Katy Shotter
April 3, 2008
Throughout her life, Katy Shotter has known the piano was a special instrument. As a toddler, she watched in awe as her mother gracefully played the family’s white piano. In time, her mother educated her about classical piano technique while her father showed her jazz chords. Katy fell for the keys.
“I loved the sound, and I just felt a feeling I don’t feel with anything else when I play the piano. The fact I could create new songs and I could write my own music while accompanying myself was the best feeling for me. When I was a young girl, I used to play and sing my own songs at school to everyone and on a few occasions I was overwhelmed by the reaction as I had made some of the audience cry. I loved the fact I wasn’t just a singer but also a musician.”
Katy Shotter first made a name for herself by appearing on the UK television show, Chancers, a songwriting competition and an opportunity to work with Mathew Knowles, best known for leading Destiny’s Child and Beyoncé to international stardom. Asked why she auditioned for the show, Katy candidly says, “I was so depressed working a 9-5 in an office. I just knew I couldn’t waste any more time.”
“The feeling I get when I play, on stage or privately, is an indescribable buzz. It’s something that makes me feel elated and on top of the world. In a way it’s my form of therapy. If I’m really down, I play the piano and let it all out. The personal connection I have with just me and my piano is something that no one can ever take away. It’s my diary, my counselor. It knows everything about me! It’s one of the most precious things in my life. If you take that away, half of me would not be here.”
As her musical talent developed and people began discovering her, she garnered praise from John Legend (who called her an amazing pianist) Beyoncé and Robin Thicke (who praised her musicianship while both were on the Beyoncé tour.) New fans are now discovering her immense gifts for themselves. One concert highlight is Shotter’s “Complicated Woman,” a boisterous song that she dedicates to the women in the audience.
Along with her powerful vocals and inescapable hooks, Shotter says she wants her music to encourage her fans to follow their dreams.
Katy is currently in the studio working on her forthcoming album entitled ‘Beautifully Strange’
To hear Katy you can go to her myspace page
