Cat Power Grows Up

Singer-songwriter Chan "Cat Power" Marshall, has always been talented, but over time she has developed the confidence to be masterful, writes New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones. Frere-Jones traces Marshall's career from the mid-'90s to the present, when "now that she knows better who she is, perhaps she’s less afraid of losing herself."

Marshall was erratic and awkward on stage initially, but gradually found her place, improving both her performances and her songs, according to Frere-Jones. "By the end of the century, she had entered the upper rank of independent musicians," he writes. Marshall has an upcoming release, Jukebox, slated for January. (More Chan Marshall stories.)