NASHVILLE |FROM: MARCEE RONDAN
SINGER/SONGWRITER CASEY STRATTON
MAKES ALBUM DEBUT WITH
‘STANDING AT THE EDGE’
SET FOR RELEASE THIS FALL ON ODYSSEY
PRODUCED BY PATRICK LEONARD
Singer, songwriter and musician CASEY STRATTON’s Odyssey debut recording STANDING AT THE EDGE announces the arrival of a new and distinctive sound–rich, hook-laden melodies and soulful lyrics, blended in powerful, intensely expressive vocals. Collaborating with producer Patrick Leonard, STRATTON demonstrates the breadth and depth of an arresting, introspective style in an ambitious new recording of 12 original songs. STANDING AT THE EDGE will be released this fall.
Buzz has been building on the 25-year-old STRATTON since 1997, when the artist’s first independently produced recording announced the arrival of an important emerging talent. STRATTON’s pop ambitions are backed up with solid training in voice and composition at Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy. The result is an articulate, highly personal style that has evolved quickly in only a few years. The singer, songwriter and musician has already built an impressive fan base and, last year, Music Connection magazine named STRATTON one of the “Top 100 Artists of the Future.”
“Four of the songs on STANDING AT THE EDGE were written for the album–one of them I wrote with Pat Leonard–and the rest we selected from songs I’d written in the past,” Stratton says. “After we chose them, a common thread seemed to emerge–endings that are also beginnings.”
STRATTON’s songs chart a wide emotional terrain, from the seething fury of “Blood” and the spiritual confrontation of “Cellophane” to the contemplative “Harvest” and the heartfelt, sadder-but-wiser “Bloom.” The strong hooks of the expansive melodies reflect diverse influences, from Tori Amos, Sarah MacLachlan, Radiohead and Björk to classical composers like Ravel, Debussy, Barber and Copland. STRATTON sees songwriting as a reflection of life, and the songs onSTANDING AT THE EDGE form an unusually honest and poetic journal.
Producer Patrick Leonard heard in STRATTON the versatile artistry he had become accustomed to in collaborating with such performers as Madonna, Elton John, Roger Waters and Jewel. Wrapped in the pristine sound that is Leonard’s signature, STANDING AT THE EDGE fully realizes the potential of Stratton’s big-scale ballad style. The singer, songwriter and musician will also tour following the release of the album.
“Pat Leonard was amazing,” STRATTON says. “The way we worked was really intuitive. It meant a lot that he’s also a keyboard player, a pianist. We were usually right on the same page, constantly finishing each other’s sentences. He respected what I was doing, and I trusted him. In many ways, he got me to simplify things in the sound on the record. We both understand that the songs themselves ‘know’ what they want, and our job is to go for that, to translate that as best we can.”
STANDING AT THE EDGE, CASEY STRATTON’s debut recording on Odyssey, will be featured on Sony Classical’s Web site at www.sonyclassical.com.
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