Kitty Rose and the Rattlers Release Debut Album

Rockabilly hasn’t really had a significant presence in Atlanta’s local scene since the heyday of the so-called Redneck Underground and the Star Bar scene of the early-to-mid ’90s, although several of those acts and remnants thereof still play around town. Sparking up a bit of a revival, Kitty Rose and the Rattlers are comparative newcomers to the scene, even though singer Katharine Chase has a long and varied musical history.

The Houston native played in an early ’80s lesbian band in San Francisco before hitting Hollywood in its hair metal sleaziest. Trying her luck as an Americana singer-songwriter and fronting a country-rock band in the ’90s, she eventually ended up in Nashville where she established her alter ego, Kitty Rose, as a traditional country singer before zeroing in on the rockabilly concept.

Following a pair of singles, Kitty and the Rattlers have issued their eponymous debut CD, tearing through ten originals (including the contents of their last single), plus covers of Barbara Pittman’s late ‘50s rouser “Everlasting Love” and “Donna Goes to Tijuana” by late ‘90s Atlanta band Poor Little Fools. The spirited trio covers a lot of musical ground in what can seem to non-devotees a rather constraining genre, and Chase/Rose’s boisterous delivery guarantees a smile. They’ll bring the fun and retro ‘50s fashion sense to City Winery (pre-fireworks) on July 4, and opening a rockabilly bill at the Star Bar the following night, with Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho Devilles and The Rocketz.