Catherine McGrath (born 9 June 1997) is a Northern Irish
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...
singer and songwriter.
Career
Early life
Born in
Rostrevor
Rostrevor () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of Slieve Martin on the coast of Carlingford Lough, near Warrenpoint. The Kilbroney River flows through the village and Rostrevor Forest is nearby. ...
, Northern Ireland, McGrath learned guitar from her grandmother, who taught her to play and sing "
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in isiZulu, while the English version's lyrics were wri ...
". McGrath's parents are both musicians and were frequent performers at the annual Fiddler's Green Music Festival held in
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...
, Northern Ireland. McGrath honed her skills by observing her parents on-stage and by watching instructional videos online. McGrath took up songwriting, and in addition to performing her own material, she began making homemade videos of herself performing current pop hits, which she then posted online. McGrath has said that her country music influences include
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...
,
Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Tex ...
,
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. ...
,
Brad Paisley
Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album '' Who Needs Pictures'', he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nash ...
, and
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second co ...
; she credits Swift's song "
Love Story Love Story or A Love Story may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Genres
* Romance (love)
** Romance film
** Romance novel
Films
* ''Love Story'' (1925 film), German silent film
* ''Love Story'' (1942 film), Italian drama film
* ''Love ...
" in particular for introducing her to country music at the age of 12.
2016–present: Signing with Warner Bros. Records and debut studio album
McGrath's videos attracted the attention of Instrumental, a company that finds talent online and grooms them for larger success. She moved to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to work for the company, and after only a few months, began travelling to
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...
for songwriting and studio sessions. In the summer of 2016, McGrath signed with Warner Bros. She recorded and released her first solo
EP ''One'' in December later that same year. Her major label debut album, ''Talk of This Town'', was released on 27 July 2018. McGrath played a set at the
C2C: Country to Country festival in 2019 and joined
Hunter Hayes
Hunter Easton Hayes (born September 9, 1991) is an American multi-genre singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient at more than 30 instruments.
Hayes released his self-titled debut album in 2011. It reache ...
on stage at the
O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to:
*The O2 Arena (London)
*O2 Arena (Prague)
*The 3Arena, Dublin, formerly known as The O2
*The Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin, formerly known as O2 World Berlin
*The Barclays Arena
The Barclays Arena (originally known as the ...
to duet on their song "Don't Let Me Forget".
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
Music Videos
Writing credits
Recognition
In 2018, McGrath was fan-voted as the winner of the International Emerging Artist of The Year award in the Music For A New Generation Awards, run by Australian country radio program,
Planet Country
''Planet Country'' is the tenth studio album released by Australian country musician Lee Kernaghan. The album was released in November 2009 and peaked at 13 on the ARIA Charts. A limited edition featured a 10-track bonus CD titled ''Bringing the ...
.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgrath, Catherine
1997 births
Living people
21st-century singers from Northern Ireland
British women songwriters
British country singers
Country pop musicians