Spotlight: Caitlin Cary

Ryan Adams isn't the only former member of Whiskeytown who can write a damn fine song. Fiddler Caitlin Cary, who played female foil to Ryan's alt.country bad boy in the chaotic No Depression band, has just released her first full-length album, While You Weren't Looking (Yep Roc). On it, she proves a beguiling songstress.

"Songwriting is a new thing for me," she claims. "I dabbled in songwriting before, but I dabbled in anything to do with music before I got involved with Whiskeytown. The whole Whiskeytown thing for me was such an accident. I always had this sensation of slipping and sliding down a waxy ramp."

Since the new disc sounds so accomplished, it's surprising to hear that for Cary, the songwriting process is still by and large a mystery.

"There are times when you have no control over what you're writing and it just comes out the way it wants to," the North Carolinian maintains. "From my perspective, I just come up with an idea, and what it ends up sounding like is totally intangible."

Cary credits producer Chris Stamey (dB's, Yo La Tengo, Alejandro Escovedo) with a big assist on While You Weren't Looking.

"Since I don't play guitar or piano," explains Cary, "no matter how fully formed the songs are in my head, I still have to find someone to figure out the chords. I needed someone to interpret this weird musical language I speak."

With a talented band that includes former Whiskeytown bandmate Mike Daly on guitar, Jen Gunderman (ex-Jayhawks) on keyboards, and John Wurster from Superchunk on drums, and her fine batch of new songs, Cary's live show should prove to be equally as captivating as the new CD.

"I never thought I'd be in the position I'm in now," declares Cary. "I can't wait to go out on the road; it's totally going to be a thrill."