Success Story
This article describes the music career of Catherine Styron '83. This and other articles may be found in the University Archives.
Citation for this article is: "Success Story," ECU Report, Winter 1990, Volume 21, No. 2.
Raleigh's Dorton Arena was far from full, but those who did brave the rain and mud on a cold October day for a free fair concert by Kathy Mattea were enthusiastic -- particularly for the singer's piano player.
The hometown folks of Davis, a small Carteret County town, had come out in force to see one of their own who had made good.She's Catherine Styron, an ECU graduate who moved to Nashville, Tenn., six-and-a-half years ago to try and make it as a studio musician.
And make it she has -- Styron has performed with some of country music's biggest stars, including Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, Chet Atkins and Randy Travis. Twitty and Mattea have asked her to play on their next albums, and her work can already be heard on singer-songwriter Larry Boone's LP.
"I am a huge fan of hers, and that's for real," says Mattea, who was named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association in October. "We didn't even audition her. I just asked her to please come out with me when I heard she was interested."
Styron has been touring with Mattea since April and plans to stay with the group at least through June."We've done things like The Pat Sajak Show, Nashville Now, the CMA award show, Hee Haw and the cerebral palsy telethon," Styron says. "Kathy is great; she's just a regular person."
Although touring has its advantages, like getting to know other artists, Styron says she much prefers studio work. "We've opened for Ricky Skaggs, and one night Merle Haggard's piano player was sick, and I got to sit in with him," she explains. "But I like to work in town. I'm not much for traveling."
There's good money to be made in studio work, which Styron says is more prestigious than touring."But that's not why I want to do it," she says. "It's more creative. You're the one who gets to play the licks that everybody else copies. You won't hear this band or anybody's band on the radio. You only hear the artist and studio players."
Styron has been performing in public for most of her 28 years.She discovered a talent for the piano around the age of four, and began playing at church soon after.As a young girl, she, her sister, and a neighbor formed a "little girl singing trio" that put on variety shows for fish fries and clam bakes."We played for big crowds back then," she says.
At ECU she studied with Dr. Henry Doskey and won the Young Artist and Concerto competitions before graduating in 1983 with a degree in piano performance.
"She's one of the top three or four students I've ever had here," says Doskey, who's been at ECU since 1976."She was a real joy to teach. I encouraged her to go on to graduate school in classical piano because I knew she had the talent, but she had this idea that she wanted to do country music.
"She's such a sweet girl; she deserves all the good things that are happening to her."
Although Styron was highly recruited by several music schools, she chose to continue her education at ECU because it was close to home. "I was shy and quiet and had never been away from home," she says. "And they have an excellent music school. A lot of people don't give ECU credit because it's located in eastern North Carolina."
The degree has yet to open any doors for Styron. "Most people don't read music at all," she says. "I've never been to a reading session where somebody put a piece of music down. It's always just, 'Here's the way it goes,' and we play it."
Being female hasn't helped either, which Styron says has cost her some jobs. "In Nashville women are singers and not players," she says. "I've had people tell me that they couldn't hire a girl. I still get it all the time."
Nicky Harris of Greenville, who's been entertaining country music fans in eastern North Carolina since 1964, admits that he didn't want to hire Styron for the same reason.
"I changed my mind the first time I heard her play, she was so good," he says."She's one of the best piano players in Nashville right now; she's without a doubt the best female piano player there."
Styron played with the Nicky Harris Band for about two years while at ECU. It was that experience, she says, that first turned her on to country music. "I wasn't country when country wasn't cool," she says with a laugh. "I never liked country music until I started playing it."
Harris also introduced Styron to studio work. "He took me to Nashville and had me play on his album with other Nashville studio players," she says. "After that, studio work was all I wanted to do."
Styron's playing can also be heard on Harris' latest album, set for release in March."She has the best ear I've ever heard in a musician," he says. "She can listen to a song on the radio and write out all the chord charts by the time it is through playing. I've never seen anyone who can do that. With her talent, there's no telling how far she will go."
Getting established in Nashville wasn't easy for Styron, who had no connections when she made the move in 1983. Nevertheless, in just three weeks she landed her first paying job, an accomplishment that can take as long as a year for some.
"I started going around to clubs, sitting in on picker's nights," she says. "The very first one I went to was the Nashville Palace, and Randy Travis was the house band. He was just a nobody club singer then; he went by the name Randy Ray. I'd go back to his club because he and his band were so nice.Whenever his keyboard player couldn't make it, they'd call me."
By 1986, she was performing at Twitty City with Conway's son and two daughters.The legendary singer took note of Styron's talents and gave her a call in 1988 when his keyboard player was injured in an automobile accident.
"I was shocked," Styron remembers. "He asked me if I'd like to join the band."
Styron toured with Conway for almost nine months. "He traveled so much that I missed out on a lot of studio work," she says."Kathy Mattea's schedule is not as busy, so I have time to do writer demos and other things."
She recently performed with Chet Atkins for a PBS special on Hank Williams Sr. that airs in March. She can also be seen on TNN accompanying singer John Davidson on his Holiday Gourmet shows for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day and Father's Day.
