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Cat Madden originally came to B.C. 10 years ago, right after doing a bachelor’s degree in music at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London, England. Like many young people who hail from a Commonwealth nation, her eyes turned to Whistler.

“I did the ski bum thing for a while and absolutely hated it,” she recalls in a phone call with the Straight . “It’s advertised in England as like ‘hippy town’ or whatever, and you get there and realize it’s so corporate.”

After toughing it out for a few years, Madden lived out of her car for a short period before she started playing regularly with bands in Squamish. She moved in with a couple of musicians there, including well-k

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