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MAGAZINE
DALTON
‘MAGICAL TIME’
Residents share holiday
traditions and recipes
SEASONAL TALE
The Snow Queen brings to
life ‘a place of dreams’
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
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FULL CIRCLE
Basketball coach overcomes to
win national championship
STAR SEARCH
Celebrity impersonator now
teaching yoga
Photos by Matt Hamilton
Tribute artist Cathy
“C.C.” Carter performs
at the trade center as
Shania Twain.
34 Dalton Magazine
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
Man! I feel
like Shania!
Cathy “C.C.” Carter makes
mark as celebrity impersonator
“We did the whole skit, from the
athy “C.C.” Carter says she has
innocent Sandy to where I came out
been singing since she could
with the whole red Candies (shoes)
talk, but went through a shy
and the black leather and the curly
phase growing up.
wig. It was quite a production,” she
So it might come as a surprise to
said.
those who knew her in high school, first
Other performat Southeast
ers Carter imperWhitfield and later
by ICTOR
ILLER
sonated during
at Murray County
that time were
High School, that
Cher and Linda Ronstadt.
she has enjoyed a career as a celebrity
impersonator — including a stint in Las
Vegas bound
Vegas — and was included in a feature
In 2004 Carter was approached to
on such acts on CMT (Country Music
attend a convention of celebrity imperTelevision).
sonators in Las Vegas as Shania because
“I became this quiet, shy ... I don’t
CMT was producing a show called
know. That’s why so many people were
“Impostors: The Life of a Celebrity
surprised when I ended up singing on
Impersonator.” If you go to CMT’s webevery stage in Vegas,” Carter said, laughsite there is a photo of a “Shania Twain”
ing.
marrying an “Arnold Schwarzenegger” in
Now Carter
a real-life wedding, but Carter says that is
(www.myspace.com/cccathycarter) is
not her, although she was part of the
back in Dalton, having opened North
show.
Georgia Yoga in Bry-Man’s Plaza North
She was soon recruited to Sin City.
late last year, and performing as Shania
“They were like ‘You need to live
Twain, Faith Hill or other celebrities
when opportunities present themselves, here, we can get you work,’ and I had
been offered a job in Nashville on
such as the Northwest Georgia Muscle
Printer’s Alley singing with a country
show at the trade center recently.
band,” Carter said.“I was ‘Well, Vegas. I
“I did everything backward,” Carter
said.“I went to school, got the big corpo- can always go to Nashville.’ So I went
rate job, did all that, and then I moved to back out there in July to another event
called the Reel Awards. It’s a really difFlorida,” where in 1997 she started
ferent world out there, especially being
singing with Clutch, a popular show
Vegas. You walk the red carpet (as
band in Panama City Beach.
Carter, who in her 20s had toured area celebrity impersonators) and you’re
celebrities and all this. I did the Reel
states singing Christian music, said
Awards as Shania.”
Clutch had been around for decades.
Carter and another girl talked about
While she was with the band it permoving to Vegas, and in October 2004
formed numbers spanning from the ‘50s
Carter took the plunge, beginning with
to contemporary, but also did “tributes.”
singing Top 40 hits in the lounges of the
There was an Elvis impersonator (of
casinos as herself, and eventually movcourse), and also Roy Orbison. And then
there was the “Grease” tribute, where
Cathy “C.C.” Carter with Reba
Carter was Sandy, the Olivia NewtonMcEntire, from top, Miranda
John character from the movie starring
John Travolta.
Lambert and Susan Lucci.
C
V
M
Dalton Magazine
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 35
ing into the impersonator world as
Shania for a production called Legends
in Concert. She also impersonated Faith
Hill and Pat Benatar, and she would travel as well, performing in Los Angeles and
elsewhere in California and Arizona at
various fundraisers, fairs and festivals.
“They love getting people out of Vegas,
of course,” she said.
As Carter settled in Vegas she decided
the scene needed a country music tribute show, as the existing tribute shows
really didn’t feature that genre. So she
co-produced the Country Superstars
Tribute show that continues today at the
Golden Nugget.
Reviews of her work were positive.
“Cathy ‘C.C.’ Carter is so beautiful and
has a powerful voice that pays tribute to
Shania Twain and Faith Hill,” wrote Nikki
Artale (Nikki’s Celebrity News).“C.C. has
great outfits ...”
Performing in Vegas brought many
opportunities to meet the stars.
Carter said she performed at Toby
Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill and at
NASCAR events, and met such celebrities
as actor Mark Wahlberg, basketball
superstar Shaquille O’Neal and country
music’s Miranda Lambert. And she said
she served as a stand-in for an infomer-
cial for soap opera legend Susan Lucci.
“When you sing and you entertain in
Vegas, everybody kind of hangs out,” she
said.
And things could get a little crazy.
One night “they pulled us (celebrity
impersonators) up in a limo and had us
escorted in with security into Toby
Keith’s in the VIP area, and then we got
up and sang and people were coming
up for autographs,” Carter said.“One said,
‘My daughters just love you.’ I said,‘Sir,
I’m just a tribute artist.’ But they don’t listen, they’re in Vegas and they think they
(the individuals being impersonated)
could be there. It’s so funny.”
But eventually Carter was ready to
leave — “I just left because I was ready
to come back,” she said — so in October
2008 she returned to Florida and to
school, to study aesthetics (skin care).
She then moved to Washington, D.C., for
yoga teacher training — an injury had
prompted her interest in its physical and
mental disciplines — and managed a
studio there, teaching off-site at such
institutions as the CIA, FBI, NASA and the
White House athletic center, she said.
Facebook strikes again
What brought her back to Dalton?
“I reconnected with my high school
sweetheart,” Carter said.“We dated when
we were in high school, we were each
other’s dates for prom, but you go on
and grow up. And then he did a friend
request on Facebook, he saw that I had
done all of this singing, which was a surprise because I was quiet and shy in high
school. He said ‘now you’re a superstar,’
jokingly.”
They got together, first as friends,“and
we kept talking, and so I moved back last
year in December. I was either going to
stay in D.C. or go back to Florida to open
a studio because I didn’t know about
Dalton, because growing up here in the
Bible Belt it was always ‘yoga’s a cult,’
and I didn’t know if people would be
receptive to it.”
She taught in Chattanooga until she
was ready to open her studio here,“and
it’s going well. I’m actually going to have
start looking for a little bigger place.”
As for the high school sweetheart?
There’s talk of marriage, maybe next year,
Carter said.
Playing dress-up
What draws Carter to being a celebrity impersonator is the music, and she
takes her craft seriously.
H A P P Y H O L I DAY S
For all the joy you’ve given us this year,
we are sincerely grateful, and look forward
to seeing you again in 2011
Dalton Plastic Surgery
Reginald R. Sherrill, M.D.
Member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons
1501 Broadrick Dr., Suite 1, Dalton
www.daltonplasticsurgery.com
(706) 226-3311
Now Accepting HealthOne Alliance!
Also participating in:
Cigna • United Healthcare
Alliant
BC/BS - Board of Regents
(Dalton College)
36 Dalton Magazine
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
“One thing I always try to
do is remember that I am
doing a tribute to someone. I try to do my tributes such that if this person were to walk in and
see me then they would
be pleased with the
tribute, that I was doing it
to represent them, and
not do anything negative,
because there are some
of these people that take
advantage of it.”
— Cathy “C.C.” Carter
“I enjoy the singing, and the people
that I do impersonate, I love their music,”
she said.“There are probably some other
tributes I could have done that I didn’t
really care that strongly about or really
like that genre of music so much. To step
into the shoes of another person you
have to really enjoy the music and the
singing, what you’re doing, because it
can come across. People can tell (if
you’re not enjoying it), they really can.
I’ve seen it.”
She said in Vegas she participated in
the Country Superstars Tribute six nights
a week for nine months. People asked,
“How do you go out there every night
and do the same thing?”
“You have to always remember there’s
someone out there that’s never seen
you,” Carter said.“Sometimes you’re tired,
but if you really enjoy it, it’s not work.
You’re having fun being on stage and
knowing that you’re giving people some
entertainment.
“It’s not about the applause. I’m kind
of like Cher and Carly Simon, I’ve still got
a little bit of that shyness, get a little bit
of stage fright sometimes, but Gene
Simmons (of KISS) said the day you don’t
get stage fright or butterflies, then you
don’t need to be doing it.”
Who she impersonates depends on
what the organizers of an event want.
Asked if she prefers one act over the others, she said,“That’s tough, people ask
me that. They’re all so different. And I
guess I feel very fortunate to have a similarity to where I can change hair and
makeup and do so many of these
women that I impersonate. I guess
Shania, probably just because of the outfits. It’s a little more. I’m a grown woman
getting to play dress-up. It’s kind of cool
to be able to do that, and she has some
pretty cool outfits.”
Carter said the Shania song she has
performed the most is probably Twain’s
“Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” but in Vegas,
“The Wedding Capital of the World,”
“From This Moment On” is especially
popular and one of her own favorites.
Despite all her Vegas connections,
Carter has not yet met any of the
women she’s impersonated, and has not
attempted to meet any of them,
although she has contemplated
approaching one or two.
“It’s kind of a thing where I do it and if
they hear about me, fine. I’m not trying
to get them to recognize me,” she said.
Still, she is very reverent about her
approach.
“One thing I always try to do is
remember that I am doing a tribute to
someone,” she said.“I try to do my tributes such that if this person were to walk
in and see me then they would be
pleased with the tribute, that I was doing
it to represent them, and not do anything negative, because there are some
of these people that take advantage of
it.”
And there is artistry involved.
“To do what I’m doing, to pay tribute
to this person that has made their mark
in history, so to speak, with their music,
you’re basically stepping into a role,” she
said.“When you’re impersonating, you’re
acting, because you have to learn the little nuances, how they say things, the
same pronunciation or enunciation of
the words. You have to get their little
mannerisms down. You’re giving people
the illusion that they’re seeing that person.”
The future
Carter’s immediate plans are to focus
on her yoga studio. She will continue to
do Shania and Faith and the others as
time allows.
“Once I get a little more settled, and
as the business grows and I bring in
more teachers — which I am going to
do, not be in here 24/7 so to speak, you
know how it is when you have your own
business — I’ll get out and do some
more of these things with the singing,”
she said.
Dalton Magazine
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 37
Photos by Misty Watson
Cathy “C.C.” Carter demonstrates different yoga poses at North Georgia Yoga in Bry-Man’s Plaza North. Yoga
has become a popular form of exercise in recent years.
Carter: Yoga can benefit all ages
Southern Baptist Seminary President
Albert Mohler recently called on
Christians to avoid yoga, saying he
objects to “the idea that the body is a
vehicle for reaching consciousness with
the divine.”
by
VICTOR MILLER
“That’s just not Christianity,” Mohler
told The Associated Press.
Mohler argued in an online essay that
Christians who practice yoga “must
either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions
between their Christian commitments
and their embrace of yoga.”
He said his view is “not an eccentric
Christian position.”
“I’m really surprised by the depth of
the commitment to yoga found on the
part of many who identify as Christians,”
Mohler said.
Cathy “C.C.” Carter, who opened North
Georgia Yoga in Bry-Man’s Plaza North
late last year, said,“Yoga is not a religion,
of course, it’s a form of exercise, but it’s
more of a practice. It’s been recognized
for many years on the West Coast as a
way to optimal health, and for the past
several years it has experienced an
upsurge in popularity in the Western
world among medical professionals and
celebrities alike. Top athletes, stars have
38 Dalton Magazine
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
chosen yoga to heal injuries in their
lives.”
Carter certainly understands. She had
always said she was not interested in
yoga, despite a roommate’s asking her to
try it. But after being injured in an automobile wreck, and unable to find relief
elsewhere, she gave in.
“I wasn’t getting any other relief from
chiropractic, I didn’t like doing the muscle relaxers or pain pills, and so I started
doing the yoga at the request of my
roommate who’s a physician,” she said.“I
couldn’t believe, and you can’t explain it,
you have to do it to see, and it started
healing my body. I started feeling more
comfortable in my body, more connected in my body, and it really does connect
your mind, your body and your spirit. It’s
just phenomenal. I have the flexibility
and the mobility back.”
Carter says that while she couldn’t do
most of the poses when she started, she
kept an open mind and did what she
could.
“I was amazed at how my pain minimized and how relaxed and calm I felt,”
she wrote on her website. She says she
started a regular practice of three to four
times a week and her body started healing. “I started feeling so comfortable in
my body,” she wrote.
And yoga can benefit all ages, Carter
said.
“I’ve got a couple of ladies in my class
that are in their 70s,” she said.“When I
was in (Washington) D.C. I had a lady
who was in her 80s. There’s no reason
you can’t feel as good in your 70s and
80s as you do in your 30s and 40s.”
Carter said as a body ages, a “protective sheet” surrounding the muscles —
the fascia — begins to erode somewhat.
North Georgia Yoga
www.northgeorgiayoga.com
Open: Six days a week, closed Sunday
Yoga: Classes or private instruction in gentle, Vinyasa, hot or kid’s
Massage therapy: Swedish, Shiatsu, deep tissue or traditional
Prices: There are a variety of packages. A single drop-in class is $15 and
a two-week unlimited pass to get started is $20. Massage therapy starts
at $30 for 30 minutes.
Location: Bry-Man’s Plaza North, 100 W. Walnut Ave., No. 14, Dalton
Phone: (706) 529-YOGA (9642)
E-mail: [email protected]
“That’s why you start getting stiff
even if you’ve been active most of your
life,” she said.“But that’s what yoga does.
We’re able to keep everything stretched
out and loosened up and keep our spine
healthy, and that keeps the body from
injuring itself as much and keeps you
from aging and having the problems
that you normally do.”
A 2008 study by the Yoga Journal put
the number of individuals participating
in yoga at 15.8 million, or nearly 7 percent of adults, the Associated Press
reported.
“It’s not a trend,” Carter said.“The benefits are unlimited. On my website I’ve
got the 77 health benefits of yoga that I
actually got off of nursingdegree.net.”
Carter noted yoga is something that
men often think of women doing, but
said “yoga isn’t just for women.” She said
it is “gaining acceptance in the stressed
American psyche because it works.” And
she said it works “because it is simple
and in line with the way the body was
designed to move and operate.”
“I am very passionate about yoga,”
Carter said.“I’m excited about sharing
yoga with our community here, and I’m
grateful to be able to offer the caliber of
studio that you find in Los Angeles,
Atlanta., etc. I want to encourage everyone to give yoga a try. If you had a bad
experience, don’t let that deter you, as
the class and the teacher do make a
huge difference.”
Carter says she is certified and registered with the Yoga Alliance and
received her training and additional
study of Hatha yoga at Hot Yoga
USA/International Yoga Academy in
Washington.
Dalton Magazine
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 39