Tag: Katie Cole

WATCH: Katie Cole, “Young and Stupid”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner
Artist: Katie Cole
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee (originally from Melbourne, Australia)
Song: “Young and Stupid”
Album: Rivers & Roads
Release Date: June 5, 2023

In Their Words: “This song is truly about the struggles of being young. When I think back to being a teenager or in my early 20s, it’s clear to me how difficult and confusing it was. Technically, at that age we are adults, but we don’t yet know who we are. So there is bittersweet nature to this lyric. The amount of times I cried and felt defeated – I lost count. I played so many gigs each week and would busk til my fingers were raw to pay rent. I would never want to live through that again. But right now, I can look back at my youth and remember how beautiful it all was. Mess and all. When you are young, you don’t yet see what can go wrong, so you are always wearing rose-colored glasses. You just don’t realize it ’til you’re older. To capture the sound of this story, I worked with Producer Howard Willing on the whole Rivers & Roads EP.” – Katie Cole

Photo Credit: Dire Image

WATCH: Katie Cole, “One More Time”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Katie Cole
Hometown: Living in Nashville; born in Melbourne, Australia
Song: “One More Time”
Release Date: October 21, 2022

In Their Words: “I have written my fair share of love songs and painful songs of heartache and loss. ‘One More Time’ is really a softer nod to breakups. Sometimes the passion you share isn’t enough to keep the fire going. Sometimes you are just walking different paths and can’t meet in the middle. It’s really about being brave enough to admit that no matter how much you love someone, if you know it won’t last then you should say goodbye. That way, you are cushioning the fall of what is inevitable. But it still doesn’t make it easy.” — Katie Cole

WATCH: Katie Cole, “Dreams of Mine”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Katie Cole
Hometown: Nashville, but born in Melbourne, Australia
Song: “Dreams of Mine”
Release Date: February 18, 2022

In Their Words: “This song was crafted during the heart of 2021. Lockdown and limited ability to plan brought about an ocean of anxieties for most of us. So it was easy to mine the current emotional experience out of myself to add to this song about my upbringing. No matter where you come from, we all have dreams and they don’t always live up to our expectations. But we still strive and hope for more. The concept for the video was really just trying to capture the balance between inner struggle where all the shots are inside and mixed with wandering in the wilderness. At any given time people are wired to be composed externally but often feel something very different internally. And this song is all about striving to be more than your current circumstances. So I liked the idea of juxtaposing the video shots between inside and outside to mirror that struggle.” — Katie Cole

Photo credit: Dire Image

WATCH: Katie Cole, “Short Story Long”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Katie Cole
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia, and lives in Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Short Story Long”
Release Date: October 15, 2021

In Their Words: “I wrote this song hoping to channel some old school Aretha and Otis, but applying a little more rootsy instrumentation. Honestly, it’s the first song I’ve penned where I take back my power in a relationship and call a spade a spade. I’ve had my share of relationships where I have tolerated too much for too long. So being familiar with the phrase of making a long story short, where you cut to the chase, I started thinking, ‘What if I could flip that to a short story long?’ where things get dragged out. Right then I knew this would have to be a fun and sassy song that really contrasts with my more acoustic and sparse songs. Luckily when my producer Howard Willing and I started tracking, he managed to bring in Cheap Trick’s bass player Tom Petersson to play on this song. I am really proud of this one!” — Katie Cole

Photo credit: Dire Image

BGS, Yamaha Partner on SXSW Official Showcase

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

BGS is thrilled to partner once again with our friends at Yamaha to bring you the Yamaha Guitars x BGS SXSW Official Showcase. While this year’s music festival may look a little different than the standard event, the essence is still the same: bringing together an international community of artists and music professionals for a unique celebration, discussion, and exploration of music.

Hosted by actress and Harmonics podcast host Beth Behrs, this hour-long virtual performance features mini-sets from four artists we can’t wait to hear more from in 2021, including:

• Jade Jackson & Aubrie Sellers
• Aaron Lee Tasjan
• Katie Cole

The Yamaha Guitars x BGS showcase premieres for all SXSW virtual attendees on Saturday, March 20 at 4p PT / 6p CT and will be available to re-watch for one week.

Clips from each artist’s performance will be released via the BGS website at a later date!

To register for SXSW, visit SXSW.com

Discover more about YamahaGuitars at YamahaGuitars.com

 

BGS, Yamaha Guitars Partner on Folk Alliance Spotlight Showcase

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

BGS is proud to announce our partnership with Yamaha Guitars for Folk Alliance International’s 2021 virtual conference, Folk Unlocked. Join us on Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 5:30pm CST for the Yamaha + BGS Spotlight Showcase, hosted by friend of BGS and acoustic blues and Americana veteran Keb’ Mo’.

Yamaha Guitars tapped BGS to collaborate on the curation of the Spotlight Showcase, which highlights Yamaha official artists, instruments, and gear as well as music from folk scene stalwarts and newcomers alike — from all across the continent and around the world. The hour-long virtual showcase features intimate, acoustic performances that certainly capture the atmosphere of connection and discovery that typically permeates FAI’s in-person conference.

Yamaha official artist Katie Cole performs during the Spotlight Showcase.

To lead us off, Australian singer-songwriter Katie Cole flavors the program with her pop-influenced alt-Americana material. A fresh face in bluegrass and old-time, Bella White sings her original Gillian Welch-meets-Hazel Dickens tunes with a warm honey yodel just breaking through her voice. You’ll also hear a captivating performance from Joy Oladokun, one of the buzziest names in the indie-folk world at the moment, and soaring tunes from American-Canadian folk duo Birds of Chicago, who headline the event with a trio set that feels as full band as a pandemic would allow. Our talented host, Keb’ Mo’, will treat our audience to a couple of selections as well.

In the coming weeks, BGS and Yamaha will release individual sessions from our Spotlight Showcase film! Stay tuned for more music and content from this exciting partnership.

Joy Oladokun is featured during our Yamaha + BGS showcase.

In place of an in-person conference this year, Folk Alliance International is hosting Folk Unlocked, a five-day virtual event for the entire international folk community to come together for panels, workshops, showcases, affinity and peer group meetings, exhibit spaces, networking, and mentorship. FAI are actively unlocking the doors and windows of the house of folk to be as broad and inclusive as possible, inviting those who have been loyally attending Folk Alliance International conferences for years while aiming to reach folk musicians and professionals who have never benefited from or attended FAI before.

Usually, the in-person version of this amazing event is only available to artists and industry professionals, but this year, thanks to the virtual nature of the conference, anyone can tune in from anywhere! Conference registration and Spotlight Showcase and Unlocked Showcase access are all available on a sliding scale, with the cost to attend being decided by each individual. In addition, donors to Folk Alliance’s Village Fund receive showcase access as well. There are so many ways to support Folk Alliance and attend our Yamaha + BGS Spotlight Showcase.

Get more information on Folk Unlocked and find out how to attend our Spotlight Showcase on Thursday, February 25 at 5:30pm CST here.