Making ends meet in a time of prolonged economic uncertainty has become more difficult for Americans from all walks of life. From those below the poverty line to once-millionaire sports and entertainment stars, money troubles can take hold unexpectedly, often times through very little fault of one’s own.
Indie singer and bandleader Chan Marshall, better known by her stage moniker Cat Power, is not the sort of figure typically expected to declare bankruptcy. Marshall released a Top 10 Billboard album this fall and has played numerous hot-ticket concerts in cities across the country this year, including Miami in early October.
However, in the middle of what would seem a career high note, the songstress announced earlier this week the likely cancellation of her upcoming European tour due to health troubles and bankruptcy.
Marshall is a far cry from an underground struggling musician sleeping in her touring van and scrambling to fill dive bars. Cat Power has enjoyed both critical and sales success throughout her extensive career, frequently selling out concerts and generating perennial recognition on radio stations, in print media, and online. However, the new low-income reality of life as an indie musician outside of the Top 40 culture has brought a serious financial blow Marshall’s way.
Bankruptcy offers Cat Power a legal escape from mounting debts accrued from health issues past and present, and could be the fresh financial start that’s needed to restart both her current tour and overall career. While she may not be the stereotypical image of an American in need of bankruptcy, the legal option for debt relief may be her pitch-perfect solution.
Source: The Atlantic Wire, “There’s No Money in Indie Music: Cat Power is Broke,” David Wagner, Oct 31, 2012
- For more information on how bankruptcy can help bring a return to debt-free life, visit our Florida bankruptcy law page.