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Kathy Mattea

Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959)[2][1] is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including four that reached No. 1: "Goin' Gone", "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses", "Come from the Heart", and "Burnin' Old Memories", plus 12 more that charted within the top ten. She has released 14 studio albums, two Christmas albums, and one greatest hits album. Most of her material was recorded for Universal Music Group Nashville's Mercury Records Nashville 8division between 1984 and 2000, with later albums being issued on Narada Productions, her own Captain Potato label, and Sugar Hill Records. Among her albums, she has received five gold certifications and one platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She has collaborated with Dolly Parton, Michael McDonald, Tim O'Brien, and her husband, Jon Vezner. Mattea is also a two-time Grammy Award winner: in 1990 for "Where've You Been", and in 1993 for her Christmas album Good News. Her style is defined by traditional country, bluegrass, folk, and Celtic music influences.

Kathy Mattea

Kathleen Alice Mattea

(1959-06-21) June 21, 1959
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • producer

1983–present

(m. 1988)

  • Vocals
  • guitar

Early life[edit]

Kathleen Alice Mattea was born June 21, 1959, in South Charleston, West Virginia. She and her two brothers grew up in nearby Cross Lanes.[2] Their father worked in a chemical plant and her mother was a homemaker.[3] During her childhood, Mattea's mother would have her perform informal piano recitals for family and friends.[4] She also sang in her parents' church as a child, and in high school she performed at school shows and family gatherings.[5] Mattea also began playing guitar in her teen years after discovering folk music.[4] In addition to folk, Mattea also took an interest in bluegrass, which she would later say "formed [her] roots" as an artist.[5] In 1976, while attending West Virginia University, she joined a bluegrass band.[3] After a songwriter friend graduated and chose to pursue a career in Nashville, Tennessee, Mattea decided to drop out of school and go with him. Her friend soon left Nashville in hopes of pursuing medical school, but Mattea chose to stay behind.[4] She worked as a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and then as a secretary and a waitress, to support herself while working as a demo singer. Songwriter, publisher, and record producer Byron Hill discovered her and helped her sign to Mercury Records in 1983.[6][7]

Career[edit]

1984–1986: First two albums[edit]

Mattea's self-titled debut album came out in 1984,[1] with Hill and Rick Peoples as the album's producers.[8] Mattea later noted that "there were no budgets" when she was recording the album, as she was unable to afford a $75 makeup session, and the front cover featured her wearing a jacket which she had purchased at Kmart.[6] In addition, Mattea was given advice from image consultants on her musical persona. According to Mattea, she did not have an "artistic vision" at the time, which accounted for a lack of artistic identity.[9]


Four of its singles made the Hot Country Songs charts, starting with "Street Talk", which charted at number 25.[2] Mattea had originally recorded a demo of the song with the intent of having Terri Gibbs record it, but Mattea kept it for herself when Gibbs declined the song.[6] Followup "Someone Is Falling in Love" (written by Pebe Sebert) made it to number 26 on the same chart, while "You've Got a Soft Place to Fall" and "That's Easy for You to Say" fell short of the top 40.[2] Other notable cuts on the album included "God Ain't No Stained Glass Window", which was released as a 12" promotional single for the Christmas season;[10] a cover version of Barry Manilow's 1981 hit "Somewhere Down the Road";[11] and "(Back to the) Heartbreak Kid", which later became a Top 10 hit on the country charts for Restless Heart in late 1985 to early 1986.[12] Allmusic reviewer William Ruhlmann wrote of the album that it was "a fairly representative sampling of Nashville formula country writing", while praising the "feisty" nature of "Street Talk" and Mattea's vocals on "Heartbreak Kid".[13] People reviewer Ralph Novak compared Mattea's voice favorably to Anne Murray and said that "Mattea may not have the most revolutionary sound around, but her material is especially good."[11]


Her second album, From My Heart, was also her first under the production of Allen Reynolds,[14][15] who is best known for his work with Crystal Gayle and Garth Brooks. Released in 1985, it produced the chart singles "It's Your Reputation Talkin'", "He Won't Give In", and "Heart of the Country", which peaked at numbers 34, 22, and 46 respectively on Hot Country Songs.[2] It also featured a cover of Elton John's "Ball and Chain", from his 1982 album Jump Up![15] Ruhlmann found this album superior to its predecessor, stating that Reynolds "seems to have shaped the song selections to the singer's talents and given her the opportunity to sing in a more individual manner."[15] A review of the album in Billboard was also positive, noting the "more focused direction and a simpler, purer sound".[14]

1986–1990: Breakthrough[edit]

Mattea's artistic vision developed with the making of her third album, which brought in folk and acoustic sounds (inspired by her childhood).[16] Her third album, Walk the Way the Wind Blows (1986) was (according to AllMusic) "her breakthrough both critically and commercially".[1] Four singles were released from the album. First was "Love at the Five and Dime",[1] written and originally recorded by Nanci Griffith on her 1986 album The Last of the True Believers.[17] Following it was the title track, "You're the Power", and "Train of Memories". All four of these songs reached the top ten of the country music charts between 1986 and 1987.[2] Contributing musicians on Walk the Way the Wind Blows included Béla Fleck, Don Williams (who sang background vocals on "Love at the Five and Dime"), Wendy Waldman, and Vince Gill.[18] Billboard praised Walk the Way the Wind Blows as "Mattea's most country effort to date".[19] An un-credited review in Stereo Review (now Sound & Vision) stated that "if every country album were as tasteful and well executed as Walk the Way the Wind Blows...the reviewer's life would be a happy one indeed", while rating the performance and recording as "perfection".[20] Thom Jurek felt that the album's uptempo cuts were stronger than its ballads, noting that "Her ballad singing hadn't gotten to the place it did just three years later" while praising her performances on the more upbeat tracks and on "Love at the Five and Dime".[18]

Artistry[edit]

Musical styles[edit]

Mattea's music was categorized as country during her years as a commercial recording artist.[1] During her peak success, Mattea also included elements of bluegrass, Celtic and folk into her artistry.[67] Authors Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann noted that Mattea was part of a group of country artists that took inspiration from the American folk revival by incorporating "modern sensibilities to create powerfully appealing images". Bufwack and Oermann found her counterparts to be Mary Chapin Carpenter, Suzy Bogguss, and Wynonna Judd.[4] Writer Thomas Harrison found that Mattea also had elements of "Southern California Rock" that mixed in "mountain elements" because she often incorporated the acoustic guitar.[68] After recording 2008's Coal, Mattea's musical identity shifted towards Appalachian music and has since made it a part of her artistry.[69]

Collaborations[edit]

Mattea participated in several collaborative works, primarily in the 1990s. In March 1991, Mattea was one of several artists on "Voices That Care", a charity single to help boost the morale of U.S. troops involved in Operation Desert Storm.[70] Dolly Parton's 1993 single "Romeo" featured guest vocals from Mattea, Tanya Tucker, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Pam Tillis, and Billy Ray Cyrus.[71] Mattea appeared on two tracks from the 1994 Red Hot + Country compilation, put out by the AIDS activism group Red Hot Organization. The first of these was a cover of "Teach Your Children" which also featured Suzy Bogguss, Alison Krauss, and Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the second was a duet with Jackson Browne titled "Rock Me on the Water".[5] The former, credited to "The Red Hots", charted at No. 75 on Hot Country Songs dated for October 22, 1994.[72] Also in 1994, Mattea sang duet vocals on Johnny Hallyday's "Love Affair",[73] which made No. 35 on the French Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) charts.[74] In 1998, Mattea recorded a duet with Michael McDonald titled "Among the Missing", a charity single to help benefit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). It was written by Peter McCann and produced by George Massenburg, and a video of the performance was also issued on DVD.[75] The song charted for a single week at No. 73 on Hot Country Songs dated for March 27, 1999.[2]

(1984)

Kathy Mattea

(1985)

From My Heart

(1986)

Walk the Way the Wind Blows

(1987)

Untasted Honey

(1989)

Willow in the Wind

(1991)

Time Passes By

(1992)

Lonesome Standard Time

(1993)

Good News

(1994)

Walking Away a Winner

(1997)

Love Travels

(2000)

The Innocent Years

(2002)

Roses

(2003)

Joy for Christmas Day

(2005)

Right Out of Nowhere

(2008)

Coal

(2012)

Calling Me Home

(2018)

Pretty Bird

Kathy Mattea's Official Website

at IMDb

Kathy Mattea