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| New Music USA |
| New Music Magazine / Blog / Promotion |
Soon after finishing her acclaimed 2008 album Apple Tree, Colorado-
born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Katie Herzig received a fateful
phone call. "I sat down to paint one day—I hadn't painted in years—
then I got a call asking me to write a song for the Sex and the City
movie," she says. "So I put down my paintbrush and haven’t painted
since!"
What she did instead, as one assignment led to another, was write
music for numerous films and television shows, and in the process,
find a surprising and exciting direction for her new album, The Waking
Sleep, her first release on Downtown/Mercer Street Records. "I was
trying new things," says Herzig, "getting outside of what I would
normally do as an artist. It was really fun and invigorating to use
samples and build tracks digitally. I loved creating like that, and it
really allowed me more freedom, because I was doing something less
personal, and creating for something else."
But there was also no doubt that at some point, this accomplished
artist would return to the distinctive, heartfelt material that made her
name. After initially fronting the Colorado-based band Newcomers
Home, Herzig released her solo debut, Watch Them Fall, in 2004,
followed by Weightless two years later. When she relocated to
Nashville, she immediately started to catch the attention of her fellow
artists and was invited to perform as part of the remarkable new talent
showcased on the Hotel Café and Ten Out of Tenn tours.
As rewarding as the soundtrack work could be, there was another kind
of work to be done. "I knew I'd have to get back to writing for me," she
says. "I was kind of intimidated by it, but I knew a lot would come out. I
do remember saying, though, I thought I might make a really mellow,
stripped-down record."
It wouldn't have been a surprise for Herzig to go that direction. After
all, her last release was Live in Studio: Acoustic Trio, a bare-bones
2009 re-imagining of some of her material. But there's another side of
her musical interests that came to the fore instead.
"I just love bands, and I found myself making a record that felt like that.
I was listening to lots of Coldplay, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend..." she
says. Herzig and producer Cason Cooley were also especially taken
with film composers Gustavo Santaolalla (Babel, Brokeback Mountain)
and Mark Mothersbaugh who also influenced their thinking.
Herzig knew that she wanted to work with one producer and write a
batch of songs that were specifically intended for a new album.
Eventually, "The Waking Sleep" emerged as the project's initial
composition. "It felt like the first personal song I'd written in a long
time," she says. "That got the ball rolling, and felt like it might be the
beginning of something."
"Wasting Time" followed soon after, written on a ukulele borrowed from
one of Herzig's bandmates. As she and Cooley began to develop
these songs, a new process and a new sound were surfacing. "I
recorded a lot of these songs at my home studio and started to build
tracks as I wrote them," she says. "It was very experimental and not
rushed. Before I did all the film and tv stuff I would mostly just write
songs on my guitar, now I was building tracks and writing songs within
them."
The Waking Sleep was constructed over a full year of work, as Herzig
continued to tour on her own and open for Brandi Carlile across the
US. "I recorded whenever I was home, and each time it felt like it was a
different season of the record," she says. Songs like "Make A Noise"
and "Midnight Serenade" represented uncharted territory for Herzig,
with skittery rhythms and multiple movements. By combining digitally
programmed sounds with organic instruments, she was finding a fresh
musical identity.
The song "Way To The Future" came suddenly, at the end of a
session, when Cooley played Herzig a drum loop he wasn't sure what
to do with. "I sat down and started playing this string sample against
it," she says. "I was about to leave, but I stayed and we just wrote the
song- it was really fast and fluky."
Herzig knew that these songs would present a new kind of challenge
for her on stage, since she'll follow up the album's release with a
headlining tour, as well as another run on the Ten Out of Tenn tour.
Speaking a few days after her first live performance of five songs from
The Waking Sleep, she says that "it felt like I was playing my first
show—a whole different energy, like we were a different band."
In addition to the changes that The Waking Sleep represent in her
sound, Herzig also found that the lyrics of her new songs were moving
into new areas. "These songs are less relationship-driven," she says.
"Of course, there's still some of that but the key songs—"The Waking
Sleep," "Make a Noise," "Way to the Future," "Free My Mind"—all raise
bigger questions about things going on in the world. Like a lot of
people, I've felt constantly overwhelmed by the state of the world, and
finding myself asking how it will work out and how we can help solve
things."
With The Waking Sleep, Katie Herzig displays maturity and creative
fearlessness that extend far beyond her previous work. She knew the
risks involved, and knew that breakthroughs only come from having
the confidence to believe in your instincts. "I was afraid that all I
wanted to write about was global warming and the economy," she
says, "and I don't really know how to write about those things. But I just
needed to raise questions. I see all these things happening around
me, what can I do about them?
"On some songs, I don't even know what I'm writing about," Herzig
concludes. "But it feels like exactly what I need to say."
http://katieherzig.com
born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Katie Herzig received a fateful
phone call. "I sat down to paint one day—I hadn't painted in years—
then I got a call asking me to write a song for the Sex and the City
movie," she says. "So I put down my paintbrush and haven’t painted
since!"
What she did instead, as one assignment led to another, was write
music for numerous films and television shows, and in the process,
find a surprising and exciting direction for her new album, The Waking
Sleep, her first release on Downtown/Mercer Street Records. "I was
trying new things," says Herzig, "getting outside of what I would
normally do as an artist. It was really fun and invigorating to use
samples and build tracks digitally. I loved creating like that, and it
really allowed me more freedom, because I was doing something less
personal, and creating for something else."
But there was also no doubt that at some point, this accomplished
artist would return to the distinctive, heartfelt material that made her
name. After initially fronting the Colorado-based band Newcomers
Home, Herzig released her solo debut, Watch Them Fall, in 2004,
followed by Weightless two years later. When she relocated to
Nashville, she immediately started to catch the attention of her fellow
artists and was invited to perform as part of the remarkable new talent
showcased on the Hotel Café and Ten Out of Tenn tours.
As rewarding as the soundtrack work could be, there was another kind
of work to be done. "I knew I'd have to get back to writing for me," she
says. "I was kind of intimidated by it, but I knew a lot would come out. I
do remember saying, though, I thought I might make a really mellow,
stripped-down record."
It wouldn't have been a surprise for Herzig to go that direction. After
all, her last release was Live in Studio: Acoustic Trio, a bare-bones
2009 re-imagining of some of her material. But there's another side of
her musical interests that came to the fore instead.
"I just love bands, and I found myself making a record that felt like that.
I was listening to lots of Coldplay, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend..." she
says. Herzig and producer Cason Cooley were also especially taken
with film composers Gustavo Santaolalla (Babel, Brokeback Mountain)
and Mark Mothersbaugh who also influenced their thinking.
Herzig knew that she wanted to work with one producer and write a
batch of songs that were specifically intended for a new album.
Eventually, "The Waking Sleep" emerged as the project's initial
composition. "It felt like the first personal song I'd written in a long
time," she says. "That got the ball rolling, and felt like it might be the
beginning of something."
"Wasting Time" followed soon after, written on a ukulele borrowed from
one of Herzig's bandmates. As she and Cooley began to develop
these songs, a new process and a new sound were surfacing. "I
recorded a lot of these songs at my home studio and started to build
tracks as I wrote them," she says. "It was very experimental and not
rushed. Before I did all the film and tv stuff I would mostly just write
songs on my guitar, now I was building tracks and writing songs within
them."
The Waking Sleep was constructed over a full year of work, as Herzig
continued to tour on her own and open for Brandi Carlile across the
US. "I recorded whenever I was home, and each time it felt like it was a
different season of the record," she says. Songs like "Make A Noise"
and "Midnight Serenade" represented uncharted territory for Herzig,
with skittery rhythms and multiple movements. By combining digitally
programmed sounds with organic instruments, she was finding a fresh
musical identity.
The song "Way To The Future" came suddenly, at the end of a
session, when Cooley played Herzig a drum loop he wasn't sure what
to do with. "I sat down and started playing this string sample against
it," she says. "I was about to leave, but I stayed and we just wrote the
song- it was really fast and fluky."
Herzig knew that these songs would present a new kind of challenge
for her on stage, since she'll follow up the album's release with a
headlining tour, as well as another run on the Ten Out of Tenn tour.
Speaking a few days after her first live performance of five songs from
The Waking Sleep, she says that "it felt like I was playing my first
show—a whole different energy, like we were a different band."
In addition to the changes that The Waking Sleep represent in her
sound, Herzig also found that the lyrics of her new songs were moving
into new areas. "These songs are less relationship-driven," she says.
"Of course, there's still some of that but the key songs—"The Waking
Sleep," "Make a Noise," "Way to the Future," "Free My Mind"—all raise
bigger questions about things going on in the world. Like a lot of
people, I've felt constantly overwhelmed by the state of the world, and
finding myself asking how it will work out and how we can help solve
things."
With The Waking Sleep, Katie Herzig displays maturity and creative
fearlessness that extend far beyond her previous work. She knew the
risks involved, and knew that breakthroughs only come from having
the confidence to believe in your instincts. "I was afraid that all I
wanted to write about was global warming and the economy," she
says, "and I don't really know how to write about those things. But I just
needed to raise questions. I see all these things happening around
me, what can I do about them?
"On some songs, I don't even know what I'm writing about," Herzig
concludes. "But it feels like exactly what I need to say."
http://katieherzig.com
| Star on the rise: Katie Herzig |
| ©2012 NewMusicUSA.biz New Music Magazine & Blog New Music Promotion |
We recently caught up with Katie
after a stellar performance at
Juanita's in Little Rock. Great food,
drinks, and show.
We took a couple of photos of the
performance. As you can see, her
band includes, among other things,
an up-right bass. She has a very
catchy sound. Also a very talented
band gives her music that something
extra. I decided to post this first photo
because they say that picture's worth
a thousand words. Well the smiles on
the front row speak volumes about
Katie's performance!
after a stellar performance at
Juanita's in Little Rock. Great food,
drinks, and show.
We took a couple of photos of the
performance. As you can see, her
band includes, among other things,
an up-right bass. She has a very
catchy sound. Also a very talented
band gives her music that something
extra. I decided to post this first photo
because they say that picture's worth
a thousand words. Well the smiles on
the front row speak volumes about
Katie's performance!
That's Katie and me above. We
chatted for just a couple moments
after the show. She stayed and
talked to lots of people in fact. Super
nice. Thanks for stopping through
Little Rock, Katie!
Here she is below with my buddy Joe
who rode with me to the show, and
took some snapshots.
chatted for just a couple moments
after the show. She stayed and
talked to lots of people in fact. Super
nice. Thanks for stopping through
Little Rock, Katie!
Here she is below with my buddy Joe
who rode with me to the show, and
took some snapshots.
Check out Katie Herzig's bio and
more photos of her below. Also
there's a link to her website!
more photos of her below. Also
there's a link to her website!