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Biography: Katrina Chester
Just a sample of the buzz surrounding the coming out of Katrina Chester.Already a fixture on the NYC music scene, and legendary for grabbing her career by the horns, Katrina Chester's newest vocal explorations have everyone doing a double-take.
Fusing blues roots with R&B groove and soul force, Katrina Chester has invented her own brand of smooth, capturing a loyal following at The Cutting Room, NYC's hottest new nightspot. The road to this moment was winding, but somehow it all makes perfect sense.
"I still can't believe it, as I look back, at some of the people that had been very normally at my home when I was a kid: Jim Croce, Patti LaBelle, Burt Bacarach," Katrina remembers, "Some of the great R&B and soul legends were my father's colleagues and personal friends. My dad was my first teacher and he groomed me with the likes of Etta James and Billie Holiday from the very beginning."
Naturally, for the daughter of one of the most influential session drummers of the late 60's and early 70's, Katrina was in her first band at 12, ruled the NYC cover band circuit in her teens, and unleashed her original music when most kids were worried about passing their driver's test.
With all-original music, Katrina's tornado-like intensity and their agent's hard work booked the band Luxx into 300 dates a year for three years across the USA and even overseas.
Katrina's powerful voice drove Luxx's hard rock sound, garnering them opening slots for Godsmack, 3 Doors Down, Fuel, and Saliva. Luxx also co-headlined the Boston Locabazooka festival in front of 18,000 people. As the frontwoman for Luxx, Katrina dove headfirst into the business side of the music industry, directing a multi-state Street Team that packed clubs with advance PR and radio saturation, managing the band when it went independent, drumming up PR and radio support, and building an enviable fan base. Her activities prompted many to dub her, "the hardest working woman in music." That work ethic and a unique vocal sound garnered Katrina guest spots on many platinum albums, including Godsmack's Awake (Universal/Republic), and two double-platinum, Trans-Siberian Orchestra albums (Atlantic Records), as well as two of their national tours.
In early 2002, Katrina auditioned for and won the lead role in "Love, Janis", the smash musical about the life of Janis Joplin. Ian Hatton (Bonham, Paul Rodgers, The Honeydrippers/Robert Plant), Katrina's writing partner, remembers her opening night, "She blew me through the back of the theater. I had seen her sing hundreds of times. But never like that." Katrina concurs, "Singing the blues woke up something in me that I'd forgotten I had."
Everyone noticed. Katrina won rave reviews. Within two months, she had gotten more press for "Love, Janis" than any "name talent" who had previously performed in the role. Katrina appeared on The Howard Stern Show, WB Morning News, and Q 104.3. The "Love, Janis" producers even decided to give Katrina her own "Saturday Night late show," with creative freedom. Katrina closed "Love, Janis'"run on its final night in January 2003.
In many ways, "Janis" brought Katrina home. "I was five years old again," Katrina says, "I remembered everything I had forgotten. I would leave the show so inspired, I just kept writing!" In many ways, Katrina has rediscovered herself by returning to where she began. "The Janis show just brought me back to my roots, and it did the same for Ian--that blues infusion and funky groove, which were the roots of my singing as well. It just came so naturally once I got the chance to bite into those songs."
Katrina honed her acting chops during her long run in Love, Janis, and has parlayed that experience into other acting roles, most recently on season 6 of the HBO smash Sex and the City.
Early in Katrina's run in "Love, Janis", Ian Hatton contacted Marty Fredrickson (writer/producer with Aerosmith, Faith Hill, and many more) and the three penned Katrina's first solo song "Who's Loving You." The work, and its unique sound, grew into Katrina's first solo project, co-written with Ian Hatton, whose work has sold over 1,000,000 albums. They have begun writing Katrina's as-yet-untitled solo album, slated for release in 2004. This is Katrina Chester!
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