Christy McWilson

Christy McWilson
Christy McWilson playing with Dynette Set at The Tractor in Ballard, Seattle, Washington, on December 23, 2015
Background information
Birth name	Christy Wilson
Born	California U.S.
Genres	Alternative country Rock music Folk music
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1980s-present
Associated acts	Dynette Set Picketts Dave Alvin The Young Fresh Fellows
Website	christymcwilson.com

Christy McWilson is an American singer-songwriter based in the Pacific Northwest. She has performed with the Dynette Set, the Picketts, as a solo artist, and with many other artists, including Dave Alvin and The Young Fresh Fellows.

McWilson was born in Northern California, but spent her formative years near Downey, California. Both of her parents are musicians.

McWilson says: “I was close enough to Bakersfield to drive up and hear Merle Haggard once or twice, and was definitely, utterly, completely influenced by the Los Angeles sound of the 70s: Stone Poneys, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, and Poco.”

McWilson attended college in San Francisco and Sonoma, California, earning a degree in anthropology.

McWilson first recorded in the early 1980s as a singer with the Dynette Set, releasing an album and a few singles and compilation tracks in the first half of that decade, including "Seed of Love," a standout on the 1984 Rhino female-focused new wave compilation The Girls Can't Help It. That song was co-written and produced by McCaughey who was now a member of the Young Fresh Fellows.

After the demise of the Dynette Set, McWilson played around Seattle in some short-lived groups while adding backing to various albums by the Young Fresh Fellows. The Fellows' college radio hit "Amy Grant" particularly benefited from McWilson's sassy vocals.

In 1990, McWilson helped form the Picketts (originally known as the Power Moves) who released three albums over the course of the 1990s. Led by McWilson on vocals, the band also included drummer Leroy "Blackie" Sleep and guitarists Scott McCaughey, John Olufs, and Jim Sangster. Steve Marcus was the original bassist (later Walt Singleman played bass).