Caitlin Cary is the youngest of seven siblings (all older brothers). Her entire family was involved in music to some degree, with her parents' love for singing and her father's interest in building instruments.[1] She had begun to play the violin at age five, but put it aside as a teenager.[2] In addition to the violin, she also played her father's harpsichords, where she wrote some of her own songs.[1]
Cary went to college at the
College of Wooster in
Ohio.[1] She began working on a degree in English. During her college time, she picked up playing the violin again, and she formed a small 'jokey' band called Garden Weasels. After graduating from the College of Wooster, she enrolled in the graduate program in creative at
North Carolina State.[2]
Career
Whiskeytown
In 1993, musician
Ryan Adams contacted Cary and asked her if she would play violin in a band that he was starting. Cary agreed, and they formed
Whiskeytown.[2]
Solo career
In 2000, Cary released her first solo EP Waltzie, produced by
Chris Stamey.[3]
Cary's debut album While You Weren't Looking was released in 2002 and featured Whiskeytown's
Mike Daly (guitar), who co-wrote and played on most of the songs.[4] Personnel also included Mike Santoro (bass), Skillet Gilmore (drums), and Jen Gunderman (keyboards).
Thad Cockrell, Tonya Lamm (Hazeldine), and Lynn Blakey provided harmonies.[2]
In 2010, Caitlin performed with Matt Douglas (lead singer and songster for The Proclivities) in Raleigh's annual Love Hangover show, in which male/female duos sing love song covers.[8] They then formed the group Small Ponds, who released an EP on Last Chance Records in September 2010.[9]
Visual arts
Cary is an accomplished visual artist, creating fabric collages she calls "Needle Print." Examples of her work are prominently featured on her website.[10]