Depending on your generation, you either grew up watching her as Peg Bundy on Married… With Children, hearing her voice as Futurama’s Leela or have come to love her in her current role as Gemma Teller Morrow on Sons Of Anarchy.  What you may not know, unless you have a keen ear as you watch SOA, is that actress Katey Sagal is also a hell of a singer.

Sagal‘s career in show business actually began in music, working as a back-up vocalist and songwriter for an eclectic group of talents.  Sagal lent her voice to the likes of Bob Dylan, Tanya Tucker, Gene Simmons, Bette Midler as she pounded the proverbial pavement and eventually landed her decade-long stint as Peg Bundy.

As a songwriter, Sagal isn’t the most prolific:  her first album Well… released in 1994, with her sophomore effort Room following in 2004.  As an appreciator of great music, one supposes Sagal understands that great art shouldn’t be rushed and her acting schedule hasn’t left much downtime along the way.  That said, Sagal grew tired of waiting for her own compositions to unfold on the page.  Perhaps inspired by the stunning covers she’s contributed to the soundtrack of Sons Of Anarchy, she recently collaborated with the show’s music supervisor, Bob Thiele, to assemble her forthcoming release, Covered.

A collection of songs both recent and classic, Covered is a blend of folk-rock gems.  “All have personal meaning and reason for me to want to sing them,” Sagal explains in the press release.  This is perhaps what excites me most about the album:  having heard her takes on Cohen’s “Bird On A Wire” and Petty’s “Free Fallin'”, that ability to take a song and make it her own truth is indeed heard in each soulful note Sagal delivers.  Connecting to the words of another is an art she’s demonstrated on screen and in song.  Covered‘s concept is all the more promising for it.

Katey Sagal‘s Covered releases November 12th, 2013.  Keep an eye on her official site for more details, check out the tracklist below (featuring an original composition, “Follow The River”) and for a taste of what’s to come, enjoy a live performance of “Free Fallin'”.

Track listing for Covered:
1. For Free (Joni Mitchell)
2. Roses & Cigarettes (Ray LaMontagne)
3. I Love You But I Don’t Know What To Say (Ryan Adams)
4. Gonna Take A Miracle (Laura Nyro)
5. Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty)
6. Goodbye (Steve Earle) (With Jackson Browne)
7. Secret Heart (Ron Sexsmith)
8. Follow The River (Bob Thiele/Tonio K)
9. Orphan Girl (Gillian Welch)
10. For a Dancer (Jackson Browne)