POP MUSIC

Cat Popper has earned her stripes as a bassist with a long list of big names—so a solo career is long overdue. We meet the reluctant star...

Catherine ‘Cat’ Popper has played with a mighty list of celebs—Jack White, Brian Fallon, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Norah Jones, Puss N Boots, Willie Nelson, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice, Grace Potter, Jesse Malin, Tommy Stinson and Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble Band among them. Tired of the road, she joined the Broadway show Diana in 2020, just in time for the pandemic to take that gig away—leaving her free to write her first solo song, ‘Maybe It’s All Right’. Not that she did it entirely willingly, as she explains.

Cat, what led you to record solo music now?

I took a little break from the road in 2019, because it’s hard on my body, and I took the Diana gig last February. The great thing about Broadway is that you can sub out 50 percent of your shows. It can be a little hairy when you’re first getting your subs in, but once the MD likes your sub, then you’re good to go. I know a guy who plays in a major rock band, and he has a Broadway show. They were touring widely, so he’d just take a leave of absence.

Have you written much solo stuff in the past?