Indie Music Women’s Artist of the Day is…
Cat Calabrese (@catcalabresemusic)
Hailing from Cleveland, Cat Calabrese is the former lead vocalist for the band, Rule of Young. From 2019 – 2020, they released 5 singles and amassed over 130K streams on Spotify. The band played many of the major venues in Cleveland and was greeted with rave reviews on their singles, “Surrender” and “Lie Better”, both co-written by Cat. Now a solo artist, Cat is stepping into her own musical spotlight and is cultivating a pop sound that represents herself not only as a singer and songwriter but as a woman ready to tell her own story in her own words.
As part of her musical reintroduction, she teamed up with producers and fellow Clevelanders, Wavy Duder (co-producer of Machine Gun Kelly’s 2020 hit, “In These Walls”) and DJ London Bridges to create “Quicksand”, which debuted on March 5, 2021. The song was met with enthusiastic reviews and its backstory even landed Cat a feature on The Kelly Clarkson Show. She and Bridges have quickly become a team and are continuing to collaborate on her upcoming releases. Through Bridges’ innovation, she is able to separate herself from the indie/alternative sound that her band was known for, and develop the pop sound she always aspired to create: songs full of memorable hooks and driving bass lines coupled with lyrical storytelling.
Cat also continues to work with her band’s former producer, Jim Wirt. Jim is a 15x platinum and Emmy award-winning producer who is best known for producing artists such as Incubus, No Doubt, Fiona Apple, and Jack’s Mannequin.
Cat plans to release a new single every 7 to 8 weeks for the foreseeable future. She is continuing to write and work on new music daily, all the while balancing her full-time career in accounting.
On the heels of her March debut comes Cat’s second single, Scared of Me, written by Cat and produced by DJ London Bridges, L8niteSasuke, and 15x platinum and Emmy award-winning, Jim Wirt (Incubus, No Doubt, Fiona Apple, Jack’s Mannequin). Released on April 30, 2021, the song is a dynamic break-up anthem in which Cat channels raw emotion into a powerhouse vocal performance. The production includes heavy 808s, ripping guitars, and ominous strings to support the vivid lyrics that tell a story of a woman scorned who is fighting back. Scared of Me is packed with personal symbolism, reflected most directly in the bridge with Cat’s interpolation of her former band’s song, Lie Better. The two tracks share similar subject matter, with Lie Better telling the beginning of the story, and Scared of Me crescendoing into the dramatic conclusion.
(Bio courtesy of Cat Calabrese)
Cat shared what it means to her to be an indie music woman artist:
“I am proud of being a female artist and I believe in telling my truth through music. So many female artists have and continue to inspire me to pursue my dreams and I am so grateful to be able to fulfill them now! I appreciate your support as I continue this journey!”
