She's So Skirt!

June 2008 by Aleigh Acerni
From Skirt Magazine

Kathy Neal | Songwriter

By day she works for Microsoft, but by night, Kathy is serious about her music. Hooked from the moment she first picked up the guitar, she loves being able to set her poetry to music.

"When you write songs, it's a humbling experience," says Kathy, whose songs are often about a woman’s journey to empowerment and self-independence. "You hope that people will relate and get something out of it."

Although she wrote and wrote, building up a large body of work, Kathy never considered herself much of a singer, so her music didn't have an audience. It wasn't until her friend Tracy started winning karaoke contests that she decided to put together a band - with Tracy singing at the helm.

The band, South 85, performs Kathy's original country/pop songs, and their first album, "El Camino," which shares the name of a track that was one of the first songs Kathy wrote, was released last month. “We love entertaining people,” Kathy says.

~Aleigh Acerni

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