IN: Charlyn Marie Marshall was born January 21, 1972 in Atlanta, Georgia, the second child of Charlie Marshall, a blues musician and pianist, and Myra Lee Marshall (nee Russell). She has one older sister, Miranda "Mandy." Her parents divorced in 1979 and remarried shortly thereafter. Her mother remarried and had a son Lenny, and the family travelled around often because of her stepfather's profession.

In early 2000s, Marshall's live performances had become erratic and unpredictable, and The New Yorker suggested, "It is foolhardy to describe a Cat Power event as a concert," citing "rambling confessions" and "[talking] to a friend's baby from the stage." Marshall later attributed this period to a drinking problem, telling HARP magazine in 2006: "I didn't know I was messed up." Marshall has admitted abusing alcohol in the past; in a 2006 interview with The New York Times, she declared herself to be sober, which she defined as having had "seven drinks in seven months."  Following the cancellation of the arranged tour of the Greatest album in 2006, Marshall used the hiatus to recover from what she described as a "psychotic break" brought on by mental exhaustion and alcohol abuse, which had left her feeling suicidal. As part of her recovery, she was admitted to the psychiatric ward at Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute but left after a week, stating: "being in there wasn't me." She later likened the experience to "a pit of hell." Marshall gave a first person account of her breakdown in an interview for the November 2006 issue of Spin.  In 2012, after the release of Sun, Marshall began having trouble breathing and was hospitalized multiple times, though doctors were unable to diagnose her. "I thought I was dying," she recounted. "They told me they were going to put me in a coma to save my lungs. My friend came to visit and told me I'd made the Billboard Top 10 and all I could think was: 'I don't want to die.'" Marshall was subsequently diagnosed with hereditary angioedema, an immune disorder that causes sporadic swelling of the face and throat. In September 2012, she stated she had been hospitalized due to the condition over eight times, which led her to cancel her European tour.

WHAT IS HEREDITARY ANGIOEDEMA

OUT: an immune disorder that causes sporadic swelling of the face and throat.


IN: Blues Traveler is an American rock band formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band's music covers a variety of genres, including blues rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock. It is known for extensive use of segues in their live performances, and was considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, spearheading the H.O.R.D.E. touring music festival. Currently, the group comprises singer and harmonica player John Popper, guitarist Chan Kinchla, drummer Brendan Hill, bassist Tad Kinchla, and keyboardist Ben Wilson.

On August 20, 1999, Bobby Sheehan was found dead in his New Orleans, Louisiana home, where he had been recording music with some friends the night before. Sheehan's death was ruled an accidental drug overdose, with cocaine, Valium, and heroin found in his system.  The remaining members of Blues Traveler convened and agreed that Sheehan would have wanted them to continue as a band. Auditions for a new bassist were held in concert, and included Chan Kinchla's younger brother Tad, who was unanimously determined to be the best choice for the role. Additionally, an open call was sent for a permanent keyboard player, a role of which Sheehan had often been a proponent. In January 2000, Ben Wilson of the jump blues band Big Dave & the Ultrasonics was chosen, and has since become a central contributor to the band's songwriting.  The band discarded their concept album material, instead releasing a smaller online EP, Decisions of the Sky: A Traveler's Tale of Sun and Storm, and went to work collectively composing a new set of songs with the new lineup. The resulting album was Bridge, which had the working title Bridge Outta Brooklyn as a tribute to Sheehan (with both the acronym B.O.B. and his nickname "Brooklyn Bobby"). The songs "Girl Inside My Head" and "Just for Me" received airplay, but the album's sales fell somewhat short of expectations.  The live album What You and I Have Been Through and the compilation Travelogue: Blues Traveler Classics were both released in 2002.

How did the new members work out for the band?

OUT:
since become a central contributor to the band's songwriting.