Catherine Anne Davies is a producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter originally from Wales. Her artist project, The Anchoress, has seen her twice nominated for the Welsh Music Prize and named an Album of the Year by everyone from Elton John to The Sunday Times, to Record Collector and Prog Magazine.

A three times nominee for the prestigious Music Producers Guild Awards, Catherine's early roots as a classically-trained flautist have seen her journey from her engineering and co-writing credits on Top 20 albums, to recently being appointed as Professor of Music Production and Songwriting at ICMP & SAE.

Since winning a PRS Writer/Producer award in 2019, she has spent much of the last six years on her current obsession with vintage synthesizers.

Her Welsh Music Prize nominated self-produced second album as The Anchoress, The Art of Losing was both critically-lauded and achieved a Top 10 position in the UK physical album charts, as well as the #1 spot on iTunes. Album of the Year plaudits came from the Sunday Times, Record Collector, Line of Best Fit, Mail on Sunday, The Sun, and Prog Magazine.

Catherine's recent production projects include the lead radio single for Dot Allison's remix project, producing and mixing on the forthcoming Hen Hoose collective volume 2 compilation, co-producing her BBC 6 Music supported collaboration with Band Spectra, and producing and mixing the forthcoming Liberty's album.

She has also built a growing reputation as a go-to remixer for alternative artists such as Bishi, Thea Gilmore, and Roxanne DeBastion. Other recent projects also include co-production for Band Spectra, and a 5 track co-writing, engineering, and production contribution to the Top 20 UK album 'Spooky Action' by Paul Draper.

Her self-produced debut album as The Anchoress, Confessions of A Romance Novelist (2016) was named amongst the Guardian critics' Albums of the Year, won HMV's Welsh Album of the Year, Best Newcomer at the PROG awards, and a nomination for the Welsh Music Prize.

In Memory of My Feelings, her collaborative album with Bernard Butler (Duffy, Suede) — including 10 original co-written tracks — was released in October 2020 via Needle Mythology.

Catherine currently lectures on the MA programme at ICMP in London and co-leads the 'Culture of Belonging' studio workshops for women and gender minorities — a joint project between Miloco Studios and The F-List.

She is currently producing and writing for the Creative Scotland funded project Hen Hoose — an all-female songwriting collective and sync project, including a collaboration with 3 time BBC Folk Award winner Karine Polwart.

Co-Writing

Catherine has co-written with and worked alongside a variety of prominent industry names including Ed Harcourt (Paloma Faith & James Bay), Liam Howe (Jessie Ware, Marina) and Paul Statham (Kylie, Dido). She has also co-written with artists outside of the alternative rock genre, including MOBO-nominated singer-songwriter/cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson and British rapper Riz MC.

Alongside writing and producing, over the past few years Catherine also brought a new generation of ears to legendary Scottish rock band Simple Minds. She joined the line-up in 2014, bringing a fresh sound and look to the band, appearing on the Big Music (2015) and Walk Between Worlds (2019) albums as well as touring on keyboards, guitar, and additional vocals.

As a member of the Dark Flowers supergroup (alongside Jim Kerr (Simple Minds), Pete Murphy (Bauhaus), Kate Havenevik, Gabrielle Cilmi, and Shelley Poole (Alisha's Attic), Catherine co-wrote 6 tracks and appears as a featured artist on both of the collective's albums.

While completing her PhD, Catherine was appointed 'Emerging Artist in Residence' at the Southbank Centre in London. During this 18 month-long tenure she collaborated on a new song cycle with Nitin Sawhney, as well as working with the London Philharmonic on new collaborative work.

Live Session Work

Live work includes TV performances on Strictly Come Dancing and the Billboard Awards with Simple Minds, Glastonbury and Isle of Wight Festival with Manic Street Preachers, Glastonbury and End of the Road festival with Ed Harcourt, Radio 1 live sessions with Riz MC, and a full length live Radio 2 show with Simple Minds. In 2018 she appeared on two tracks and duetted on 'Dylan & Caitlin' from the No.2 album by the Manic Street Preachers 'Resistance is Futile'. She was also MD and played keyboards for the 2017 UK Paul Draper tour.

Catherine is currently a Senator for the Ivors Academy. She is also an ambassador for the FAC (Featured Artists Coalition) and Music Venues Trust, as well as previously sitting on the UK Music Diversity Committee for the Music Producer's Guild.