Cathy Couture (album release) with Dan Kennedy, Jenna Joanis, Beth Kille

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Beth Dohrn

Cathy Couture and band on stage at the Red Rooster.

Cathy Couture and band.

Singer-songwriter Cathy Couture first got on a mic in front of people in 2022 when participating in Ladies Rock Camp. Singing and learning various instruments also inspired Couture’s songwriting, and music became an important way of coping when she was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in early 2023. Couture’s first album, Transitions, musically processes her fight into thoughtful, direct and humorous folk rock songs. And while recording a second album, Amazing, Couture received the happy news that her cancer has gone into partial remission. For this show Couture will be joined by her recording partners, Jenna Joanis, Dan Kennedy and Beth Kille, with an opening set by Kennedy.

media release: Join the Kickstarter campaign for the album here (by 5/31).

On Wednesday, June 19, at 6:30pm The Red Rooster on Madison’s east side will be hosting a release party for local singer-songwriter Cathy Couture’s second album, titled “Amazing.” The record is aptly named, as it describes Couture’s journey with cancer and creativity the past two years.  

Couture sang for the first time publicly in 2022 at a Ladies Rock Camp, a version of Girls Rock Camp Madison designed for campers nineteen and over. This non-profit provides opportunities for music-makers of all skill levels to form a band, learn an instrument, write a song, and perform. 

“I always sang in the car, and around campfires, but never in front of people,” Couture states. “Going to Ladies Rock Camp gave me the support and confidence to sing with a mic in front of people for the first time.”  She was working as a psychotherapist and going to as many camps as she could to learn instruments and expand her songwriting skills. Then in early 2023, she was diagnosed with stage IV cancer, located in her kidney.  

Told to get her affairs in order, Couture processed dying by playing music and writing songs. This sustained her through six months of chemotherapy and subsequent immunotherapy treatments. “I didn’t hurt when I played music or sang,” Couture said. She organized a weekly jam session at her home with friends and started thinking about writing her own songs. She also started feeling better. 

Her first few songs came to the attention of Ladies Rock Camp songwriting instructor Beth Kille. “Cathy first came with three songs that she wanted to shape and record in the Fall of 2023,” Kille states. “She took to the writing and recording process so naturally that three songs quickly turned into eight original tunes.”  Kille and Couture teamed up with drummer Jenna Joanis, bassist Dan Kennedy and other local musicians to record at Kille’s studio. 

“The floodgates opened,” said Couture as she described the songwriting process. “I’d get ideas driving or doing the dishes, sometimes even waking in the middle of the night to jot down lyrics. It took my mind off of treatments and what the future could hold. In my mind it became my legacy.” Couture’s first album, “Transitions” was released in January of 2024, but she continued to generate more song ideas afterward.

During the recording of her second album, Couture received some amazing news. She was downgraded from stage IV cancer to partial remission. Couture credits music with helping the healing process and being able to keep a positive attitude. When she performs her song “Cancer Sucks,” she encourages the audience to shout with her as she sings about being a fighter. “I’ve seen so many people inspired by her performances,” Kille remarked. “It’s been a privilege to witness how the community has rallied to support her and to see all the lives she’s touched.”

This second album provides thoughtful songs that reflect Couture’s life philosophy and her sense of humor with a blend of folk and rock. The show on June 19 will open with a solo performance by Dan Kennedy and close with some of her fellow Ladies Rock Camp campers and staff on stage. In terms of what the future holds for Couture, it will certainly involve sharing more of her songs, surrounded by those who have been part of her amazing journey.