So it’s been over a week since I’ve come back from Nashville and I’m already feeling nostalgic. There is a reason they call it Music City — music is literally everywhere you go. And not just country music. Just being there a few days I ran into several indie bands I had already interviewed or seen perform in New York. Upon entering any bar I’d strike up a conversation with someone who was, nine times out of ten, a musician. Maybe gravitating to people in music is a natural thing for me, but I always enjoy the conversation.
I was lucky to have met Saints of Valory on the night of my birthday in Nashville. They were in town for a show the next evening, sharing the bill with another band I interviewed earlier this year, Terraplane Sun. That’s the thing about Nashville, it’s such a small town that later that night we were at a bar when Terraplane Sun walked in and later Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys (!!!). To say it was a great birthday is an understatement.
The next morning my friend and I listened to Saints of Valory’s new single “Neon Eyes” and really liked what we heard. Their hand-clapped rhythms and catchy choruses kept us coming back for more. Their EP Possibilities is just a hint of what’s to come. With a full-length on the way next year, this is one band to keep on your radar. If you’re in New York tomorrow, catch them at Mercury Lounge. Listen below.
I’m writing this post from a lovely spot in Nashville, Tennessee, called Edgehill Cafe. Fans of the television show Nashville may recognize this name as being the record label home of Rayna James and they’d be correct. Located on the corner of Edgehill Ave. and Villa Pl, it’s also nearby the famed Music Row where many record labels are stationed as well as some songwriting houses.
This October, You Sing I Write celebrated six years. It’s crazy to think of everything I have accomplished since my very first post. Things came full circle last month when I sat down to interview Gavin DeGraw. The very first concert I ever covered back in college, I told him that his show was what initially sparked me to pursue music journalism. Surprised and humbled, he gave me a high-five and we went on with the interview, where he told me the story behind his monster hit “I Don’t Want To Be,” why he chose to pursue music, and his latest album Make A Move.
My friend Sarah highlighted YSIW last month. For the feature, we met up in Brooklyn and she interviewed me. It was strange to be on the other side of an interview but it also reminded me why I first created YSIW six years ago — to highlight bands I believe in. I’ve been lucky to be able to extend this coverage to the outlets I write for, which is more than I ever expected.
The major highlight of October was interviewing Kenny Rogers. He was such a pleasant interview and told the story behind so many of his older hits, meeting Dolly Parton for the first time, and his versatile career.
Another incredible moment this month included a lunchtime concert by Paul McCartney in Times Square. I’m not quite sure when I’ll get another opportunity to see one of the Beatles perform so I made sure I caught his brief gig. McCartney played a 15-minute set showcasing songs of his latest album, New. Tweeting out a mere half hour before he stepped in a truck on 46th and Broadway to perform, hundreds of fans showed up to catch a glimpse and hear some tunes.
I also interviewed Will Hoge, an incredible Nashville-based singer-songwriter, who also happens to have written one of my favorite country songs, “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.” Hoge has been in music for 15+ years and is brutally honest about the industry which was incredibly refreshing. On his tour bus, he told me the story behind “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” which went all the way to No. 1 for the Eli Young Band.
After six years, I’m so grateful that I still love what I do. I really don’t know what I would do if I woke up one morning and was tired of music. Luckily, I don’t think that will ever happen.
When I really like a song I tend to keep it on repeat. That’s what happened when I first heard Eli Young Band‘s “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” last year. The best songs have something that allows the listener connect, and this song definitely had that for me. “Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart,” they sing. Something relatable to me, I likened it to my dream of being a music journalist. There are so many obstacles thrown at you if you decide to really go for that dream and at times it all seems nearly impossible.
For me, this rang all too true as I was struggling last January to make life as a freelancer work. Down to just a month of rent in my savings account, I often wondered why the heck I decided to pursue this field. Hearing this song reaffirmed that dream. If something is truly worth fighting for, there will be obstacles thrown at you. You just have to embrace them and figure out a way to combat them. “You gotta keep believing if you wanna know for sure.”
Upon reaching out to all my contacts, I learned that CBS Local had just started a music department. I applied and a week later had three interviews lined up that led to a job offer. This past weekend, several people asked me how I came to work at CBS when I helped host a music memoir workshop for Girls Write Now. It was a long journey, but the words I kept repeating was that music journalism was all I ever dreamed of doing and if you work hard enough for something it will all work out. At least that’s what happened to me and I’m constantly reminded of this whenever I hear “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” on the radio.
I was lucky enough to interview the songwriter behind this song earlier this month. Sitting down with Will Hoge on his tour bus and him telling me how the song came together was so intriguing. He wrote the song with Eric Paslay, who he described as being fresh in the music scene and still very optimistic. Hoge, on the other hand, has been struggling for 15 years to make his dream work and was slightly more realistic when it came to music. While Paslay came up with part of the chorus, “keep on dreaming,” Hoge added in “even if it breaks your heart.” Listen to Hoge’s version below.
Last week, hundreds of bands and music industry professionals ascended onto New York for the annual CMJ Music Marathon. While many acts attended with the goal to be signed by a label or simply get their name out there, artist Will Hoge offered advice during his set Wednesday night at the Bell House. Urging artists not to simply play a festival in hopes to get signed, he said they should instead hit the ground running by buying a van big enough to fit the band and their friends and tour the country themselves.
“If you want to follow your dream, you don’t want to ask permission,” he told the crowd. “It may take a long time. It may take five years, ten years, 15 years. You just don’t know. You could be a long way from home.”
5. Will Hoge
Hoge knows this firsthand as he’s been working in music for 15 years. While he wasn’t exactly on the official CMJ lineup, his performance was during the festival and as a few badge holders trickled into his set, he was a reminder of how hard work, persistence, and a little luck are essential for a career in music. His show acted as a an album release party and tour kickoff and his blend of country and rock reaffirmed just why he’s so highly regarded in the music community.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T48Z3lt8ADY
4. Marc Scibilia
During his set, Marc Scibilia, played many of the songs from his most recent EP, The Shape I’m In, released last month. ”I almost missed two flights today. Fortunately, I only missed one flight. I spent a lot of time in the airport but I’m here now so it’s fine,” he said before he began to play “The Shape I’m In.” It was a fitting introduction, as the song details the many miles he’s traveled in life.
3.Tommy & the High Pilots
Santa Barbara-based band Tommy & the High Pilots performed Friday night as part of my work showcase. The moment they took the stage the energy in the room changed with their radio-friendly pop-rock. Playing songs off their latest album, Only Human, the band urged the crowd to dance along for their last track “Outta My Head.” The band’s upcoming tour with the Plain White T’s and Parachute will likely shine a light on their catchy choruses and strong pop sensibilities.
2. Rocket & the Ghost
Part of why I love attending CMJ is that you can walk into any venue throughout New York and never quite know what you’ll find. On Wednesday, I went to meet my roommate at The Living Room to check out a few bands. As soon as I heard the first notes being played by Rocket & the Ghost I was hooked. It’s hard to believe that the band will be releasing their debut Self-Titled EP in November as they had this distinct professionalism and command of the stage that made them look like lifers.
1. James Bay
Another artist who was part of Radio.com‘s acoustic set Friday night, from the moment James Bay took the stage I was entranced. His soulful vocals are reminiscent to Ray Lamontagne and once he swapped his acoustic for an electric guitar the comparisons to John Mayer were undeniable. The only difference: Bay seems more sentimental, even singing of having butterflies at the beginning of a relationship. Key line: “I realize you’re all I need. I hope I’m not too late.”
Today marks six years to the day that I started You Sing I Write. Part of me feels as if it flew by so quickly, but looking back on the triumphs and struggles six years sounds just about right. My friend Sarah recently started a blog of her own called Fashion and Philosophers and interviewed me while she was in town. We spent the day in Brooklyn getting brunch, wandering in Park Slope and chatting in Prospect Park.
I must admit, it was strange being on the other side of an interview. Talking to her about my career really awakened me to just how much I persevered despite some major odds. I can honestly say being a music journalism was the only career path I set my heart on and I wouldn’t take no for an answer from anyone, no matter the amount of failures or rejections I received. You can read an excerpt of our chat below. For the rest, visit her website.
On Humble Beginnings
I started my blog in 2007 thinking my dad and a few friends would read it. My dad is my biggest fan. He follows me on twitter and when he responds to tweets, he texts me instead. It’s great. The blog started as a creative outlet and became very personal. It shares a positive outlook toward life and music. I only write things and people I am passionate about and hope that people can see my love for music through the writing.
On Robin Thicke
I interviewed him the week before “Blurred Lines” went to #1 and he was very personable. He wore sunglasses the whole time so that threw me off because you want an interview to flow organically and it’s hard to make it feel like a conversation when you can’t see someone’s eyes. He shared that he and T.I. were in the studio and wanted to make a follow up inspired by one of Marvin Gaye’s songs, “We had the chorus and we had our old man BBQ dance. We were just dancing around. Then Pharrell came up with the hook “hey. hey. hey.” And that was that.” That was one of the interviews we used almost everything. We mostly discussed relationships and he talked about his wife, Paula Patton. They have been together since they were teenagers and he had a lot of good things to say about commitment and making it work. Basically, choose one person that you’re willing to lower walls and allow them to hurt you because it will happen. But you choose each other and you give them everything. Nothing held back.
Interview Methodology
I really research for interviews including diving into the lyrics of albums. I look for the stories behind the songs and really try to ask them different questions. These artists are interviewed over and over and I would like them to know that I care about who they are and why they’ve shared what they have with the world.
On Persistence
It took 6 years to get to this place and it was not easy. I was determined but people were telling me that this wouldn’t happen. You question, “Why am I taking my third unpaid internship?” If you really want something, you will find a way to make it work. One of my favorite quotes is by American mythologist, Joseph Campbell, “Follow your bliss and windows will open where there were only walls.” For me this is true. I want a job that I wake up and love to go to everyday. You do need to get paid. But it’s special that I do love going to work everyday. The short stint where I took a paying job and wasn’t writing was miserable. If there is something you want to do, then you will look at obstacles as small challenges to leap over.
With my high school reunion approaching and one of my close friends getting married next weekend, I thought this song was fitting for my song of the week. A sweet sentiment, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s song hits close to home as it’s so true — you can’t make old friends.
I’m blessed to still consider my best friends girls that I grew up with and met in middle school (and obsessed about boy bands with). It’s crazy to think I still keep in touch with people I met when I was 10-years-old, but over the years they’ve come to be my biggest supporters and I really don’t know what I’d do without them. It’s so rare to have friends that you’ve known for nearly two decades and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTmi6v0Sy2s
Kenny Rogers’ album, You Can’t Make Old Friends, will be released this Tuesday, October 8th. I’m interviewing him tomorrow for Radio.com so stay tuned for my complete article!
This month marks six years since I started You Sing I Write. Some days it seems like an eternity ago and other times just like it was yesterday. When I had the idea to start a blog, at the time it really was just a dream of mine to cover concerts and interview bands because it was what I loved to do. Of course I wished it would one day become my day job but I never fathomed all the places it would take me and the people I’d meet.
I fell in love with country music traveling to Nashville, went on the road with a band, and spent countless hours interviewing some of my favorite musicians. Last year, I became a mentor for Girls Write Now and read a piece I wrote about my life as a music journalist to a room full of high school girls, their family and fellow mentors. It’s still a shock to me that girls will come up to me and tell me how much they loved my reading from months ago. When I started this blog it was really just for myself, to keep up my writing skills. Today, I couldn’t be happier to share my experiences with the world and hopefully encourage some girl out there that it is possible to make a career out of your dream. It just takes some time and a whole lot of patience and persistence.
I’ll be honest, as many interviews as I’ve done over the years, I still get nervous. It’s pretty much the equivalent to having butterflies in your stomach. So, imagine how I felt to learn I’d be interviewing Willie Nelson! A day before I headed to Saratoga Springs to cover Farm Aid for Radio.com, I was told I’d get some time with Willie Nelson. On his tour bus! I freaked out a little bit. A chronic over-preparer I wracked my brain for questions, tried my best to listen to his catalog of music and his upcoming duets album.
(credit: Maria Ives)
Around 1 p.m. the next day, my colleague Brian and I learned we’ll be chatting with Willie in 20 minutes. A publicist led us to his bus and asserted there won’t be any photo opps. We obliged, although a bit bummed, and waited to be let in.
Yes, there was a distinct aroma of pot the moment we walked on the bus. It is Willie Nelson after all. As Brian and I sat down at the table I tried to take it all in. The smell, done. There were two leather couches as soon as you walk on the bus and dark wood paneling throughout. We joined Willie at his table and behind him graduation and class photos of his kids were on display. A proud father, he was so thoughtful with his words and praises for his kids I almost forgot I was talking with an icon. Almost, but not quite. Those 10 minutes felt like an eternity but also flew by way too quickly. He answered all our questions but as soon as I got off the bus I found myself wishing I asked more.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever envisioned myself interviewing Willie Nelson, let alone doing it on his tour bus. It took a long time to get here, but all the struggles, rejections, and uncertainty was worth it in that moment. If you wait long enough, sometimes your dream is even better than you could have imagined.
Just around this time two years ago I was coming back from Canada’s Emerging Music Festival which I covered for Billboard. The festival was in a small town in the middle of nowhere about three hours north of Montreal and as the title explains, featured numerous emerging talent. While most of the artists spoke French and addressed the crowd in French I was grateful to stumble upon Hanni El Khatib’s set. A fellow American, at one point he joked that he doesn’t know any words in the language so he wasn’t even going to try. What a relief! I spent much of the festival wondering what exactly each artist was saying on stage as they introduced the next song.
One of the tracks I loved from El Khatib’s performance was “You Rascal You.” The gritty guitar and his raspy vocals really struck a chord and I’ve been following his music ever since. Listen below.
We recently started a new feature at CBS called New Music to Know and I pitched him as one of the artists to cover. Having just recently released his sophomore album, which was produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, Hanni El Khatib filled me in on the recording process and how his job as an Art Director influences his music.
“Often times I’m thinking of the cover of the record before I’m even writing songs for the album,” he explained. “Just because I need to put it in some sort of visual context which is why I think music videos are so important. It helps further explain your overall concept for the music. I think of the song as a percentage of the overall vision of what I’m trying to do.”
Watch the interview below and for my complete writeup, visit Radio.com.
It’s hard to believe nearly six years ago I started this blog with the hope of creating a writing outlet for myself. Six years later, I’ve gone on to find a full-time job doing what I love — writing about music — and freelancing for several publications I’ve always dreamed of working at. This summer once again proved to me that if you’re persistent and work hard anything can happen. Case in point: interviewing the Backstreet Boys.
While I’m well aware that it’s 2013 and the “it” boy bands are One Direction and The Wanted, the Backstreet Boys will forever hold a special place in my heart. Growing up I was obsessed with them. Like, I honestly thought I would marry a BSB. (Brian Littrell if you were wondering). Upon being home in Jersey for Labor Day, some friends and I revisited our middle school and high school yearbooks and the one inscription that pretty much sums up my middle school days was written by a boy in my 8th grade class: “I’ll see ya next year and then maybe you will stop lovin BSB so much.”
Of course, this never happened because in my senior yearbook my mom sent in photos of me with an extremely clever note. She managed to use all the Backstreet Boys song titles to wish me luck in college. Aptly ending the note, “Drowning In Your Love, Mom, Dad and Katherine.”
So knowing all this, imagine my excitement when learning I would be interviewing a Backstreet Boy for work! Last month, the Backstreet Boys were part of CBS Radio’s Impact campaign where we highlight a band’s upcoming album during release week. Since I was writing the post, I’d be doing a phoner with one of the guys. I found out on a Friday night that the interview would be happening sometime Saturday and I could barely sleep. The next day I’d be chatting with one of the guys on the phone and could ask them whatever questions I wanted. My 13-year-old self was ecstatic. Due to the guys busy schedule traveling abroad the interview didn’t happen until Monday. Literally five minutes before they were supposed to call me I learned I’d be talking with Nick Carter. My palms were sweaty and I had butterflies in my stomach. I could not have dreamed this up in middle school.
Nick was beyond nice and answered all my burning questions (his favorite choreographed dance move was “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” just in case you were wondering…). What really surprised me was how open he was. When I asked him how his fiance and the guys’ wives take their avid female fan base he was very frank. “My fiancé actually gets the brunt of it. There are girls out there that send her death threats and tell her they want to kill her and write her name on Twitter and draw pictures of her. We deal with that on a daily basis.”
When I asked how he deals with the death threats he said he just tries to ignore it as best he can.
“If you live your life in fear then they win. For the most part it’s just haters. I think fans don’t like it because I’m the youngest one, I’m not married yet. I’m engaged but I think they feel like I belong to them in some ways. It’s tough. It’s a tough place to be in.”
In the end, I learned that maybe it’s not the best thing in the world to marry a Backstreet Boy. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to deal with death threats on a daily basis. So, at 28-years-old my goals have changed. No longer do I want to marry a Backstreet Boy. Instead, I want to learn how to write a song. I’ll let you know how that goes in September’s recap.
I’ve been lucky to cover many Live On Letterman performances over the years, both for this blog and other outlets. I’ll never forget sitting second row while watching Adele sing the poignant track “Someone Like You” and getting goosebumps on my arms during her powerful performance, or seeing my favorite Jersey boys Gaslight Anthem rock the stage with some of my former college newspaper colleagues (who also became some of my best friends). It’s these shows that I’ve been able to see some of my favorite artists up-close and in a setting like no other.
Last night was one of those nights. I highly doubt I’ll ever get to stand sidestage for a John Mayer concert ever again so you bet I cherished every minute of his set! If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time over the past five years you know my love for Mayer and to be able to experience him live in concert is always an enjoyable time. Below is an excerpt of my review for Radio.com. Read the complete review here.
On the eve of the release of his new album, Paradise Valley, it was clear John Mayer was heading in a new direction. He no longer donned that wide-brimmed hat but instead embraced a headscarf. Questionable headwear choice maybe, but his fashion never outshines his music and besides a few thank you’s and a brief explanation of his new song “Dear Marie,” it was his music that was the main attraction.
“It’s weird to have a technology reference in a song. Everyone goes looking online for their first love . . . to see what they look like now,” he said of the new track. “We still look back and that’s what this song is about.”
Mayer headed to the Ed Sullivan Theater Monday night (Aug. 19) for a 70-minute Live on Letterman performance of material old and new. As he walked onto the famous stage in his blue jeans and peace-signed blue jacket, fans were greeted by the familiar chords of “Queen of California,” the opening track to his last release, 2012’s Born and Raised.
While he played several tracks off the new album, several songs from Born and Raised, Continuum fan favorite “Slow Dancing In a Burning Room” also appeared in the set. Having to cancel his 2012 Born and Raised Tour after being put on mandatory vocal rest due to granulomas in his throat, this was the first time many in attendance heard the songs live. Tracks like the bluesy “Something Like Olivia” showed off Mayer as a guitar virtuoso while “The Age of Worry,” also off Born and Raised, showcased the more country-leaning side of the singer with pedal steel and mandolin features.
