Kat Edmonson will self release her sophomore album Way Down Low on Spinnerette Records April 10. The native Texan makes not only her songwriting debut on the record but also co-produces the album. The album was recorded at the historic Avatar Studio and Capitol Studios with Grammy-winning producer/engineer Al Schmitt (Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke) and producer/bassist Danton Boller. The sessions also included input from producer Phil Ramone (Paul Simon “Still Crazy After All These Years,” Billy Joel “The Stranger”).

Edmonson’s first album Take to the Sky (2009) was self-released by her previous label Convivium Records. The album debuted at #21 on Billboard’s Jazz Charts and reached the Top 10 at jazz radio. The New York Times called Edmonson “a promising young jazz singer with a kittenish voice and an amiably relaxed style” while The Boston Globe said, “Edmonson might be the most promising American jazz singer to come along since Cassandra Wilson”.

Growing up in Houston, Edmonson credits her mother for getting her acquainted with music from the Great American Songbook. She began singing at age four, writing songs at age nine and at 19 she decided to try out for the second season of “American Idol” where she made it to the final 48 in Hollywood. She’s gone on to perform with fellow Texan Willie Nelson, open for Smoky Robinson, tour with Boz Scaggs, perform at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival and headline the Taichung Jazz Festival in Taiwan. In 2010 she developed a friendship with Lyle Lovett, spending a large portion of that summer opening for him. She also recorded two duets with Lovett for his three-song holiday EP “Songs for the Season” and performed the winter classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with him on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”.