Kathy Mattea
| Kathy Mattea | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kathleen Alice Mattea |
| Born |
June 21, 1959 South Charleston, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Origin | Cross Lanes, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments |
Vocals Guitar |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Labels |
Mercury Nashville Narada |
| Associated acts | Tim O'Brien |
| Website | mattea.com |
Kathleen Alice "Kathy" Mattea (pronounced ma-TAY-a) (born June 21, 1959, South Charleston, West Virginia) is an American country music and bluegrass performer who often brings folk, Celtic, and traditional country sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a recording artist, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. This total includes the number one hits "Goin' Gone", "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses", "Come From the Heart", and "Burnin' Old Memories", as well as twelve additional Top Ten singles.
Mattea was born in South Charleston, West Virginia, because it had the nearest hospital to her parents' home in Cross Lanes, where she grew up, graduating from nearby Nitro High School. She discovered her love of singing at Girl Scout camp. In 1976, while attending West Virginia University, she joined the bluegrass band Pennsboro, and two years later dropped out of school to move to Nashville. She worked as a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame, did backup vocal work for Bobby Goldsboro, and sang demos for several Nashville songwriters and publishers including Nashville songwriter/producer Byron Hill who brought her to the attention of Frank Jones (then head of Mercury Records), who signed her to her first record deal in 1983.
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