Stereo Embers The Podcast: Kay Hanley (Letters To Cleo)

“Here And Now”

Letters To Cleo may seemed to have suddenly shown up on the pop culture landscape in 1994, but the fact is, the Boston outfit had been grinding it out on the club since 1990. Their single “Here and Now” was an instant classic—a melodic dose of perfect pop stomp that showcased singer Hanley’s powerful vocal delivery. The band tore through the ‘90s, releasing three perfect albums (Aurora Gory Alice, Wholesale Meats And Fishes and Go), appeared as the house band in 10 Things I Hate About You, played SXSW, and playing with everyone from Cheap Trick to Neds Atomic Dustbin. Oh, and I almost forgot: In 1996, playing Mary Magladene, Hanley co-starred with Extreme’s Gary Cherone in the Boston Rock Opera’s performance of Jesus Christ Superstar. In the early 2000’s, Hanley was the singing voice for Rachel Leigh Cook in Josie and the Pussycats and though the band called it a day that same year, they did record 15 new and original songs for the Kids’ WB cartoon Generation O! That will become important in a second, but just to round out the corners here, Hanley toured as a back-up singer for Miley Cyrus’ Hannah Montana venture, put out a handful of great solo releases, sang the National Anthem at Gillette stadium for the Patriots and got to work on her new career, composing all-original songs for animated TV shows like Doc McStufins, DC Super Hero Girls, and Harvey Girls Forever, to name a few. How’s that career going? Well, in 2022 Hanley won an Emmy for songwriting on We The People. So I’d say, not too shabby. On that front, she and her writing partners Michelle Lewis, Dan Petty and Charlton Pettus created Disney Jr.’s Kindergarten: The Musical and Hanley is also co-executive director of Songwriters of North America (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songwriters_of_North_America), an LA-based non-profit which advocates for fair pay and other rights for songwriters. As for Letters to Cleo? Well, the band may no longer be a full-time concern, but they pop up here and there to play gigs. They just completed a mini-November tour and they have a show on Jan 9th in Madison at the Majestic. Get your tickets now. Well, listen to the show, THEN get your tickets. Or multi-task. We know you can do it.

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