Katrina
Building on the U.S. breakthrough success of Katrina’s last single ‘Shame On Me’, the Los Angeles-based singer’s star continues to rise with the UK release of her new single ‘So Eden’ on March 26th 2012.
A lament to lost love, ‘So Eden’ is the latest single to be released from Katrina’s forthcoming debut album ‘In The Blink Of An Eye’, and continues the star’s welcome return to the music scene.
Having won the 'American Idol' precursor 'Star Search' when she was 11 years-old, Katrina looked set to follow in the footsteps of other global stars such as Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Usher and Justin Timberlake, for whom the show was a launch pad to their careers. However, with the world at her feet, Katrina turned her back on the music industry.
Her success on ‘Star Search’ meant she was recognised everywhere she went, which she found startling. "I just wanted to be a kid," she recalls. "People were starting to recognise me and my parents wouldn't let me out of their sight.
"I understood the concept of celebrity, I just didn't understand how it involved me. I just wanted to enjoy growing up ."
Katrina spent the following years performing in her school choir, singing backup for friends’ bands and writing her own songs. She then finished college, went to law school, got a Masters in Entertainment and Media Law and did stints in criminal defence and workers’ compensation. Then she went to see Cher...
"I’ve always been a huge fan," she says. "I went to see Cher in Las Vegas and walked out of that show in tears, saying, "I can’t do this anymore".
The decision may have been simmering for a decade, but it was made in a flash. "I always knew I’d go back to singing."
With her mind made-up, Katrina was introduced to Grammy-winning producer/engineer Val Garay (James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Neil Diamond, Elton John and Kim Carnes) and songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Hayes (Bonnie Raitt, Cher, Natalie Cole), and a year after that fruitful first writing collaboration Katrina finished recording her debut album, ‘In The Blink Of An Eye’. "It was one year to the day," she marvels.
The creative chemistry between Katrina and Garay was clear from the start and new single 'So Eden' was born during their first session together at Hayes’ studio in San Rafael, California.
"It’s a pop record," Katrina says of the finished work, "but I’ve always been influenced by rock music, and Val’s work influenced me a long time before I met him.
"Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Kim Carnes, the Motels, Dramarama - I know all that stuff from the radio. I still hear it all the time. I’ve learned so much from him."
Of her musical homecoming, Katrina says, "When the time came, I knew it was right and I haven’t looked back. I’m doing what I love most - this was meant to be."
Katrina’s new single ‘So Eden is released on March 26th 2012, and her debut album ‘In the Blink of an Eye’ is scheduled for release in late-Spring 2012