----Bio----
Catie Offerman started playing the piano at the age of four. She is now thirteen, and in addition to piano, she plays the guitar, violin, accordion, and mandolin. Her latest endeavor is singing.
She has played professionally the last three years with musicians of all different styles: German, Italian, French, Gypsy, Classical, Country, Swing, and Jazz. This past fall, she toured with the Alpine Express Band in the south and southeastern parts of the United States, playing the fiddle and guitar.
When she’s not on tour, Catie frequently entertains with Terry Cavanagh, an accordion and keyboard player and with the Bobby Flores Band. They have performed at a variety of weddings, restaurants, private parties, and festivals. Catie has also had the opportunity to play with Polka Freak Out, Alex Meixner Trio, and Brave Combo.
Catie has studied under many talented musicians including Stephanie Sant’ Ambrosio (former concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony), Dr. Denise Peterson (former professor and violin teacher at Texas Lutheran University)Bobby Flores, Dr. Eric Daub (professor and piano instructor at Texas Lutheran University), Brian Duckworth (former fiddle player for Robert Earl Keen), Terry Cavanagh, Ricky Turpin (former fiddle player for Asleep at the Wheel), Mark Wood (member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Olivier Charlier (at the Academie Internationale d’ Ete de Nice in France), Scott Mitchell, Elijah Echeveste.
Catie is in the 8th grade and is home-schooled. When she is not on tour, she also attends Texas Lutheran University. She has completed 15 hours of college classes, including four semesters of Music Theory.
---An article by Chris Welch in yesterday´s Huntsville (AL) Times tells how Catie Offerman, now 13, got started on her musical career. Here´s a selection:
It was a few years ago when Catie Offerman and her dad, Don, from New Braunfels, Texas, made their famous bet.
Her dad was cleaning out some things and happened upon an old toy accordion that he bought for Catie when she was younger. He told her that it was time to throw it away because she never played with it. Like most kids, she wasn´t ready to part with the toy.
The solution?
A friendly wager.
"I told her if she could learn and play a song in 10 minutes, I´d let her keep it," Offerman said in a phone interview. "So, she started honking on it, and in 10 minutes, she had a song figured out. She then said, ´Dad, could I get a real accordion?´
Of course, he's kidding. His eighth-grader is a musical wiz and will play the fiddle with Terry Cavanagh and the Alpine Express during this weekend's 12th annual Oktoberfest at the Redstone Arsenal Activity Field. It starts tonight and runs through Sunday.
Catie, billed as "Ooh La La" in the show, is 13 and began taking piano when she was 4. She took music lessons from Cavanagh five years ago and was such an excellent student that he began teaching her a performance repertoire.
"The Offermans and I talked about me teaching Catie to play my music with exactly the flair and style I wanted," Cavanagh said. "She is unusually dedicated, and I couldn't be happier with the results."
Cavanagh offered Catie a chance to go on the road last year with the Alpine Express, but his protg was busy - at college. Catie is home-schooled, but a violin professor who taught her told her that there were music classes at Texas Lutheran University she would enjoy. So Catie took music theory and English composition and passed with a 4.0 grade point average. She will receive college credit once she graduates or takes the ACT or SAT.
-----Alex Meixner-----
........But the surprise highlight was our backing of the vocal premier of our band buddy, Catie Offerman... Her new take on Buck Owens' "Act Naturally" got a big ovation from the crowd and will surely be a new show stopper for her. She sure is rocking her fiddle and guitar-- the future for this music is bright with her around...
----Valina Polka----
Chica you ROCKED with Brave Combo last night! I wish I coulda seen you with Alex too. keep up the good work. I can't wait to show you the couple of pictures I managed to get!
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