Awesome, 604 records, Arkells, BANKS, Neil Young, Not Country, The Eagles, The Katherines Entertainment, Music, Reviews
The Katherines are always looking for a silver lining... and right now they've found one. With the release of their debut album, To Bring You My Heart ( 604 Records), these three young women from Vancouver are introducing themselves to the musical world with gusto.
To Bring You My Heart (TBYMH) travels through its 13 song tracklist. Offering driving music and vocals, dance party style anthems, and more layers than you'll catch on your first listen. In fact, when I asked the girls what they would tell everyone to think about before they hit lay on the album, they keyed in on the layers and details of the record. Just beneath the surface, there and waiting for your ears, are strings and backing vocals and the kind of artistic minutia that rounds out all of the dimensions on the album.
When I sat down with The Katherines before their Toronto album release show at the Drake Underground we also talked about musical influences, current favourites, and a host of other topics that included, but were not limited to...
🍒 Navigating social media as artists, and as women.
🍒 The current political/social landscape giving artists an important opportunity to speak.
🍒 #2107Goals
Starting with the social media, The Katherines made it clear that they love the outreach and interaction with listeners and fans that social channels provide. But they also feel pressure to keep their feed from being more than just pretty selfies on a Tuesday or updates on how many cups of tea they've had today (4 btw, is the number of cups of tea Kaitlyn owned up to pre-show).
On the sociopolitical landscape we talked about artists and people of all kinds being the ones that will bring about change. We didn't dive deep into policy, but we all agreed that the newly elected head of state south of the border (and the reality TV star/business man running for a leadership position in Canada) is only a symptom of what's happening right now... and that's why voices need to be heard!
#nastywomenA photo posted by The Katherines (@katherinesband) on
I asked the ladies to imagine themselves in December 2017 and to tell me what they'd like to look back on the year and see. Their #2017Goals include a cross Canada tour opening for an act that they both enjoy and admire. It would be their first coast-to-coast tour, and would also give them a chance to see the country for the first time. There's also new music to be written, with a new perspective compared to the one that appears on TBYMH. Canadian Music Week (Toronto, April 18-23, 2017) is also on The Katherines' to-do list, and we're excited to hear more about that in the coming weeks.
I asked Kate, Kaitlyn, and Lauren about the music they love and has influenced them, and names like Neil Young, The Eagles, KD Lang, Leonard Cohen - and more contemporary acts like Mother, Mother, The Killers, Banks, Arkells and Coldplay were all mentioned with admiration and respect for the music they make and the live shows they put on.
With their first album, The Katherines have shown that they aren't a one trick pony. They combine choral backgrounds, operatic influence, strings, rock and roll, and be careful you don't spill your drink dancing vibes into one really fun package. The 13 tracks truly offer an opportunity for you to listen to a common narrative with tweaks to presentation - and gives 13 opportunities to connect to the music.
Having listened to the album and seen them live to play it, we can see the silver lining The Katherines have found. And we encourage them to hang onto it!
