Neko Case 'Overwhelmed' by First Grammy Experience

Posted on Feb 2nd 2010 4:00PM by Steve Baltin
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Neko Case's 'Middle Cyclone' debuted at number three on the charts last year and topped several year-end critics best-of lists. The indie darling clearly belonged at this year's Grammy Awards, where she was nominated twice (Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Recording Package for 'Middle Cyclone'), bringing her first invitation to party with the likes of Jay-Z, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Green Day and more of music's biggest superstars.

So, what did she think of the show? "Well, I'm really excited in an anthropology kind of way. It's nice to see what humans do in this situation" Case told Spinner on the red carpet. "It's such a canonized event and I've been watching it my whole life. I'm overwhelmed and very excited to be here obviously, but I don't know what to make of it yet. I'm so country mouse."

Being there in the presence of the aforementioned superstars, who was she most excited to see? "I found out that Sheila E is gonna be here today and she is one of my idols," Case said. "I'm most over the moon to see Sheila E doing anything."

It's not the obvious choice, but then again Case had her fill of superstars two nights earlier when she joined Elton John and Leon Russell in serenading Neil Young with a rendition of his classic 'Helpless.' For a self-proclaimed country mouse that seems like an overwhelming situation. "It was very terrifying and I'm still terrified," she said. Was it singing with John and Russell, doing a Young song in front of him or all of the above? "It pretty much couldn't have gotten any more bizarre unless they said, 'You're gonna perform it in an emergency room in front of the president,'" she said.