Caralee McElroy (born December 27, 1983) is a

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

-based American multi-instrumentalist who has played in the bands

Xiu Xiu Xiu Xiu ( ) is an American experimental rock band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of multi-instrumentalists Stewart (the only constant member since formation), Angel ...

, XXL, and

Cold Cave Cold Cave is the solo project for musician Wesley Eisold, described as a "collage of dark wave, darkwave, noise music, noise, and synthpop." A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Jo ...

Biography

McElroy was born in

Olympia, WA Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city f ...

and was raised in

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

and

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. She grew up immersed in both music and the visual arts. Her father, Brent, is a

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

and builds acoustic guitars.

Music

At seven, McElroy started to study the flute, and throughout her school years, she picked up the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, and keyboards.

Xiu Xiu

In 2003, McElroy met her long-lost cousin, Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu. They needed a multi-instrumentalist, so she auditioned and joined Xiu Xiu during their ''

Fabulous Muscles ''Fabulous Muscles'' is the third studio album by American experimental band Xiu Xiu, released on February 17, 2004 on 5 Rue Christine. The album marked a change in the band's sound, described as a depressive mix between experimental rock and ...

'' tour in 2004. McElroy left Xiu Xiu in May 2009.

Cold Cave

In February 2009, Caralee joined the band

. She left in early 2010.

Other activities and collaborations

McElroy appeared on recordings for Casiotone for the Painfully Alone in 2006. As of 2009, she has been collaborating on a yet-to-be-named musical project with

Chris Garneau Chris Garneau (born November 5, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Since releasing his debut album, '' Music for Tourists'' (2006), Garneau has toured throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, Europe, and Asia. He has relea ...

.Chris Garneau: The New Gay Interview
May 27, 2009.

Discography

;with

*2004 – "Fleshettes" CD single *2005 – '' La Forêt'' *2006 – ''

The Air Force ''The Air Force'' is the fifth studio album by Xiu Xiu. It was released on September 12, 2006 and was produced by Greg Saunier of Deerhoof, who also performs on the album with band members Caralee McElroy and Jamie Stewart. Production T ...

'' *2007 – '' Remixed & Covered'' *2008 - '' Women as Lovers'' ;with XXL (Xiu Xiu Larsen) *2005 – '' Ciautistico!'' *2007 – '' ¿Spicchiology?'' ;with

*2009 - ''Electronic Dreams'' cassette *2009 - ''Cremations'' CD *2009 - ''Stars Explode'' split cassette with Prurient *2009 - ''Easel and Ruby'' 12" single *2009 - ''Love Comes Close'' CD/LP ;with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone *2006 - ''Graceland'' *2006 - ''Young Shields''

References

External links

* *
Caralee McElroy Discography at CD Universe
{{DEFAULTSORT:McElroy, Caralee American multi-instrumentalists Musicians from Seattle Musicians from Modesto, California Musicians from Olympia, Washington 1983 births Living people American women in electronic music Guitarists from California Guitarists from Washington (state) 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Xiu Xiu members