Carrie and the Cats
Written by: Cait Elizabeth - November 2018
Edited by: Travis Ryan
INTRODUCTIONS:
Carrie Wicks is an absolute powerhouse on stage. She surrounds her gigantic soul-filled voice with an insanely talented band and the results are nothing short of impressive. Carrie and The Cats have been around for a few years and seen a lot of line up changes; Carrie Wicks (vocals) and Billy Hanley (saxophone) are the two remaining original members. They are joined by Will Bart (guitar), Mike O’Donnell (guitar), Chris Parrett (bass), and Danny Roman (drums). They have an ever-changing sound, one that the frontwoman shares is moving into a soul/rock direction with a lot of funk vibes. When they were focusing on more of a blues sound they won the Long Island Blues Challenge and competed in Memphis, Tennessee. With a voice that big you’d think Carrie must have been taking vocal lessons since she was a baby, but she’s mostly self-taught. She says right now her favorite song to play is a new, unreleased and unperformed song called “Passing Through”. She explained that it comes from a raw emotional place and thinks people will be able to vibe with that. The song I always seem to have stuck in my head by The Cats is “Feels Like Gold”. With opening drums that jive with my love of big band music and Billy’s wicked sax playing alongside Carrie’s infectiously poppy lyrics, it’s guaranteed to be on repeat in your head for awhile.
Tours & Shows
Carrie and The Cats have opened for Samantha Fish in New Jersey, played the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas, competed in Memphis, Tennessee, and played gigs up and down the island. Carrie’s favorite so far was opening for Matisyahu at The Paramount in Huntington. I personally loved that I got to see them play the Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue. Carrie reports that the band has a ton of fun of the road singing, exploring, harassing Billy while he drives, and making inside jokes.
“The best thing you can do for yourself is to ONLY compete with yourself. Don’t try to be better than some body else, strive to be better than you were yesterday and that is true progress. Everyone moves at different paces and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Shout out to Montclair record group manangement team, having them has made things a lot easier and they have gotten us opportunities I will always be greatful for.”