Nashville’s acclaimed all-female singer-songwriter collective Song Suffragettes will embark on its first-ever international tour this October, featuring artists Carter Faith and Kalie Shorr from the United States, Robyn Ottolini from Canada, and Twinnie from the United Kingdom. Tickets are on sale now and available at www.axs.com, www.seetickets.com andwww.ticketweb.uk. 
 
In over eight years, Song Suffragettes has become a Nashville music institution, known for its efforts to combat widespread gender disparity throughout the music community. Through its weekly show at Nashville’s The Listening Room Cafe, Song Suffragettes has showcased over 350 talented females, 26 of whom have gone on to secure recording contracts and more than 50 who have landed publishing deals. With massive press coverage from Forbes to Washington Post, ELLE magazine noted this about a Song Suffragettes show: “Their collective talent is palpable – chill-inducing.” And Billboard magazine has called Song Suffragettes “Next-Gen Nashville…Shaking Up Music City.”
 
Song Suffragettes’ UK Tour will be part of Country Music Week in the UK presented by AEG Presents and SJM Concerts, the team behind C2C: Country to Country Festival. In addition, the LSS Group at RBC Wealth Management is a year-round financial supporter of Song Suffragettes.
 
Song Suffragettes UK Tour Dates:
October 21 – Glasgow, Scotland – Òran Mór
October 22 – London, England – Bush Hall
October 23 – Manchester, England – Band On The Wall

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MAY WE ALL: A NEW COUNTRY MUSICAL has announced the first round of dates for the all-star rotating lineup of guest artists who will step into the role of “Bailey Stone” during the world premiere engagement of the highly anticipated stage show. The can’t-miss multi-week roster slated to perform at Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, TN, on June 7 – July 17 includes Alana Springsteen, Angie K, Alexandra Kay, BRELAND, Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Canaan Smith, Danielle Bradbery, Jamie O’Neal, Lainey Wilson, Lindsay Ell, LOCASH, RaeLynn, Robyn Ottolini, Scarlett Burke, Sydney Sierota, Thomas Mac, Tigirlily, and Trent Harmon.

Announced artists and dates for MAY WE ALL: A NEW COUNTRY MUSICAL:

JUNE

7 | LOCASH
8 | BRELAND
9 | Jamie O’Neal
10 | Robyn Ottolini
11 | Thomas Mac and Alana Springsteen *Two performances!
12 | Caleb Lee Hutchinson and Alexandra Kay *Two performances!
14 | Lainey Wilson
16 | Danielle Bradbery
17 | Sydney Sierota
18 | Angie K and Scarlett Burke *Two performances!
21 | Trent Harmon
22 | Lindsay Ell
23 | Tigirlily
24 | RaeLynn
25 | Canaan Smith

MAY WE ALL: A NEW COUNTRY MUSICAL narrates the story of Jenna Coates, a small-town girl whose big-city singing career is over before it even begins, and how she returns to the people and the places of her past to find a path to the future. But going home is never easy. A lot has changed in Harmony, TN, since Jenna left and not necessarily for the better. If Jenna and her hometown are going to dig themselves out of their current crises, they’re going to need each other. And they’re going to need music.

Complementing the storyline, MAY WE ALL: A NEW COUNTRY MUSICAL boasts a must-hear score of fan-favorites from Brooks & Dunn, Chris Stapleton, Dolly Parton, Florida Georgia Line, Jessica Andrews, Johnny Cash, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town, LOCASH, Loretta Lynn, Miranda Lambert, Old Dominion, Reba McEntire, Runaway June, Sara Evans, Tim McGraw, and Zac Brown Band. Debuting exclusively as part of the musical are two original songs co-written by FGL’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard.

The post Guest Artists Announced for May We All: A New Country Musical appeared first on off the record.

Hello. How are you?

Not too bad.

You must be so excited that C2C is finally happening! 

I am so excited. I’ve never been to Europe or England, but my family is from England – my grandpa was born in Yorkshire – so my dad’s gonna come with me and he’s very excited because he’s going to see some family that he hasn’t seen in a while. I’m excited.

You’re going to have the best time – I’m so excited for you, particularly after the past few years of sitting in doors, you’re able to get to Europe and then go on tour with Tyler Rich. It must feel like all systems go.

It’s crazy, it feels good. I don’t know how I got here, but I’m really happy that I got here – C2C has been on my bucket list for forever, so I just can’t believe i and then I’m so excited about the Tyler Rich tour and I’m looking forward to new music.

Obviously you kicked off this year with the release of some new music with the ‘I’m Not Always Put Together’ EP. All your EPs have shown different sides of yourself, introducing yourself to your fans – was that your intention?

I just wanted to show people that I’m a human with all sorts of feelings. I’m not just a breakup girl, I like to live life and have fun and I have a good family around me. It’s really important for me as an artist to let them see that side of me too.

I feel like that’s the way that you build the biggest fan base. You’ve had amazing success on TikTok and all those things, but I feel like when people dive into your music, that’s when they can really get to know you and see the different sides of your personality.

Yeah, exactly. They may not be radio number ones, but they definitely showcase a part of me that you won’t get if you just listen to the singles. You’ll get to know me as a human on a more in-depth level.

Fans don’t just want one dimension – it’s more complicated than that.

Exactly.

Obviously you have spoken about TikTok briefly and it has been a huge part of your journey. You managed to harness its power in a way that so many are struggling to do. Can you talk about how you grew your following on the platform and how you think it’s shaped you?

It’s crazy, because I had released my music before ever knowing about TikTok. I put it out into the world and then the pandemic hit. I had a whole strategy to build fans organically through shows and stuff, because of the pandemic, I had to change the game plan. In this industry, you have to be flexible anyway. I turned to TikTok and I just started posting content – that felt true to me, because there’s nothing worse than not believing the person on the screen. Lucky for me, my music is just who I am. It’s very easy for me to just show up on TikTok and sing it how it is. It was a lot of fun and I feel like I’m still building my TikTok sometimes. F-150 had its’ own thing and people say ‘Oh, you’re the F-150 girl, you know?’ F-150 just blew up in such a crazy way on there, I’m very thankful for it.

It’s been two years now since F-150 was released. When you wrote that song did you have any idea that it would become this complete sensation that it has become? Can you talk about writing it because it must feel very strange to look back on the day you wrote it and think ‘wow, that song changed the game’?

Yeah, it’s crazy. It has accomplished so much for me, it’s absolutely insane. I remember at the time I wrote it, I definitely believed in that song from the second I wrote it, but it came from such a true place. It was a no brainer for me. I believe in it so much and even before it went viral on TikTok, because it was released in February 2020 and went viral in September 2020, in that six months period, when it wasn’t viral, it was still doing amazing things in my eyes. As an independent artist who had no backing, it had upwards of 100,000 to 200,000 streams and I never thought I could get this.

A lot of people don’t understand how much work goes into getting even 10,000 streams, that’s amazing. People don’t really understand just how much effort goes into then 100,000 and so to see it blow up even more must have been incredible.

On TikTok, I was just having fun and then it hit 3 million, it was just crazy.

I can imagine. Obviously, as part of the rest of this new project you’ve released a more stripped back version of ‘Tell You Everything.’ There’s so much heart in that song, can you talk about the three tracks that you’ve released in that recent EP and why you put them together?

That was three acoustic tracks of fans most favourited and streamed songs. There was F-150 and obviously there’s ‘Trust Issues’ which is my second most streamed song – I love that song, I wrote that one by myself. It was just something that flowed out of me one day, and was how I was feeling, it’s connected with so many people. When people love something, they love it and they’re going to tell their friends and stuff – that’s why I love ‘Trust Issues’ so much, because I didn’t put marketing behind it. I was an independent artist when I released that one, so people’s love for it made it do so well.

That success probably feels more real – it’s just the song itself that has made it have the success it did.

Yes, the only thing that’s behind it is my voice and my feelings. It was really cool to recreate that track  – the original one, the fully produced one is kind of powerful. I was really excited to strip it back and it hit a different emotion with it. ‘Tell You Everything’ was my first love song that I ever released. I love that song so much, but it hits harder when it’s stripped back.You can feel the voice crack, you can feel the emotion behind it even more. I’m really proud of those songs.

You should be. We’ve talked about the way that you’ve released music as an independent artist, but you did sign a pretty big record deal during the pandemic. How big a step was that, because it is the ultimate goal for so many people. It must have been incredible.

It’s absolutely crazy, because I’m from Canada, so getting a US record deal is very unheard of, especially out of the gate when you’re a new artist. It was huge –  I had never even lived in Nashville. I didn’t come here often, I was very much in Canada. I’m just one of those people, I write by myself and and I guess I could have just kept doing that and it slowly and carefully worked out. It’s a really great honour to be among so many artists on that label. I don’t know how I got here, but it seemed to work.

Obviously, you have moved from Nashville, you don’t have your base there full time. The Canadian country music scene has really taken off over the past few years. You’ve got so many incredible artists coming through it. What does it mean to be a part of that community of Canadian artists in Nashville?

I was so small when I was up in Canada. When I blew up, I had a relationship with James Barker band – I love those boys, they are dope. I knew like a few other artists, but I didn’t know personally many of the larger Canadian names, but now that I’m down here, I’m hopefully gonna hang out with Madeline Merlo. I feel like we do have a bit of a kinship. It is hard being Canadian and trying to break it in the US market. It’s nice to have people that know what you’re going through. Canadians are also killing it down here – Tenille Arts – go off number one!

For the rest of this year, I know you’re touring like a crazy person, you’ll be over in Europe and then you’ll be touring with Tyler Rich, but what is the plan for the rest of the year?

I really want to work on releasing new music and the marketing strategy that goes behind it. I’m very excited to get creative, because I just love being creative.

That’s exciting and we can’t wait to see you over here in the UK before too long!

I’ll eat all the Yorkshire puddings!

Thanks so much for your time today.

The post INTERVIEW: Robyn Ottolini on C2C Festival, Trust Issues and F-150 appeared first on off the record.

[tps_title]10. Somebody Does – Tigirlily[/tps_title]

Sisters Krista and Kendra are a part of the 615 house and this heartfelt track showcased artists with real depth and maturity, who should not be discounted as just ‘teen’ stars.

The post Our Top 10 Viral TikTok Country Songs appeared first on off the record.

Hi Robyn, how are you?

I’m good. Are you?

Yeah, not too bad. The past year for you has definitely been a lot more productive year than most people’s!

Yeah, it’s been great. Life’s been good – just writing music everyday and doing my thing.

I wanted to kind of go back to the beginning of your story. I know you grew up in Canada, so I guess when did you know that this was going to be what you did – you’ve been writing songs since you’re about 13 – so can you talk about how that evolved?

Yeah, so I’ve been writing since I was 13 and I picked up a guitar at 14. I’ve been doing open mics and stuff like that around my town for forever. It’s a very musical town, so there’s always an open mic to go to and then I traveled for a bit. When I came home, I was like, 19, or 20 and I said, I think I’m just gonna do music. So I had service industry jobs to put every ounce of money I could towards the music and I hustled for a couple years. Then I released my first EP in 2019 and then my second in 2020, with F-150.

Did you fathom the success that that track got, just blowing up on TikTok? Has its journey completely taken you by surprise?

I mean, I’ve always loved the song. I thought it was a hit, you know?I thought if I could just show it to people, I think they’d like it, but I had no marketing budget. I just did the long haul, like constantly posting about it, finding ways to talk about it and say ‘check out my song.’ I just tried to keep reminding them.

It’s a bit of a thankless game sometimes, but you have to do it. You have to keep pushing and it’s that persistence that ultimately paid off amazingly.

Exactly, trying to find new ways to talk about the song – why did I write it? What was it about? Then it just kind of snowballed to be honest. It was my best single as an independent artist, before it went viral. When it got picked up by TikTok and the trends, it was like a really big snowball that just turned into an avalanche all of a sudden.

I mean even without it blowing up, it was such a strong track and something that you can be so proud of. Can you talk a bit about the writing of it and the evolution of it as a song?

So I’m from a small town, and my ex is from the same small town and everybody has the same kind of truck as my ex – so I see F-150s everywhere. One day, I just kind of pulled over and I did a voice note. Then I went home and wrote it that day. Six months later, when I had moved on more, the producers were like ‘let’s change the last chorus.’ So yeah, we changed the last chorus and then it is what it is now and that’s kind of the journey. We recorded it in November of 2019 and then 2020, we released it January 31st – and then 2020 happened.

It must be cool, because you released it but then really took advantage of being locked indoors to promote it. 

Yeah, I’m usually working 30 plus hours a week or 40 plus hours at a coffee shop. So, I didn’t have the time to promote the music, I didn’t really have it. So, when quarantine hit, it was the first time in my life that I was being paid to stay home. So I was like, wow, I’m being paid to do music. I just buckled down and started making content.

Obviously since then you’ve signed with Warner Music Nashville. What does that mean to you? It’s the dream for every artist and obviously you’ve been working so many years independently and grinding….

It’s crazy. It’s still surreal to me, because I haven’t even met Warner yet because of the pandemic. The song blew up in September, and then I was signed in October so it’s been crazy. I haven’t met them. They’re great. It’s been weird, especially with more followers and everything and more comments – there’s always the weird one in there – and they’ve been great at just saying you’re doing great kid. We’re really happy with you. It’s been wild.

It must be exciting to have those people in your corner.

Especially going to radio to have a major label behind you, it feels really nice.

Particularly as radio is so different over in the US to how it is in the UK – it’s the key.

Yeah, going to country radio in the US is a lot of money. I didn’t even think I’d go to country radio in Canada for a long time because of the money, but now I’m top 16 in Canada, which is crazy. We just started in the US and the US is a whole different beast than Canada.

I’m excited to see that journey! In terms of what’s next, obviously, you’ve just released this EP, but having been signed with Warner – do you know yet what the next year is going to look like in terms of the evolution of your music?

We’re still discussing it. I want to do an album because I feel I’m  ready to put an album together, so we’re just discussing what songs would be good. We already have a single now, so it’s a bunch of numbers that I’m trying to understand and a bunch of formulas that makes sense to the radio people and the streaming people and this person and that person. I’m just doing what I know I can do, which is write music and choose my favourite songs and then when I get a green light from one person or another, then I’ll do something.

And do you think when things return to normal, a UK trip might be on the horizon?

I love traveling, but whenever I go to travel, I’d go somewhere hot. So, I’ve never even been to Europe, which astounds me because now I really want to go to Europe.

I mean, the love of country music is very real over here.

My family’s from the UK. I don’t know where though, my mom always tells me but I’ve got family out there so I’ve got to come!

Well, I’m just excited to hear new music from you. I think that you’ve got such a bright future, so I’m excited to see what happens next. Thanks for chatting with me.

Thank you so much for having me – have a good day.

Follow Robyn on Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook

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