Kacy Crowley is an American musician and singer-songwriter. A
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
native, she currently resides in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
.
Early life
Born in
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571.
Northampton is known as an acade ...
, her mother was a piano teacher and her father was a construction worker. Her family soon relocated to
Trumbull, Connecticut
Trumbull is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders on the cities of Bridgeport and Shelton and the towns of Stratford, Fairfield, Easton and Monroe. The population was 36,827 during the 2020 census. Trumbul ...
, where Kacy remained until graduating from high school. Her parents’ passion for music influenced her from an early age. She started playing the guitar soon after seeing
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...
in concert at age 5. She also began taking piano lessons around that time. After graduating high school, she attended the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
for one semester before dropping out. At 19 she moved out to Los Angeles to try to jumpstart her music career. She played in coffeehouses in and around the Los Angeles area. After two years in Los Angeles, she was struggling with a drug habit and moved back into her parents' house in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
.
Career
With her life back together, she started a band, Tragic Sam, and produced a few sessions with Billy Rush, the former guitarist for
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are an American musical group from the Jersey Shore led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They have recor ...
.
She moved to New York City around 1992 and tried forming a few ensemble groups, without much success. She began waiting tables, while living with then-boyfriend Karl Anderson in a one-bedroom apartment. She devoted whatever free time she had to her music.
Realizing New York City was taking a toll on her, she and Anderson (the two now married) opted to move to Texas, hoping for a fresh start. Once in Austin, she played many open mic nights and would often busk on Sixth Street. She signed a deal with the Dallas-based indie label, Carpe Diem and began recording her debut album ''Anchorless''. The album, which was produced by Dave McNair, was recorded with several local musicians.
After performing at
South By Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
, Kacy signed a deal with
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
, which brought her music to a wider audience. The label released ''Anchorless'' in 1997, including two new tracks on this release. The album received some critical praise from publications such as
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
,
Vanity Fair and
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
, but many critics had a lukewarm response to the record. Despite the response from critics, her songs were featured in films such as ''
Anywhere but Here'' and ''
Three to Tango
''Three to Tango'' is a 1999 romantic comedy film directed by Damon Santostefano, written by Rodney Patrick Vaccaro and Aline Brosh McKenna, and starring Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell, Dylan McDermott and Oliver Platt.
Plot
Architects Oscar N ...
'' She went out on tour in support of the record, playing at
Lilith Fair
Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 ...
, the
H.O.R.D.E.
Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands, charities, a ...
festival, and
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
's
Bridge School Benefit
The Bridge School Benefit was an annual charity concert usually held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre from 1986 until 2016 with the exception of 1987. The concerts lasted the entire weekend and were organ ...
as well as opening for artists
Chantal Kreviazuk
Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk (; born May 18, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist. Born in Winnipeg, she played music from a young age before signing with Columbia Records in the 1990s. Her debut studio album, ''Under These ...
and
Marc Cohn
Marc Craig Cohn (; born July 5, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992. Cohn is best known for the song "Walking in Memphis" from his eponymous 1991 album, which was a Top 40 h ...
.
She went into the studio in 2001 and recorded her second album ''Boys in the Attic,'' which was shelved by Atlantic. Kacy soon parted ways with Atlantic and took some time off. She spent the next few years writing and found time to record her third album ''Moodswing''. Released in 2003, the album quickly became a favorite in the Austin area. She released another album entitled ''Tramps Like Us'' in 2004.
She released her latest album, "Cave," in the May 2008. In 2010 Kacy joined the band Liars & Saints, which also includes the singer-songwriters
Jeremy Nail and
Johnny Goudie
John Charles Goudie (born October 14, 1968, Coral Gables, Florida) is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumental musician, record producer, actor, and podcaster based in Austin, Texas. Over his five-decade career, he has received ...
, and they released an
EP in 2011.
Albums
*''Anchorless'' (indie release, limited edition 1996)
*''
Anchorless
''Anchorless'' is Kacy Crowley's major label debut released on Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its wat ...
'' (Atlantic Records, 1997)
*''Anchorless'' (remixed edition, 1998)
*''
Moodswing'' (indie release, 2003)
*''
Tramps Like Us
is a Japanese ''Josei'' manga series by . It is about Sumire, a young professional woman who takes in a younger man as a pet, and her attempts to keep her coworkers and conventionally perfect boyfriend from finding out about her pet. It al ...
'' (indie release, 2004)
*''Cave'' (indie release, 2008)
*''Liars & Saints'' (indie release, 2011)
See also
*
Music of Austin
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
External links
Official websiteArticle about Kacy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowley, Kacy
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Writers from Northampton, Massachusetts
American women guitarists
American women singer-songwriters
Writers from Austin, Texas
Musicians from Austin, Texas
Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts
Singer-songwriters from Texas
Guitarists from Massachusetts
Guitarists from Texas
People from Trumbull, Connecticut
21st-century American women
Singer-songwriters from Connecticut