Featured Photo Credit: Caity Krone
Grief is not created equal. It can be awkward and imposing, an unsettling sense of privilege, or a defining force that will shift your existence toward the unknown.
I refused to leave bed on April 12, 2023, at 5:20am. I knew once my foot slid from under the covers and landed on the Ruggable I’d grown to hate, my life would not be the same. You see, my mom died from Stage 3 Single Cell Lung Cancer that very morning and her death became a black hole that I was unprepared to face.
The loss of a parent can make you unquestionably numb. Catie Turner, however, has ripped this grief bandaid off like a boss, introducing fans to a daring new spin entitled Comedy & Tragedy: Act 1. Available to music lovers via Atlantic Records, it is the first of a two-part collection of songs, music videos, and TikTok visuals to be released throughout 2023. Named by People Magazine as one of “25 Emerging Musical Artists You Should Add to Your Playlist,” Catie Turner is celebrating her Comedy & Tragedy with the most extensive US live run thus far.
With her music video for Comedy & Tragedy: Act 1 currently streaming on YouTube, there is a confident swagger in Catie’s voice and her gifted lyrics. With care and craft, Catie’s self-aware humor about fear and her new reality is straight-up priceless. On a small stage with no audience in sight, a spotlight burning on her face, Catie presents herself as a quick-witted, free-willing storyteller. She performs with everything that she’s got and then some. Catie skillfully creates a cohesion that not only honors her late father, but her genuine feelings as well. Delivering with a soft ferocity, Catie found comedy in her grief, and it is fantastic, sad, and, as she sings, “a cruel reality.” She goes toe-to-toe with the heartbreak and emotions about watching her father’s body slowly break down while putting sorrow and her unique wit center stage.
Be advised, music lovers, you need to more than simply listen to Comedy & Tragedy: Act 1. Anyone can hear this tune, but to absorb it and understand it is at another level entirely. With hilarious whispers of conversations Catie has with herself, the song is frank about cancer, death, and losing some personal attention to an ailing parent.
Catie Turner adds a fun cherry to this collection with her ongoing TikTok Comedy & Tragedy The Musical with colorful characters and hilarious moments.
Though shaped by trauma, Comedy & Tragedy: Act I is an essential piece to this treasure of songs. Catie vividly displays that is okay to grieve and be funny in the same breath.