Christy McWilson is an American singer-songwriter based in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

. She has performed with the Dynette Set, the Picketts, as a solo artist, and with many other artists, including

Dave Alvin David Albert Alvin (born November 11, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s a ...

and

The Young Fresh Fellows The Young Fresh Fellows are an American alternative rock group, that was formed in 1981 in Seattle, Washington, United States, by Scott McCaughey and Chuck Carroll. Tad Hutchison, Chuck Carroll's first cousin, joined for the recording of the grou ...

Early life

McWilson was born in Northern California, but spent her formative years near Downey, California. Both of her parents are musicians. McWilson says: "I was close enough to Bakersfield to drive up and hear

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled a ...

once or twice, and was definitely, utterly, completely influenced by the Los Angeles sound of the 70s:

Stone Poneys Stone Poneys (also The Stone Poneys, Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys, and The Stone Poneys With Linda Ronstadt) were a folk rock trio formed in Los Angeles, consisting of Linda Ronstadt on vocals, Bobby Kimmel on rhythm guitar and vocals, a ...

Gram Parsons Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) who was known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist who recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, ...

and Emmylou Harris, and

Poco Poco was an American country rock band originally formed in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield. Guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina, former members of Buffalo Springfield, were joined by multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young, bassis ...

." McWilson attended college in San Francisco and

Sonoma, California Sonoma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma's p ...

, earning a degree in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

Career

Early career

McWilson first recorded in the early 1980s as a singer with the Dynette Set, releasing an album and a few singles and compilation tracks in the first half of that decade, including "Seed of Love," a standout on the 1984

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

female-focused new wave compilation ''The Girls Can't Help It''. That song was co-written and produced by

Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He was also an auxiliary member of the American rock band R.E.M. from 199 ...

who was a member of

the Young Fresh Fellows The Young Fresh Fellows are an American alternative rock group, that was formed in 1981 in Seattle, Washington, United States, by Scott McCaughey and Chuck Carroll. Tad Hutchison, Chuck Carroll's first cousin, joined for the recording of the grou ...

. After the demise of the Dynette Set, McWilson played around Seattle in some short-lived groups while adding backing to various albums by the Young Fresh Fellows. The Fellows' college radio hit "Amy Grant" particularly benefited from McWilson's sassy vocals.

Picketts

In 1990, McWilson helped form the Picketts (originally known as the Power Mowers) who released three albums over the course of the 1990s. Led by McWilson on vocals, the band also included drummer Leroy "Blackie" Sleep and guitarists

, John Olufs, and Jim Sangster. Steve Marcus was the original bassist (later Walt Singleman played bass). The Picketts' first recording was a 7" single for the Seattle indie PopLlama Records that featured a country version of ''

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

's'' "

Should I Stay or Should I Go "Should I Stay or Should I Go" is a song by English punk rock band the Clash, from their album ''Combat Rock'', written in 1981 and featuring Mick Jones on lead vocals. It was released in 1982 as a double A-sided single alongside " Straight to ...

." Rather than play straight-ahead country, the Picketts mixed '50s rockabilly and pop with more traditional influences, such as

Wanda Jackson Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of rock, country and gospel. She was among the first women to have a career in rock and roll, ...

. ''Paper Doll,'' their debut full-length, was released in 1992 through PopLlama. A showcase at the influential Austin music festival South by Southwest led to a deal with Rounder Records, who released ''The Wicked Picketts'' in 1995. ''Euphonium'' followed on Rounder in 1996. The Picketts eventually disbanded, but occasionally perform reunion shows.

Solo work

As the Picketts were disbanding (more out of sloth than acrimony), longtime fan

approached McWilson with an offer to produce her first solo album, ''The Lucky One,'' which contains mostly original songs (many concerning her lifelong struggle with a

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

) plus a cover of Brian Wilson's "Til I Die." ''The Lucky One'' was recorded with a core band that included Alvin,

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his ca ...

, and

Rick Shea Rick Shea (born September 22, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who lives in Southern California. His career spans four decades and in that time he has worked as a solo artist and with bands such as Chris Gaffney and The Cold H ...

(guitars),

Bob Glaub Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...

, Walter Singleman (bass), and Don Heffington (drums). The album also featured guest appearances by Syd Straw, Rhett Miller (

Old 97's Old 97's is an American rock band from Dallas, Texas. Formed in 1992, they have since released twelve studio albums, two full extended plays, shared split duty on another, and have one live album. Their most recent release is ''Twelfth''. The ...

), and

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., h ...

(

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

). Two years later, she called on many of these musicians to help put together her second solo album, ''Bed of Roses.'' In spring of 2015, McWilson decided to release her "old new" album ''Desperate Girl,'' which was recorded in 2004 as her marriage dissolved. As she put it: "The songs, written in the weeks leading up to and during the marriage's demise, were recorded in their full red-hot splendor. At the time it was so painful I shelved and tried to forget about it. I recently rediscovered it and realized I had an amazing portrait of that heightened time of my life."

Other projects

McWilson also routinely participates on the Roots On The Rails tour with

Cindy Cashdollar Cindy Cashdollar is an American musician specializing in steel guitar and Dobro. She grew up in Woodstock, New York, where she perfected her skills by playing with bluegrass musician John Herald, blues musicians Paul Butterfield, and Levon He ...

, and other artists. McWilson's most recent recording is ''Six by Three'', with the West Seattle 2 (drummer Blackie Sleep and bassist Walt Singleman).

Personal life

McWilson and singer-songwriter

(

The Minus 5 The Minus 5 is an American pop rock band headed by musician Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, often in partnership with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. Band history McCaughey formed the band in 1993 as a side project with Buck, Jon Auer ...

) met at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

and moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

in 1980, eventually marrying and having a child together. The couple are no longer married. McWilson said she prefixed her birth surname, Wilson, with "Mc" to create her stage name, McWilson.

Discography

Dynette Set

Picketts

Solo releases

Dave Alvin and Guilty Women

The Granvilles

The West Seattle 2

Other contributions

References

External links

Christy McWilson
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McWilson, Christy American country singer-songwriters American women country singers Singer-songwriters from California Musicians from Seattle People with bipolar disorder American alternative country singers Living people Singer-songwriters from Washington (state) Country musicians from California Year of birth missing (living people) Country musicians from Washington (state) 21st-century American women