guitar, mandolin

*Mark Spencer – electric guitar, slide guitar, National steel guitar, acoustic guitar

*Steven Jurgensmeyer – design

*Kenny White – gut string guitar, organ, piano

*Akira Satake – banjo

*Todd Reynolds – violin

*Dawn Buckholz – cello, string arrangements

*Bruce MacFarlane – assistant engineer

*Jana Leon – photography

*Crit Harmon – engineer

*Liz Marshall – gut string guitar

*Kevin Pickering – assistant engineer

*Duke Levine – electric guitar, mandola, omnichord, e-bow, acoustic guitar

*Manolo Badrena – conga, percussion

*Paul Bryan – djembe, shaker, bass pedals, organ, bass, percussion

*Mary Chapin Carpenter – gut string guitar

*Billy Conway – drums, snare drums, percussion

*Melissa Ferrick – gut string guitar

*Ted Jensen – mastering

*Jennifer Kimball – gut string guitar

Category:1999 albums

Category:Catie Curtis albums

Category:Rykodisc albums

This text has been derived from A Crash Course in Roses on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0

Artist/Band Information

Catie Curtis (born 22 May 1965) is an American singer-songwriter. She has recorded 11 albums. Her most recent, Hello, Stranger, was released in 2009.

Career

Curtis was raised in the small city of Saco, Maine. She got her start in music at age 15, when she was hired to play drums for a musical theater production at the amusement park in her hometown. The show’s production manager gave Curtis her first guitar saying, "I will give you this if you promise me you'll learn to play it." Curtis taught herself to play and write songs by listening to her favorite musicians, including "Melanie," Karla Bonoff and Cat Stevens. She later learned about the grassroots folk music scene while attending while attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and started playing on the local coffeehouse circuit while also working as a waitress and social worker. She moved to Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 1990s, after deciding to make a career out of music.

She was promptly was signed to EMI/Guardian Records in 1996 and has gone on to release 8 CDs to date.

Curtis' style is folky but with the rhythmic undercurrent of pop/rock music. Curtis is known for her compelling melodies, relaxed grooves, and subject matter ranging from philosophical to political, romantic to maternal. She performed on the Lilith Fair Tour, and tours now full-time in the US and Europe to a fanbase that has been built over years of returning to the folk clubs and theaters that are the foundation of the acoustic music scene.

Curtis has toured extensively in North America in support of her albums, including playing at several festivals, such as the Newport Folk Festival. She has also supported, among others, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Dar Williams, Girlyman and Bonnie Raitt. She also played on the final Lilith Fair tour.

Her songs have been featured in Alias, Dawson's Creek, Felicity and Chicago Hope, as well as in several independent films. She won the Best Album Award from the Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards for her self-titled 1997 album. In 2005, she and Mark Erelli won the Grand Prize in the International Songwriting Competition for their song People Look Around, a song written in response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

A film documentary on Curtis, entitled Tangled Stories, has been directed by Robert Millis. An interview with her is also featured on his current affairs program, American Microphone.

In 2009, Curtis performed at the HRC Equality Ball in celebration of President Obama’s inauguration, joining performances with Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Etheridge, Rufus Wainwright and Thelma Houston.

Philanthropy

At the age of 15, Catie was given the gift of a used guitar on the premise that she promise to learn to play it. Through this act of generosity and the lesson Catie learned about “paying it forward,” she since has launched the “Aspire to Inspire” guitar initiative to provide continuous, ongoing funding for the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Foundation so that guitars can be given to budding young musicians who can’t afford to buy their own.

Through this initiative, Catie has raised tens of thousands of dollars directly through her fan base, bestowing guitars to many aspiring musicians, as an unexpected gift, to convey the confidence that comes from someone believing in them. By equipping these underprivileged youth with the right tools, it is Catie’s goal that they will learn to make music and find the way to a better life.

Personal life

Curtis has been with her partner Liz for 14 years. The two have two adopted daughters, Lucy and Celia. The family lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

Reviews

“Singer-songwriter Catie Curtis is one of those rare talents: someone who can spin compelling, interesting and engaging music out of domestic happiness...Highly recommended.”

— All Music Guide

“Seventeen caught up with singer/songwriter Catie Curtis, whose songs have been featured on TV shows including Desperate Housewives and Alias, as she gets ready to release her ninth album, Sweet Life. She's also in the midst of the launch of her new charity initiative, "Aspire to Inspire"!”

— Seventeen Magazine

“There's a sophisticated simplicity about Curtis's singing and songwriting that brings to mind Suzanne Vega.”

— Rhythms Magazine (Australia)

“Curtis's songs are beautifully and deceptively well crafted, her production tastefully understated, and her singing so heartbreakingly pure, pained, and devoid of artifice as to suggest she knows not only your secrets, but your soul.”

— Alanna Nash, Amazon.com

“Any fool can write a love-gone wrong song; it takes a real genius to write a love-gone-right one. No urban songwriter does that better than Curtis." - BOSTON GLOBE”

— Scott Alarik, Boston Globe

“With a clear, deceptively gentle voice, she can turn on a dime and thrill the listener with unforeseen power and emotion.”

— RollingStone.com

“Catie Curtis displayed a gift for making simple kindness seem edgy and chic, her gorgeous falsetto leaps embellishing the simplicity of her vocals.”

— Scott Alarik, Boston Globe

“Folk-rock goddess”

— The New Yorker

Discography

* Dandelion (1989)

* From Years to Hours (1991)

* Truth From Lies (1995)

* Catie Curtis (1997)

* A Crash Course In Roses (1999)

* My Shirt Looks Good On You (2001)

* Acoustic Valentine (2003)

* From Years to Hours ... The Early Recordings (2003)

* Dreaming in Romance Languages (2004)

* Long Night Moon (2006)

* Sweet Life (2008)

* Hello, Stranger (2009)

Awards

* 1997 Album of the Year, Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards

* 2006 Grand Prize, International Songwriting Competition

References

This text has been derived from Catie Curtis on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0