iSound

KATHARINE WHALEN Lightning has struck twice for Katharine Whalen. It happened in the ’90s, when the Squirrel Nut Zippers, the jump blues/hot jazz outfit the North Carolina native had formed with her then-husband, Jim Mathus, hit pay dirt, inadvertent stars of the neo-swing movement. Fast-forward ten years, past the release of her first solo album, Katharine Whalen’s Jazz Squad, the demise of the Zippers, the birth of daughter Cecelia Mae, now six, and the responsibilities of single motherhood. Enter producer/player David Sale, the San Diego-based former leader of Camus, who was in North Carolina working on a rock project while also seeking a vocalist to demo some unorthodox material he was working up on the side. A mutual friend suggested Whalen, who was sufficiently curious to meet with him. Sale played a few of the songs on guitar, then put the demos in progress on a tape for her to listen to in her car. After learning the songs, Whalen returned to his rented house and sang th...