Photo Credit: Kelsey Black
When you’ve been writing about music for well over a decade, songs can tend to sound the same. Once in a great while one walks in that you have to sit and listen to on repeat because it’s that damn good. Katie Austin and “Got Me Like” is one of those songs. A country tune that is as great as a glass of lemonade on the hottest day of the year, it’s refreshing and hits the spot each and every single time. We talked a little about her past and present, but rest assured – this girl is going places and when she gets there we’ll say, we knew her when!
Kendra: While MTV and Vh1 have sort of put music on the back burner, CMT still seems like it’s a great place for artists to shine. When you got to premiere “Got Me Like” on CMT earlier this year, did you do anything to celebrate?
Katie Austin: CMT is such an amazing platform for artists and everyone with the company is amazing! I definitely celebrated getting that premiere! My celebrations usually require wine and dessert of any sort and you better believe it was the same celebration for the “Got Me Like’ premiere!
Kendra: Your latest EP, Wild Child made me think of those kids back in the day that made kids like me nervous. I was/am a quiet, shy person. Were you always the one to make a scene in class? Run around like crazy on recess?
Katie Austin: Haha this is such a great question! Wild Child, for me, was more inspired by friends of mine who were the “wild ones” of the group and the fact that we all have “that one friend.” I do have one friend in particular who was always down for spontaneous trouble making, but she knows just as much dirt on me so I would never give away her name!
In school, I can’t say I was the shy one, cause I was definitely a social butterfly! But I will say I was shyer than my friends. I often sat back and watched them experiment before I made a “crazy” decision. This makes me wonder how they would respond to this question!
http://open.spotify.com/track/2BTZbiW46isEKBdQl4bpos
Kendra: In “Nirvana” you sing “wearing out a ’90s song.” Was that inspired by any one song in particular? Because for me, I have probably played Counting Crows’ “Mr. Jones” more than I should in my lifetime.
Katie Austin: Nirvana was inspired by a conversation I had with Nashville hairstylist Daniel Dalecke! One night at a house party, Daniel started talking about his $600 first car and that he remembered being so excited because it had a CD player. The first CD he played in the car was Nirvana’s Nevermind and it got stuck so it’s the only CD he could ever play in it!
As he was telling the story, I was thinking about my first car and the CD’s I played in it, and then it hit me that “this is what songs are about; memories, feelings.” So I took out my phone and asked him if I could record him telling the story and write a song about it one day. And not too long after, I took the idea to my co-writer, Lainey Wilson, and we intertwined our own “first car” memories and “Nirvana” was born.
Kendra: Circling back to Wild Child, if you had to compare the overall sound and mood of the record to one place in Louisiana, where would that be and why?
Katie Austin: If I had to relate Wild Child to a place in Louisiana, I would have to say, New Orleans! The song is upbeat and moody and so is NOLA!
http://open.spotify.com/track/2bWcs53ZuOaJEQEPSmWMCF
Kendra: Oh, yeah…we have to talk about Chris Young. When you won that mentoring session with him, what did you expect to take away from the whole experience and did you in the end?
Katie Austin: When we won the mentoring session with Chris Young, we didn’t have any expectations other than great advice and that’s exactly what Chris gave us! He’s a humble, nice guy and took his time to have a conversation with us and it was awesome! His voice is one of the best voices in country music in my opinion! It’s SOLID.
Kendra: What’s in store for you for the rest of 2019? More music? Touring?
Katie Austin: For the rest of 2019, I’m playing in town acoustic shows, planning 2020 shows and exploring what I want to say next!!
