Kat Edmonson

Image:Kat-Edmonson.jpg, Denmark, 2013)]]

Born and raised in Houston, Edmonson is the only child of a single mother who enjoyed songs from the Great American Songbook and traditional pop from the 1940s and '50s. She wrote her first song at age nine while riding the school bus. In 2002, after a year at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, she moved to Austin, Texas, to pursue a music career.{{cite news |last1=Santiago |first1=Jon |date=May 28, 2014 |title=Jazz singer Kat Edmonson's time-traveling voice sounds like it comes from another era |url=https://charlestoncitypaper.com/2014/05/28/jazz-singer-kat-edmonsons-time-traveling-voice-sounds-like-it-comes-from-another-era/|website=Charlestoncitypaper.com |access-date=11 July 2016}}

In 2002 Edmonson auditioned for the second season of American Idol and was one of the Top 48 contestants invited to Hollywood.{{cite web |last1=Sterling|first1=Todd|title=Kat Edmonson| url = http://www.allmusic.com/artist/kat-edmonson-mn0001735756/biography|website=AllMusic|access-date=6 May 2017}} She returned to Austin from Los Angeles and spent several years as a regular in the Austin club scene.{{cite web|last1=Schragin|first1=Adam|title=I Just Wasn't Made for These Times |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2012-04-06/i-just-wasnt-made-for-these-times/|website=Austin Chronicle|access-date=6 May 2017|date=6 April 2012}} She worked briefly in real estate but quit her day job in 2005 making the decision to pursue music full time.{{cite web|last1=Sheridan|first1=Brian|title=Kat Edmonson's New World of Vintage Pop |url=https://syncopatedtimes.com/kat-edmonsons-new-world-of-vintage-pop/|website=The Syncopated Times|access-date=10 November 2019|date=1 December 2018}}

In March 2009, her self-released debut album, Take to the Sky, reached the Top 20 on the Billboard magazine jazz chart.{{cite web|last1=Farber|first1=Jim|title=Kat Edmonson: Cartoonish singer creates serious sound|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/kat-edmonson-cartoonish-singer-creates-serious-sound-article-1.2129032|website=NY Daily News|access-date=6 May 2017|language=en|date=27 February 2015}} Way Down Low was released in 2012 following a successful Kickstarter campaign{{cite web|last1=Schragin|first1=Adam|title=Kickstart My Heart|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2012-02-24/kickstart-my-heart/all/|website=Austin Chronicle|access-date=6 May 2017|date=24 February 2012}} and received a warm critical reception from The New York Times{{cite web|last1=Caramanica|first1=Jon|last2=Chinen|first2=Nate|title=Future, SWV and Kat Edmonson Release New Albums|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/arts/music/future-swv-and-kat-edmonson-release-new-albums.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=6 May 2017|date=16 April 2012}} and NPR,{{cite web|title=Kat Edmonson 'Just Wasn't Made For These Times'|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/04/17/150805662/kat-edmonson-just-wasnt-made-for-these-times|website=Npr.org|access-date=6 May 2017|date=17 April 2012}} reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.{{cite web|title=Featured Artist of the Week: Kat Edmonson|url=https://weru.org/featured-artist/featured-artist-week-kat-edmonson|website=Weru.org|access-date=6 May 2017|date=27 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818231952/https://weru.org/featured-artist/featured-artist-week-kat-edmonson|archive-date=August 18, 2016|url-status=dead}} Her third album, The Big Picture, was released on September 30, 2014, by Sony Masterworks. Like her second album, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.{{cite magazine|title=Billboard|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/heatseekers-albums/2014-10-18|magazine=Billboard}}

She was the main act at the Taichung Jazz Festival in Taiwan,{{cite web|title=Bandsintown|url=http://www.bandsintown.com/event/3935971-kat-edmonson-taichung-county-taichung-jazz-festival-2010?artist=Kat+Edmonson|access-date=July 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808153230/http://www.bandsintown.com/event/3935971-kat-edmonson-taichung-county-taichung-jazz-festival-2010?artist=Kat+Edmonson|archive-date=August 8, 2016|url-status=dead}} at Tanglewood,{{cite news|last1=Greenlee|first1=Steve|title=Kat Edmonson brings fresh face, and voice, to Tanglewood jazz fest|url = http://archive.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/08/30/kat_edmonson_brings_fresh_face_and_voice_to_tanglewood_jazz_fest/ | newspaper=Boston.com |access-date=6 May 2017|language=en|date=30 August 2009}} and at the New York City Jazz Festival.{{cite web|title=Symphony Space|url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/-Symphony-Space-Present-Performances-For-CareFusion-Jazz-Festival-NY-61825-20100617|website=Broadwayworld.com}}

In 2010, she was invited by Lyle Lovett to be the opening act for his U.S. summer tour. In December 2010 he invited her to perform "Baby, It's Cold Outside" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Their version of the song was released on Lovett's 2012 album, Release Me.{{cite web|last1=Gleason|first1=Holly|title=Lyle Lovett: Release Me|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/02/lyle-lovett-release-me.html|website=Paste Magazine|date=February 27, 2012|access-date=11 July 2016}} They collaborated on Edmonson's song "Long Way Home" on her second studio album, Way Down Low.{{cite magazine|last1=Anderson|first1=Kyle|title=Lyle Lovett duets with Kat Edmonson on her 'Long Way Home' | url = http://www.ew.com/article/2012/03/26/kat-edmonson-lyle-lovett-long-way-home-exclusive|magazine = Entertainment Weekly | access-date=11 July 2016}}

In 2012, Edmonson appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk concert series,{{cite web|last1=Boilen|first1=Bob|title=Kat Edmonson: Tiny Desk Concert|url=https://www.npr.org/event/music/162108002/kat-edmonson-tiny-desk-concert|website=NPR.org|access-date=6 May 2017|date=1 October 2012}} Austin City Limits,{{cite web|title=Kat Edmonson|url=http://acltv.com/artist/kat-edmonson/|website=Austin City Limits|date=July 11, 2012|access-date=11 July 2016}} and in 2013, A Prairie Home Companion.{{cite web|title=Show #1389|url=http://prairiehome.org/shows/april-20-2013/|website=A Prairie Home Companion|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817042655/http://prairiehome.org/shows/april-20-2013/|archive-date=August 17, 2016|url-status=dead}} She returned to A Prairie Home Companion in November 2014, reprising the character Cat Mandu that Garrison Keilor wrote for her for the show's regular skit, "Guy Noir, Private Eye."{{cite web|title=Show #1473 - All the Way|url=http://prairiehome.org/shows/november-22-2014/|website=A Prairie Home Companion|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817033412/http://prairiehome.org/shows/november-22-2014/|archive-date=August 17, 2016|url-status=dead}}

In the spring of 2013, she embarked on her first U.S. tour.{{cite web|last1=Hayden|first1=Jess|title=Changing Her Tune: A new sound, a new city for singer Kat Edmonson|url=https://theburgnews.com/culture/changing-tune-sound-city-singer-kat-edmonson|website=The Burg|date=January 30, 2015|access-date=11 July 2016}} The following summer she played the Montreux Jazz Festival.{{cite web|title=Kat Edmonson|url=http://www.montreuxjazz.com/kat-edmonson|website=Montreux Jazz}} As the opening act for Jamie Cullum in 2013, she toured France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK. She has also toured with Michael Kiwanuka, Chris Isaak, and Gary Clark Jr.{{cite web|title= Chris Isaak & Gary Clark Jr. Join Kat Edmonson On Tour|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Chris-Isaak-Gary-Clark-Jr-Join-Kat-Edmonson-On-Tour-20121107|website=Broadwayworld.com|access-date=16 August 2016}}

On 20 March 2024 she performed the Sinéad O'Connor song, In This Heart at a tribute concert for O'Connor and Shane MacGowan at Carnegie Hall.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/cat-power-glen-hansard-more-covered-sinead-oconnor-shane-macgowan-at-rehearsal-for-carnegie-hall-benefit-pics-video/|title=Cat Power, Glen Hansard & more covered Sinéad O'Connor & Shane MacGowan at rehearsal for Carnegie Hall benefit (pics, video)|website=Brooklynvegan.com|access-date=August 3, 2024}}

In 2015, Edmonson appeared on one of the final episodes of the Late Show with David Letterman with the band Asleep at the Wheel. She performed "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" to promote the album Still the King, a tribute to Bob Wills.{{cite web|title=Kat Edmonson on David Letterman's The Late Show|url=http://music.blog.austin360.com/2015/04/14/watch-asleep-at-the-wheel-with-kat-edmonson-on-david-lettermans-show|website=Austin 360}}

In Angels Sing (2013), she appeared as herself and sings "Christmas Time Is Here" with Lyle Lovett.{{cite web|title=The New Holiday Movie "Angels Sing"|url=http://www.angelssingmovie.com/willie-nelson-lyle-lovett-marcia-ball-kat-edmonson-partridge-pear-tree-new-holiday-movie-angels-sing/?cbg_tz=240#.V37AE5MrKqk|website=Angels Sing|access-date=July 11, 2016|archive-date=March 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306211227/http://www.angelssingmovie.com/willie-nelson-lyle-lovett-marcia-ball-kat-edmonson-partridge-pear-tree-new-holiday-movie-angels-sing/?cbg_tz=240#.V37AE5MrKqk|url-status=dead}} In Café Society (2016), directed by Woody Allen, she played the Les Tropiques Night Club singer, performing "Mountain Greenery" and "Jeepers Creepers".

Her song "Lucky" was used twice in the movie Admission and over the credits in the Coca-Cola Footprints commercial for the 2014 Winter Olympics,{{cite web |last1=Sciarretto |first1=Amy|title=What's The Song?|url=http://popcrush.com/2014-coca-cola-coke-footprints-commercial-whats-the-song/|website=Pop Crush|date=February 11, 2014 }} while her song "If" was featured in the first episode of the Netflix show Russian Doll. Her song "Dark Cloud" was used in the opening sequence of the movie Closure.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7385812/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd|title=Closure (2018) - IMDb|website=IMDb }}

• Abe Olman Scholarship Award for Excellence in Songwriting, Songwriters Hall of Fame, 2013{{cite web|title=Kat Edmonson, Tyler Lyle and Ben Howard to be Honored by Songwriters Hall of Fame|url=http://www.ascap.com/playback/2013/06/faces-places/pop-rock/songwriters-hall-of-fame.aspx|website=ASCAP}}

• Take to the Sky (Convivium, 2009)
• Way Down Low (Sony Masterworks/Okeh, 2012)
• The Big Picture (Sony Masterworks, 2014)
• Old Fashioned Gal (Spinnerette, 2018)
• Dreamers Do (Spinnerette, 2020)
• Holiday Swingin'! A Kat Edmonson Christmas Vol. 1 (2021)

With Lyle Lovett

• Songs for the Season (2011)
• Release Me (2012)

With others

• Asleep at the Wheel, Still the King (2015)
• Walter Martin, We're All Young Together (2014)
• Miles Zuniga, These Ghosts Have Bones (2011)

• Angels Sing, 2013 (guest appearance)
• Café Society, 2016
• Closure, 2018

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.katedmonson.com/ Official website]
• [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kat-edmonson/kat-edmonson-music-_b_1517568.html "Campari and Conversation"], Huffington Post

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Category:1983 births

Category:Living people

Category:American Idol participants

Category:American women singer-songwriters

Category:American women jazz singers

Category:American jazz singers

Category:Singers from Austin, Texas

Category:Singers from Houston

Category:Singer-songwriters from Texas

Category:21st-century American singer-songwriters

Category:21st-century American women singers

Category:Jazz musicians from Houston

Category:Jazz musicians from Texas