FEATURE:
Dreams
IN THIS PHOTO: CATTY
Why CATTY Supporting Stevie Nicks at BST Hyde Park Has This Wonderful Romance
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IT happens now and then…
IN THIS PHOTO: Stevie Nicks/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
and is more common and possible in the modern culture. What I am referring to is artists who are perhaps rising or not yet at the mainstream being given the opportunity to perform alongside legends and truly established artists. Artists like Taylor Swift selecting various artists to support depending on which country she is performing her Eras Tour. It must be a moment of real shock and ecstasy for an artist who gets that opportunity. Something they can talk about forever. In years and decades past, maybe the process was slightly different. If you got that sort of chance, it is possibly the case that the artist’s manager – the big and established artist – sees this upcoming act and recommends them. Maybe there is this word-of-mouth vibe. It probably occurred less than it does now. You would hear stories of those waiting or working behind bars getting these massive opportunities. Their dreams coming true. Being pulled from that somewhat modest setting and making it onto a giant stage alongside a hero of theirs. Almost this Hollywood vibe. This takes me to the recent case of CATTY. This is someone who has been on my radar and I hope to feature in my Spotlight feature soon. She is an amazing talent who I hope gets interviewed and profiled a lot soon enough. Take her music to new levels and people. As the BBC write, CATTY has been given the chance this summer to appear alongside Stevie Nicks at BST Hyde Park:
“A singer has secured a dream gig performing as a support act at a Stevie Nicks concert after using Instagram to "sell herself like a dog".
Catty, also known as Catrin Hopkins, will appear on stage at the Fleetwood Mac star's BST Hyde Park show.
It was all thanks to her sending a voice note to the booking agent on Instagram saying: "Hi, this is so embarrassing, but I just think it should be me."
The independent artist, from Caernarfon, Gwynedd, still works as a waitress to fund her career and will now join six other artists to make the all female line-up on 12 July.
"I called my manager and said ‘there’s no way this can go ahead without me’," she told Radio Wales Breakfast.
"We basically just emailed everybody that we could and we weren't getting any responses.
"So I found the booking agent and I just sent her a voice note on Instagram."
Catty started her career in the pop duo Dusky Grey in 2016 before moving to London to become a solo artist in 2021.
"I am pushing myself constantly, I'm also still a waitress and I have no shame about that," she said.
"Making music is so, so hard in terms of making money. That's how I'm funding everything - that's how I fund every show, that's how I fund every song that I put out.
"It’s really hard, but there's no way that I would ever do anything else.”
Stevie Nicks will headline BST in Hyde Park on 12 July
Catty is no stranger to supporting big artists after singing at a Lewis Capaldi concert as part of Dusky Grey, but said this opportunity was her "big dream".
"I’m quite calm about it now because we found out two weeks ago, but this means the world to me," she said.
"The reaction I had when it was announced, I just cried. That’s literally my hero!".
Even if the circumstance of CATTY supporting Stevie Nick is not quite the same as being discovered oldskool or getting her name spread about town, it is a modern equivalent. This young and very passionate artist putting her heart out there to share the stage with a hero. What I love is that this sort of thing can happen more in the modern day. With platforms like Instagram and TikTok, smaller artists can reach these major artists and, sometimes, their dreams can come true. That Stevie Nicks Fleetwood Mac song, Dreams. It seems very appropriate for CATTY. There is something wonderfully almost filmic about this coming together. A new artist whose has this music idol and hero. Never assuming the two would meet. That now will happen. Although CATTY Joins other women on stage, there is something about her story and situation that is particularly fantastic and rare. Not to suggest that all artists take to Instagram and work tirelessly to get their heroes to notice them. It may not always pay off or be possible. CATTY is also someone who has put in the hours and hard work. It is not like she is a talent show contestant who has been given a shot because of some T.V. exposure. The marrying of something new like Instagram and that bygone thing about dreams coming true in this strange and unexpected way. I think this is why the story stood out for me. I wanted to write about it. We might see other artists get that same opportunity as CATTY. They may be working in bars or shops between gigs and music commitments. Suddenly find themselves in the position where they get the gig of a lifetime! You can get tickets to see Stevie Nicks on 12th July. There is this great and varied BST Hyde Park line-up. It will be amazing. Especially true for CATTY. Going on stage to support an idol of hers. It shows that, in a hectic, competitive and packed music landscape, where artists have to struggle for recognition and survival, dreams really can…
COME true.