Neko Case

Neko Case (born September 8, 1970 in Alexandria, Virginia) is a American singer and songwriter. Her music is frequently called alternative country, though Case tends to shy away from the label. She recorded and toured as Neko Case & Her Boyfriends before switching to her own name.

Biography

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.

Related Topics:
Ukrainian - Tacoma, Washington

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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."

Related Topics:
1994 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design - Cub - I AM SPOONBENDER - Robynn Iwata - Maow - Punk - Cub - Country music

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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.

Related Topics:
1997 - The Virginian - Ernest Tubb - Loretta Lynn - Honky-tonk - Patsy Cline

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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.

Related Topics:
1998 - Bachelor of Fine Arts - Visa - Seattle, Washington - Mass Romantic - November 28 - 2000

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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.

Related Topics:
February 22 - Furnace Room Lullaby - Hazel Dickens - Tanya Tucker - Dolly Parton - Soundtrack - Sam Raimi - The Gift - The Slaughter Rule

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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.

Related Topics:
Carolyn Mark - The Corn Sisters - Seattle - Ballard - The Other Women

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At about the time Lullaby was released, Case left Seattle for Chicago because she felt that Seattle wasn't hospitable to its local artists.

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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.

Related Topics:
EP - Canadian Amp - 2001 - Neil Young - Hank Williams

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Case recorded her third full-length album, Blacklisted, in Tucson, Arizona. Not credited to Neko Case & Her Boyfriends but to Case alone, it was released on August 20, 2002. Most of the 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.

Related Topics:
Blacklisted - Tucson, Arizona - August 20 - 2002 - Aretha Franklin - David Lynch - Angelo Badalamenti - Dead Man - Seattle - Green River Killer

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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.)

Related Topics:
2003 - Playboy - Entertainment Weekly

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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.

Related Topics:
Electric Version - May 6 - 2003

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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.

Related Topics:
April 3 - April 4 - 2004 - The Sadies - Toronto - Live album - The Tigers Have Spoken

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In September, 2005, Mint Records announced that Case's next solo album, recorded in Tucson, Arizona, will be titled Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and released in February, 2006.

Related Topics:
Tucson, Arizona - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - 2006

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