Catie Curtis

With a clear, deceptively gentle voice, she can turn on a dime and thrill  the listener with unforeseen power and emotion. Intricate acoustic picking sometimes slants its way into jazz territory, recalling  Joan Armatrading, and her staunchly feminist messages further the  comparison. But Curtis is very much an original, and a refreshing  departure from the stale formula offered by many of today's singer- songwriters.