Hi, I'm Cathy. I have loved country music from the time I was a little girl and I've been singing for nearly all my life.
Several years ago, when I first heard Alison Krauss and Union Station, I was hooked. Or was it more shocked? This was bluegrass but with fabulous,smooth vocals. Then came Dolly Parton's series of bluegrass cd projects and I was hooked again.
After graduating from Central Bible College in Springfield, MO, I held a series of church staff positions as Minister of Music and Worship. One of those jobs brought me to the Dallas/Fort Worth area on my birthday in 1988. Pretty soon, I loved Texas and decided to stay.
Near my home in Grapevine, TX, I noticed a weekly country music variety show at a local theater in the downtown area. It’s still there to this day and it’s known as the Grapevine Opry (http://www.gvopry.com) I made some calls and figured out how to audition. It took some begging on my part, but I was finally allowed to perform a couple of times, mostly on the new Gospel Show format. Over the years, I have been blessed to become more and more involved in the all of the shows and now perform several times a month.
My favorite is the once-a-month Gospel format, and I’ve been honored to be named Favorite Gospel Artist of the Year for three years in a row. My personal passion is to sing traditional songs of the Church, such as Blessed Assurance, At the Cross, Precious Memories and the like. I believe that it’s important that younger folks are exposed to the beautiful melodies and spiritually profound lyrics of these grand songs.
This cd project utilizes the talents of many dear friends, all of whom I met via the Grapevine show. I was thrilled to record this project with them. Serving up fantastic background vocals are Jeanice Belt, Lani Stacy (check out her new cd, Live Up To Your Love) and Curtis Jones. A friend of mine from church, and also a professor of music at the University of North Texas-Fred Hamilton brings his unique flair to the stand-up acoustic bass. As for all of the fine guitar pickin’, well that would be Rocky Gribble. He is one of the finest guitar players anywhere. His tracks are both fun and amazing.
Musical influences for this project were the ‘Trio’ project (Dolly, Emmylou and Linda), Dolly Parton (her early material, as well as the newer bluegrass albums), Claire Lynch and Alison Krauss, just to name a few. I’m told that I sound a lot like Anne Murray…I’ll let you be the judge of that! All I know is that it’s a huge compliment in my books.
There is something here for everyone to love, whether young or old. Thanks for checking it out.
Be Blessed,
Cathy Lake
Read more...