Neko Case
Neko Case (born
September 8,
1970 in
Alexandria, Virginia) is an
American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and as a member of
the New Pornographers.
Her music is frequently labeled
alternative country, although Case doesn't describe it in that way. She recorded and toured for several years as
Neko Case & Her Boyfriends before switching to her own name. Case primarily writes her own material, but she also performs and has recorded
cover versions of songs by artists such as
Loretta Lynn,
Tom Waits,
Buffy Sainte-Marie,
Bob Dylan, and
Hank Williams. She frequently infuses humorous narratives into her live sets, a habit she says she gained from her grandmother and
Wanda Jackson. [
1]
She is protective of her artistic independence, combining punk's "
do it yourself" aesthetic, a strong business sense, and clear opinions about her artistic goals. She has spurned offers from major record labels because they don't offer her enough control of her music, remaining affiliated with
Mint Records in Canada and
Bloodshot and
ANTI- in the U.S.
Though she grew up in the U.S., Case began her musical career in
Canada. She lived in
Vancouver,
British Columbia, for several years, playing with a variety of local
punk bands, most prominently
cub and
Maow, and recording her first country album. She frequently collaborates with Canadian musicians, including
The New Pornographers,
The Sadies and
Carolyn Mark, and has recorded material by several noted Canadian songwriters, notably on her
2001 EP Canadian Amp. As a result, she is a significant figure in Canadian music, and even U.S. media have sometimes referred to Case as Canadian.
"I hope I can comfort people a bit—maybe show people that making music is fun and accessible to them as well. I'm not out to become
Faith Hill, I never want to play an arena, and I never want to be on the
MTV Video Music Awards, much less make a video with me in it. I would like to reach a larger audience and see the state of music change in favor of musicians and music fans in my lifetime. I care very much about that." [
2]
Case was born to parents of
Ukrainian ancestry. Her family traveled around while she was young before settling in
Tacoma, Washington, the city she considers her hometown. She left home when she was 15.
In
1994, Case moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to attend the
Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. While attending school she played drums in several local bands, including the Del Logs, the Propanes, the Weasles, cub (which featured
I AM SPOONBENDER's
Robynn Iwata), and Maow. All of these bands were local
punk groups except for cub and The Weasles, which Case described as a "
country music supergroup."
The Virginian and Mass Romantic
Case fully embraced country music on her
1997 album with Her Boyfriends,
The Virginian. The album contained original compositions as well as covers of songs by
Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn. When the album was released, critics compared Case to
honky-tonk singers like Lynn and
Patsy Cline.
In
1998, Case graduated with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, which meant the loss of her student
visa eligibility. She left Canada for
Seattle, Washington. Before leaving, however, Case recorded vocals for a few songs that ended up on
Mass Romantic, The New Pornographers' first album. Her lead vocals on songs like "Letter from an Occupant" are straightforward, full-volume power-pop performances, entirely shedding any country elements. Once the album was released on
November 28,
2000,
Mass Romantic became a surprise success. Originally conceived as a side project by its members, The New Pornographers decided to tour together and eventually to record a second album.
Furnace Room Lullaby
On
February 22, 2000, Case released her second solo album with Her Boyfriends,
Furnace Room Lullaby. A full set of 12 original songs,
Lullaby introduced the "country
noir" elements that have defined Case's subsequent solo career. That tone was evident even from the cover photo, featuring Case sprawled out corpse-like on a cement floor. On the album itself, her vocal style moves away from outright honky-tonk but retains her twang, garnering her comparisons to musicians such as Cline, Lynn,
Hazel Dickens,
Tanya Tucker, and
Dolly Parton. The title track was included on the
soundtrack to
Sam Raimi's film
The Gift, and "Porchlight" was featured on the soundtrack to
The Slaughter Rule.
Case sometimes tours with her friend Carolyn Mark, a Canadian singer and songwriter, as
The Corn Sisters. One of their performances, at Seattle's Hattie's Hat restaurant in
Ballard, was recorded and released as an album,
The Other Women, on November 28, 2000.
Blacklisted
At about the time
Lullaby was released, Case left Seattle for
Chicago because she felt that Seattle wasn't hospitable to its local artists.
Case's first work in Chicago was an eight-song EP that she recorded in her kitchen.
Canadian Amp, her first recording without Her Boyfriends, was released on her own Lady Pilot label in
2001. She wrote two of the tracks. Six tracks are covers, including
Neil Young's "Dreaming Man" and Hank Williams's "Alone and Forsaken." Four of the covers were written by Canadian artists. The EP was initially available only at Case's live shows, but was eventually released more widely.
Case recorded her third full-length album,
Blacklisted, in
Tucson, Arizona. Her first release credited to Case alone, without Her Boyfriends, it was released on
August 20,
2002. Some believe the title
Blacklisted alludes to Case being banned for life from the
Grand Ole Opry because she took her shirt off during a performance on
2001-08-04 [
3], though Case herself has denied this. [
4] Asked about the incident in 2004, Case said "I had heatstroke. People would love it to be a 'fuck you' punk thing. But it was actually a physical ailment thing." [
5]
Most of the album's 14 songs are originals, except for covers of "Running Out of Fools," previously a hit for
Aretha Franklin, and "Look for Me (I'll Be Around)."
Blacklisted furthers Case's "country
noir" mood, and was described by critics as lush, bleak, and atmospheric. Case cited filmmaker
David Lynch, composer
Angelo Badalamenti, and Neil Young's soundtrack to the film
Dead Man as influences. One track, "Deep Red Bells," was inspired by Case's memories of being a vulnerable young woman in the
Seattle area while the
Green River Killer was at large.
In April
2003, Case was voted the "Sexiest Babe of Indie Rock" in a Playboy.com Internet poll, receiving 32% of the vote.
Playboy asked her to pose nude for the magazine, but she declined their offer. She told
Entertainment Weekly magazine that "I didn't want to be the girl who posed in
Playboy and then—by the way—made some music. I would be really fucking irritated if after a show somebody came up to me and handed me some naked picture of myself and wanted me to sign it instead of my CD." In more recent interviews she's declined to discuss the survey at all. (In the late 1990s, Case did pose for
cheesecake-style photos published in the Seattle magazine
Kutie.)
Electric Version and Twin Cinema
The New Pornographers' second album,
Electric Version, was released on
May 6,
2003. Case sang lead on even more of the songs on this album, and toured with the group again.
On
April 3 and
April 4,
2004, Case played two shows with longtime collaborators
The Sadies at Lee's Palace in
Toronto, which were recorded for release as a
live album,
The Tigers Have Spoken, in October of the same year.
Twin Cinema, the New Pornographers' third album, was released on
August 23,
2005, with Case again providing vocals on several tracks.
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Case's latest solo album,
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, was primarily recorded in
Tucson, Arizona, and was released on
March 7,
2006.
Neko was honored as the Female Artist of the Year at the Plug Independent Music Awards on
2006-02-02 [
6].
With Maow
*
I Ruv Me Too (7" EP) (US: Twist Like This Records, 1995)
*
Unforgiving Sounds of Maow (CA: Mint Records, 1996)
Solo
Image:Neko Case - The Virginian.jpg|The Virginian (with Her Boyfriends) (CA: Mint Records; US: Bloodshot Records, 1997)Image:Neko Case - Furnace Room Lullaby.jpg|Furnace Room Lullaby (with Her Boyfriends) (CA: Mint Records; US: Bloodshot Records, 2000)Image:Case-canadianamp.jpg|Canadian Amp (EP) (Lady Pilot, 2001)Image:Neko Case - Blacklisted.jpg|Blacklisted (CA: Mint Records; US: Bloodshot Records; EU: Matador Records, 2002)Image:Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken.jpg|The Tigers Have Spoken (CA: Mint Records; US: Anti- Records, 2004)Image:Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood.jpg|Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (US: Anti- Records, released March 7, 2006)With the Corn Sisters
*
The Other Women (CA: Mint Records, 2000)
With the New Pornographers
Image:Mass romantic.jpg|Mass Romantic (CA: Mint Records; US & EU: Matador Records, 2000)Image:Np-electricversion.jpg|Electric Version (CA: Mint Records; US & EU: Matador Records, 2003)Image:Np-TwinCinema.jpg|Twin Cinema (CA: Mint Records; US & EU: Matador Records, 2005)With the Sadies
* Make Your Bed/Gunspeak/Little Sadie (7") (US: Bloodshot Records, 1998)
* My '63 / Highway 145 (by Whiskeytown) (Split 7") (US: Bloodshot Records, 1998)
*
Neko Case's official site*
Neko Case's page at Mint Records*
Neko Case's page at Bloodshot Records*
Porchlightâ€"a Neko Case fan site*
Discography (PDF)* Mehr, T., (
November 6,
2002).
"Nobody's Angel",
Seattle Weekly.
* Shepherd, J., (
October 31,
2002).
"Neko Noir",
The Stranger.
*
Neko Case Lyrics*
Site for National Public Radio's live webcast of Neko Case's show at the 9:30 club in Washington, D.C.*
Neko Case interview with The Onion A. V. Club
*
Music of Vancouver*
List of bands from British Columbia*
List of bands from Canada
