Gretta Cohn, Ex-Cursive, Talks Cat Power, Solo Work

Since leaving Saddle Creek manic emo-ters Cursive-- for whom she shredded cello for four years, lending an electrifying edge to band's live show, LP The Ugly Organ, and EPs Burst and Bloom and 8 Teeth to Eat You-- Gretta Cohn's days have only gotten busier. Presently she's collaborating all willy-nilly, chipping away at a solo/not-solo record, and appearing with Cat Power and Charles Barkley on national late-night television.

Cohn joined Chan Marshall's Memphis Rhythm Band for several shows on the chanteuse's recent tour. As the ace cellist and sometime Pitchfork contributor-- now living once again in her native New York-- wrote in a recent e-mail to Pitchfork, playing with Chan Marshall and Co. has been an absolute blast.

"They were so welcoming, and we just sat around for hours in between shows, talking about music...I've never played a show where everyone smiled at each other during the set," she enthused.

Cohn also performed with Cat Power on this year's Halloween episode of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien". Also a guest that night: none other than Charles Barkley, famous for having his name pun'd by Gnarls Barkley. Apparently he played basketball too, or something.

"Late night is so funny," wrote Gretta. "Hours of waiting, two minutes of playing, and some serious makeup on the face."

Cohn's also shared her mad cello skillz, both live and on record, with numerous acts recently, including Charles Atlas, A Million Billion, Panic! at the Disco pals Black Gold, and Aarktica. While all this playing about has slowed down Cohn's work on her own album, she's grateful for the change of pace.

"At first I was like, 'Rush rush rush! Make a record!' which just sort of turned out to be paralyzing," wrote Cohn.

"So, yes I am working on it, but it is still in very early stages," she continued. "And I don't even want to call it solo-- really it's going to be collaborative, with a lot of friends, many of the people I've been working with lately are/will be involved."

As if she weren't active enough, Cohn has also been involved in soundtrack work. Last year, she contributed to the score for newcomer Todd Rohal's first feature film, The Guatemalan Handshake. And most recently, along with Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino, she lent her talents to a forthcoming remake of Brian DePalma's thriller Sisters.

"[Kazu] added vocals and I recorded the film's theme several times and added variations. We're on some tracks together...I also recorded sound design elements, weird sound effects, and the prelude to Bach's first cello suite."

Finally, Cohn has joined forces with Brooklyn turntablist/experimental artist Airport War for a number of projects, including an art installation based on Samuel Beckett's 1959 novel Watt.

Cursive, meanwhile, released Happy Hollow via Saddle Creek earlier this year and have been touring with Los Angeles-based cellist Aniela Perry.