Katie Powderly & The Unconditional Lovers

"Jill Andrews' harmony vocals braid with Powderly's here as though they've sung together forever." -Isthmus, Madison, WI

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Over the past two years, while we've debated why Madison doesn't have as deep a musical footprint as cities like Austin and Seattle, an Americana music community, as solid as any in the country, has spread over the city like a field of wildflowers. One of city's blossoms is Katie Powderly.

While Powderly isn't a Madison native (she's from New York State) and doesn't live here now (she's touring the country in an RV), she cut the tidy, nine-track Slips of the Tongue with Mike Zirkel at Smart Studios, one of the last full projects built there. You can hear the traveler who is Powderly throughout — in her lyrics, in the music's moods and in her unique voice, which is husky and supple at the same time.

In fact, no fewer than half the songs are literally about changes of heart and venue, about getting someplace else. "I give you more than what you ask for," she sings in "Tables Turning," a song that has a repetitive, slow-hand hook that threatens tedium, then grows endearing.

A bowed string bass supports the ledge from which the narrator of "Bridges Burning" may jump — that or push a treacherous lover. Jill Andrews' harmony vocals braid with Powderly's here as though they've sung together forever.

Many supporting players, including singer Brian Knapp, drummer Ben Wolf and guitarist Andrew Harrison, are from here. Count them among the pioneering Madison musicians pushing Americana/alt-folk into exciting new places. - Isthmus, Madison, WI

"Jill Andrews' harmony vocals braid with Powderly's here as though they've sung together forever." -Isthmus, Madison, WI

Over the past two years, while we've debated why Madison doesn't have as deep a musical footprint as cities like Austin and Seattle, an Americana music community, as solid as any in the country, has spread over the city like a field of wildflowers. One of city's blossoms is Katie Powderly.

While Powderly isn't a Madison native (she's from New York State) and doesn't live here now (she's touring the country in an RV), she cut the tidy, nine-track Slips of the Tongue with Mike Zirkel at Smart Studios, one of the last full projects built there. You can hear the traveler who is Powderly throughout — in her lyrics, in the music's moods and in her unique voice, which is husky and supple at the same time.

In fact, no fewer than half the songs are literally about changes of heart and venue, about getting someplace else. "I give you more than what you ask for," she sings in "Tables Turning," a song that has a repetitive, slow-hand hook that threatens tedium, then grows endearing.

A bowed string bass supports the ledge from which the narrator of "Bridges Burning" may jump — that or push a treacherous lover. Jill Andrews' harmony vocals braid with Powderly's here as though they've sung together forever.

Many supporting players, including singer Brian Knapp, drummer Ben Wolf and guitarist Andrew Harrison, are from here. Count them among the pioneering Madison musicians pushing Americana/alt-folk into exciting new places. - Isthmus, Madison, WI

Flush the Fashion Magazine (UK)

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Usually when bands or musicians go on the road, they are lucky if they see anything more than an airport, dressing room and stage. Katie Powderly likes to do things at a different pace.

The talented singer/songwriter/artist intends to soak up the culture and atmosphere everywhere she visits on her next tour. She is traveling in a RV (large caravanette) and documenting the trip with photos and art. If you ask her nicely she might even send you a postcard.

Flush the Fashion spoke to Katie while she puts the finishing touches to her upcoming album.

Where are you from?

I say that I am from Madison, WI, since that is where I’ve lived most of my life. But originally, I am from blustery Rochester, NY, a city right along the shore of Lake Ontario, known as the home of Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, George Eastman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cab Calloway, the largest lilac festival in the world, my mother and father, and some serious lake-effect snow. I haven’t lived here since I was nine, so I can’t exactly say I’ve got my finger on the pulse of this city’s happenings, but I manage to have a pleasant time whenever I come to visit.

How would you describe your type of music?

I would generally describe my music as indie alt-country with a folk rock twist. After listening to the rough mixes for the new album, however, I have been seriously considering a genre change to alt-country make out music. The new album has got such a powerfully intimate vibe to it, it seems suddenly difficult to categorize. Think 90% alt-country with 10% Sade. Can you imagine that? Ha! Maybe you’ll just have to wait until the record comes out, and listen for yourself.

Tell us about your plans.

Ah, my art and obsession with the question: What is America?
So, I am really inspired by the Simon and Garfunkel song, America. The lyrics, “And we walked off to look for America” really speak to me. It began to shape my entire approach to my art-both audio and visual. It affected my audio art in the way in which I wanted to approach my tour for this upcoming album. Much of touring is about hustling to a venue in time for the sound check, loading in, playing, and passing out, exhausted, in a motel at the end of the night, only to repeat the process the next day. You don’t really get to see the country that way, nor do you get to meet many people.

So I decided to do things differently. I am booking my tour for the new album, including dates in all 50 states. Talk about taking those lyrics literally! I am purchasing an RV, and am going to live in that, while I do a slower-paced tour of our country, which will provide me with the opportunity to play shows, sell records, as well as have meaningful interactions and cultivate relationships with both people and places.

I chose photography as a means of documenting my impressions of the America I find in the midst of all of this restless searching. Once I get home, I arrange the photos into different collages and sell them on my website. I try to pair images with one another that form an impression of a place, to make people feel how I felt in that moment. I’m realizing now that that is my singular goal with both my songs and my photos; to make people feel how I was feeling in that moment. Some people are auditory people and others are visual people.
I’m trying to find a medium that resonates within everyone.

For more info www.katiepowderly.com and and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/katiepowderly
Photos courtesy of Mick McKiernan.

You can also look out for more news and info on Katie’s record and tour dates on Flush the Fashion. You can get our updates via email. Click here to activate.

Download and keep our FREE January new music sampler, with tracks from Wolf People, White Arrows, Funeral Party, Cactusk, Jake Morley and Katie Powderly. Just enter your Email to download. - Flush the Fashion (UK)

"It's folk noir with a kind of David Lynch-y dreaminess, as though Powderly is struggling to stave off a sort of encroaching darkness. Her pairing of beauty and sadness is one not easily rivaled. But fear not-the album is not a downer. Far from it. It just demonstrates her ability to acknowledge her demons, and maybe even dance with them a little, before casting them off into the night as she makes her first tentative steps toward dawn." -Adam Hajnos, Flying Rooster, Chapel Hill, NC

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Katie Powderly Launches Kickstarter Campaign
July 7th, 2011 by Adam Hajnos

Katie Powderly just finished recording an LP with some of the finest musicians from Madison, WI, and East TN. With a backing band consisting of Josh Oliver (Jill Andrews, the everybodyfields) Tom Pryor (the Black Lillies, the everybodyfields) and special guests like Bryn Davies (Justin Townes Earle, Tony Rice, etc.) and Jill Andrews (the everybodyfields), it is only a matter of time before she becomes more widely acknowledged for what her musical friends have known all along: that her songwriting and singing are something special.

It’s folk noir with a very David Lynch-y dreaminess, as though Powderly is struggling to stave off a sort of encroaching darkness. Her pairing of beauty and sadness is one not easily rivaled. But fear not-the album is not a downer. Far from it. It just demonstrates her ability to acknowledge her demons, and maybe even dance with them a little, before casting them off into the night as she makes her first tentative steps toward dawn.

Her voice wraps itself around a melody and before you know it you’re hooked. Her lyrics, singing and harmonies have been likened to Gillian Welch (Isthmus, Madison, WI) and Gram Parsons (City, Rochester, NY).

Recorded at Smart Studios (Garbage, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana) in Madison, WI, and Elkgang Studios (Sparklehorse) in Knoxville, TN, Katie’s album is slated to drop early this fall, pending her Kickstarter’s success. Upon its release, she plans to hit the road in a promotional RV tour that will include shows in all 50 states.

Katie has shared bills with Tony Rice, Del McCoury, Yonder Mountain String Band, Jill Andrews, Josh Oliver, Megan McCormick, Hot Buttered Rum, Boulder Acoustic Society, Caleb Klauder’s Country Band and more. When she comes to your town, be sure not to miss her. You never know if she’ll be coming back this way again. - Flying Rooster, Chapel Hill, NC

"'Slips of the Tongue' is a beautiful slice of alt-country folk music." -Flush Magazine (UK)

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Singer/Songwriter Katie Powderly's debut album "Slips of the Tongue" is a beautiful slice of alt-country folk music. To promote the record she's been slowly touring around all 50 US States in a RV Mobile Home. It's an unusual approach, but her intention is to experience not only the destination, but the journey along the way.

Flush Magazine: What are you up to at the moment?

Katie Powderly: I'm about to climb on my bicycle (a dilapidated old cruiser from the 1970s that looks great/beat up but doesn't go up hills worth a damn) and pedal my way to the radio station (91.7 FM Madison, Wisconsin) where I deejay a pop-up Americana show called RV Radio. Because I travel so much, it doesn't have a specified schedule; it airs at random, hence the term "pop up."

Outside, the sun is hanging low in the western sky, threatening to slip down past the horizon, but not before blasting this late July evening with strident reds and oranges which dance atop the surface of twinkling blue lake waters like some kind of ego-maniacal rainbow circus.

Meanwhile, a crickety chorus sings the soundtrack to complete nature's glorious, if garish, multi-sensory display.

Flush Magazine: What did you want to be when you were at school?

Katie Powderly: I entertained notions of going to graduate school to become a college professor, but I shelved that plan. I may still go back at some point, simply because I love academia. But I am content, so I don't anticipate any major changes in the near future.

Flush Magazine: What is the best part of being a musician?

Katie Powderly: I love singing, playing guitar, writing songs, learning songs, traveling, performing, the whole 9 yards. On the road is one of the only times I can really think, uninterrupted by the mundane occurrences of daily life that form a wedge into my schedule and steal away my precious minutes, maturing them into hours and days. Behind the wheel I can be selfish with my thoughts, allocating them only where I want them: the windshield wipers, a sliver of a song lyric, a former lover's face, that exit with the taco stand in Indiana. You get the idea.

But perhaps the best thing about being a musician is getting to collaborate with other musicians I respect, each of whom have had some kind of lasting impact in my life. This album contains a litany of those people.

But of all the forms of collaboration that take place in a musician's life, singing harmony is my favorite thing in the entire world. I loved singing with the folks on my record-Josh Oliver, Jill Andrews, Brian Knapp. Their voices are some of my all-time favorites. I know that my life is charmed and I am grateful. It's an embarrassment of riches, really.

Flush Magazine: How many songs have you written?

Katie Powderly: Dozens, I've never really counted. I also have hundreds of unfinished songs that are waiting patiently to be scrapped together into little quilts of songs.

Flush Magazine: Which one is your favorite?

Katie Powderly: That's a tricky question. I'm most pleased with the way "Blue" turned out of on album-there was an alchemy at work among the musicians that enabled that song to reach heights that would have been unattainable without the talents and chemistry of those involved in the collaboration. But I was always kind of ashamed of that song, since I thought the words were too "babyish" and the chord progression boring.

Lyrically, the song I'm probably most proud of is "Yet to Come," but I don't feel that it reached the same height "Blue" did when we recorded it. Sometimes the quality of a song is not always the most important factor. Sometimes everyone's energy and the chemistry or mood in the room on a given day in the studio can have an impact.

Flush Magazine: What guitar do you play?

Katie Powderly: I have two. I play a 1951 Gibson LG-2 when I record, and for gigs I play a 1969 Gibson Country & Western. I'm definitely a Gibson girl.

Flush Magazine: Have you had a chance to write any new songs while on tour?

Katie Powderly: I have been writing, yes. It's tough to tell so early on which ones will be keepers, but my next album is in the midst of materializing. I already have the title, but don't know which songs will make the cut. I can feel them just below the surface of my consciousness, their dim light like the glow of flickering fireflies at dusk. Now just to go about the pesky business of catching them in my jar.

Flush Magazine: Are sad songs easier to write?

Katie Powderly: Yes. I tend to feel most inspired to write when I feel unresolved about a situation or relationship. That need for closure typically acts as an irritant that grows intolerable overtime, and which is only quelled once the song has emerged in its entirety. I am one of those people who can never say exactly what I mean in the moment. I recite - Flush Magazine (UK)

"Sharp, thorny bundles of burning emotiveness." -Dane 101, Madison, WI

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Local musician, Katie Powderly released a new solo album on March 21st.. Colleen has been seeing her play live around Madison since she was the bass player for the Lonesome Rogues and we both saw her many times as a part of the duet known as the Kentucky Waterfalls, but this album was quite unexpected.

Katie personally conjures up images of rainbows and hot-air balloons, so we were not prepared for the sharp, thorny bundles of burning emotiveness we encountered. Her album is hot and slow like campfire coals that last all night.

Throughout, Katie paints a very intimate picture of distance and longing, brilliantly capturing the moments we knit together to make sense of our relationships. “All the Kings Horses” kicks off the album’s journey through relationship conflict timeless and modern. Impassioned fiddle helps convey the emotional urgency that is otherwise subdued by Katie’s slow-smoldering delivery.

“Tables, Turning” is a great example of Katie’s eloquent ability to convey pain and misunderstanding. “You are secret codes I must interpret/ You scatter clues around for me to see” and “I get so tired/ Waiting for these tables to turn/ You are a lesson/ I just can't seem to learn.”

“Bridges, Burning” is another brooding song with haunting, echoing guitar, pretty harmonies, and dark lyrics. “May the bridges you burn/light your way/create an artificial day.” Wrenching vocals punctuate a canvas of sound that briefly calls to mind something more like Radiohead or Pink Floyd than a typical singer/songwriter album.

The songs are not structurally complex, but full of fierce poetry and instantly memorable melodies. Katie has also assembled a strong stable of musicians who help lend the simple country musical forms the weight they need to support the poignant lyrics.

One of the first times we listened to the album was a rainy, lightly bourbon-soaked Saturday with windshield wipers keeping time on a country drive, which sums up the album experience as well as anything. But we can only recommend this combination if your emotional life is somewhat in order. It is a powerful album, and the balance was precarious. The very first time we heard it was in the studio, and Peter joked with Katie that his biggest worry was that she would be so happy with the release that she would have no more of this beautiful darkness for a follow-up effort. She assured him that there was plenty more. We hope so.

See Katie at the High Noon Saloon on Wednesday, June 13th. She’ll also be embarking on our 50 state tour of the US this year. - Dane 101, Madison, WI

"The chemistry in [her and Josh Oliver's] harmonies is captivating." -Clementine Cox, No Depression

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This week on Songwriter's Showcase, we have Katie Powderly, who, in the last year, has sold all of her belongings and is moving into an RV to embark on a 50-state tour in support of her new album, Slips of the Tongue.

Slips of the Tongue was recorded primarily at Smart Studios in Madison, WI. Owned by Butch Vig of Garbage, who, notably, just produced the Foo Fighters’ Grammy-winning album, Wasting Light, Smart is best known as where Nirvana recorded parts of Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins recorded Gish.

The rest of her album was recorded in Knoxville, TN, at Elkgang Studios, which is the current project of engineer Scott Minor, who is perhaps best known as the drummer for Sparklehorse.

Ms. Powderly's debut album was fan-funded, raising a staggering $15,738 on Kickstarter, one of the highest-yielding projects in the organization's history.

Her 50-state RV tour kicks off April 20th & 21st in Knoxville, TN, Friday on WDVX's Blue Plate Special and Saturday at the Rhythm N' Blooms Festival.

Songbirds & Seagulls: Katie, I do want to interview you about songwriting, but I first have to ask you what we’re all thinking: what led you to sell all of your belongings to embark on a 50 state tour in an RV? I know it’s to support your new album, but it just seems so drastic. What transpired that caused you to make that decision?

Katie Powderly: A lot of people have been asking me that lately. Well, I suffered an injury in 2009 that caused me to lose my job of 10 years. I could not pay my bills, so I was forced to sell my things in an attempt to remain financially afloat. I knew I was going to lose my home, but was planning to move in with my long-distance boyfriend at the time, so there was at least some light at the end of that tunnel.

But you know what they say about the best-made plans? Well, right before I was supposed to move to his town, my boyfriend and I broke up. I won’t go into why, but it was very painful for both of us, since we had been very deeply in love.

That was the last straw. I no longer had a plan. I was in chronic pain. I was broke and soon to be homeless, and I was newly single after being with the person I felt sure I was going to marry. I felt adrift, like a hot air balloon trying to avoid power lines, but below me were only deserts and snakes or oceans and sharks, above me only storm clouds, threatening.

The only thing that brought a remaining shimmer of hope into my life was music. I had been in hobby bands before, but nothing with serious aspirations. But I had begun writing songs. At some point I thought I should probably record them before leaving Madison, since I had so many talented musician friends who would play with me on the recording. That thought triggered a series of life-altering revelations that came to me over a period of many months, one light bulb at a time.

Shortly thereafter I realized that I might be able to earn an income by selling CDs-I could sell them on the internet regardless of whether or not I was in pain, and it would be better than having no income at all. So I borrowed money from friends and family, and headed into Smart Studios with a group of musicians hand-picked by me, most of whom had not previously met one another. The chemistry was immediate and awe-inspiring.

Touring on my album originated as just an alternative to picking a new town. I knew my time in Madison was winding down, and I didn’t want to move to my now ex-boyfriend’s town right after our breakup. Traveling gave me a way out. I could see what else was out there: a new home and maybe even a new love.

But the tour has become so much more than that now. The musicians I collaborated with on my album are some of the best players in my genre in the country, and they really respected and encouraged me, which was huge. I can’t emphasize enough how their treatment of me built my confidence. I started to think of myself as an actual songwriter for the first time, because they made me feel like these songs were special and worthy of time and attention. I’m so proud of what we made together. So I feel that I owe it to all of us to really work to bring this project to its fullest potential. Hence “From Sea to Shining Sea,” which is the name of my 50-state tour.

Songbirds & Seagulls: You mentioned the musicians on your album. Tell us who appears with you on your album, Slips of the Tongue.

Katie Powderly: It’s easiest just to list them and their band names.

-Andrew Harrison: Brown Derby. He toured with Joe Pug for a while, as well.

-Josh Oliver: Former member of the everybodyfields, he now tours with Jill Andrews and Sam Quinn separately, as well as with Mandolin Orange. But he’s an incredible songwriter in his own right.

-Tom Pryor: Former member of the everybodyfields, currently a member of the Black Lill - No Depression

"The chemistry in [her and Josh Oliver's] harmonies is captivating." -Clementine Cox, No Depression

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This week on Songwriter's Showcase, we have Katie Powderly, who, in the last year, has sold all of her belongings and is moving into an RV to embark on a 50-state tour in support of her new album, Slips of the Tongue.

Slips of the Tongue was recorded primarily at Smart Studios in Madison, WI. Owned by Butch Vig of Garbage, who, notably, just produced the Foo Fighters’ Grammy-winning album, Wasting Light, Smart is best known as where Nirvana recorded parts of Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins recorded Gish.

The rest of her album was recorded in Knoxville, TN, at Elkgang Studios, which is the current project of engineer Scott Minor, who is perhaps best known as the drummer for Sparklehorse.

Ms. Powderly's debut album was fan-funded, raising a staggering $15,738 on Kickstarter, one of the highest-yielding projects in the organization's history.

Her 50-state RV tour kicks off April 20th & 21st in Knoxville, TN, Friday on WDVX's Blue Plate Special and Saturday at the Rhythm N' Blooms Festival.

Songbirds & Seagulls: Katie, I do want to interview you about songwriting, but I first have to ask you what we’re all thinking: what led you to sell all of your belongings to embark on a 50 state tour in an RV? I know it’s to support your new album, but it just seems so drastic. What transpired that caused you to make that decision?

Katie Powderly: A lot of people have been asking me that lately. Well, I suffered an injury in 2009 that caused me to lose my job of 10 years. I could not pay my bills, so I was forced to sell my things in an attempt to remain financially afloat. I knew I was going to lose my home, but was planning to move in with my long-distance boyfriend at the time, so there was at least some light at the end of that tunnel.

But you know what they say about the best-made plans? Well, right before I was supposed to move to his town, my boyfriend and I broke up. I won’t go into why, but it was very painful for both of us, since we had been very deeply in love.

That was the last straw. I no longer had a plan. I was in chronic pain. I was broke and soon to be homeless, and I was newly single after being with the person I felt sure I was going to marry. I felt adrift, like a hot air balloon trying to avoid power lines, but below me were only deserts and snakes or oceans and sharks, above me only storm clouds, threatening.

The only thing that brought a remaining shimmer of hope into my life was music. I had been in hobby bands before, but nothing with serious aspirations. But I had begun writing songs. At some point I thought I should probably record them before leaving Madison, since I had so many talented musician friends who would play with me on the recording. That thought triggered a series of life-altering revelations that came to me over a period of many months, one light bulb at a time.

Shortly thereafter I realized that I might be able to earn an income by selling CDs-I could sell them on the internet regardless of whether or not I was in pain, and it would be better than having no income at all. So I borrowed money from friends and family, and headed into Smart Studios with a group of musicians hand-picked by me, most of whom had not previously met one another. The chemistry was immediate and awe-inspiring.

Touring on my album originated as just an alternative to picking a new town. I knew my time in Madison was winding down, and I didn’t want to move to my now ex-boyfriend’s town right after our breakup. Traveling gave me a way out. I could see what else was out there: a new home and maybe even a new love.

But the tour has become so much more than that now. The musicians I collaborated with on my album are some of the best players in my genre in the country, and they really respected and encouraged me, which was huge. I can’t emphasize enough how their treatment of me built my confidence. I started to think of myself as an actual songwriter for the first time, because they made me feel like these songs were special and worthy of time and attention. I’m so proud of what we made together. So I feel that I owe it to all of us to really work to bring this project to its fullest potential. Hence “From Sea to Shining Sea,” which is the name of my 50-state tour.

Songbirds & Seagulls: You mentioned the musicians on your album. Tell us who appears with you on your album, Slips of the Tongue.

Katie Powderly: It’s easiest just to list them and their band names.

-Andrew Harrison: Brown Derby. He toured with Joe Pug for a while, as well.

-Josh Oliver: Former member of the everybodyfields, he now tours with Jill Andrews and Sam Quinn separately, as well as with Mandolin Orange. But he’s an incredible songwriter in his own right.

-Tom Pryor: Former member of the everybodyfields, currently a member of the Black Lill - No Depression

"Powderly’s impassioned delivery of these lyrics, combined with [her partner’s] harmonies and a keen ear for Smoky Mountains folk and bluegrass tunes, echo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ collaboration on Time (The Revelator)."

-Jessica Stein, Isthmus, Madison, WI

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The term “Kentucky Waterfall” doesn’t just refer to the most scenic portions of the Cumberland River in the Bluegrass State’s Daniel Boone National Forest. It’s also code for “mullet hairdo,” lending the sharp crackle of irony to Evan Murdock and Katie Powderly’s latest musical project bearing the name. But that’s not all: The duo is taking this twisted sense of humor a step further by organizing a “fake wedding” show to promote its debut album, The Real Me.

The purpose of the show -- other than playing new tunes -- is to bring together the pair’s disparate musical influences and shared love of Americana sounds. Or, as press materials from The Kentucky Waterfalls summarize: “The duo will promise the musical portions of their souls to each other in a partnership more like Loretta and Conway than Johnny and June.”

So don’t go expecting any little Waterfalls anytime soon; Murdock and Powderly are only getting country-music married. The rest, well, is pretty platonic. It’s a pairing that works, however, for writing and performing songs that meld outlaw and classic country with sweet old mountain tunes.

“Katie and I have very different kinds of writing styles: I write more straight-ahead country songs, and she writes a lot from personal experience, so this one grew out of her personal life,” says Murdock.

In other words, “Mama’s songs tend to be sweet and sad; Daddy’s tunes are often sassy, but one thing’s for sure: They love each other like peanut butter loves jelly. They just don’t ‘loooooove’ each other,” just as their press materials promise.

A sweet-and-sad bite of this sandwich is “Tables Turning,” the second song on The Real Me. The melody is built upon a simple run of five or so notes, plus a few flourishes from Powderly’s voice and two ringing threads of American Primitive-style fingerpicking. While this riff starts off sounding downright sprightly, it twists into something far more plaintive -- and especially memorable -- by its end.

And though this melody is easy to learn, like a campfire folk song or a ditty from grade school music class, the life lessons the song alludes to are not. As Powderly’s lyrics explain in the chorus, “I get so tired waiting for these tables to turn / You are a lesson I just can’t seem to learn.”

Powderly’s impassioned delivery of these lyrics, combined with Murdock’s harmonies and a keen ear for Smoky Mountains folk and bluegrass tunes, echo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ collaboration on Time (The Revelator). It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to curl up in a warm blanket with a trusted companion -- whether it’s your other half, your cat or a really good book -- and quietly appreciate the things that have gone right in your life.

An MP3 of “Tables Turning” is available in the related downloads at right. More music by The Kentucky Waterfalls is available on its MySpace page. The duo is throwing its combined “fake wedding” and CD release show with guests Cold Hard Cash and Earl Foss & the Brown Derby at the High Noon Saloon on Saturday, September 5. - Isthmus, Madison, WI

"Ms. Powderly is one of the nicest, humbling, and hard-working musicians one can know." -Lindsay Borders, Talent In Borders

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Talent in Borders: Just last week you posted about your page on the Kickstarter site for your goal in raising money for your new album, 'Slips of the Tongue.' As of today, you're almost halfway to your goal! How does that feel, and what do you contribute to that success?

Katie Powderly: Participating in Kickstarter is a very nerve-wracking experience. But it is also really exciting. It’s an amalgam of feelings; it’s a mixture of gratitude, excitement, hopefulness, vulnerability and a flicker of fear.

Obviously people’s generosity is overwhelming. But at the same time, so many talented people and I have worked so hard, and for so long, to make this album something of quality, something that people are going to want to listen to over and over again. And I am really confident that we have achieved that goal. So in some ways I am not completely surprised that people have caught our contagious enthusiasm for the project.

I attribute our success thus far to several factors:

1. Make a great album.
2. Take the same painstaking efforts in constructing your Kickstarter video as you did your album.
3. Show photographs of your incentive packages.
4. Write a compelling and informative narrative.

First, you’ve got to make an album of quality. Then you’ve got to give people just enough of a taste of it that it leaves them wanting more.

I intentionally waited to launch my Kickstarter campaign until the recording process was done. I understand that for financial reasons, not everyone is able to do that. I am really lucky that some of my friends were willing to lend me money initially to get me into the studio.

But from the perspective of being a Kickstarter consumer myself, I am really reluctant to purchase something until I can hear what exactly I will be getting.

So I tried to take that into account when setting up my project. I knew that these songs were my best work, and I knew that the performances would be top-notch, but seeing (I guess, in this case, hearing) is believing. Waiting to launch my project allowed me the opportunity to record first, because I knew people would be more convinced if they could hear snippets of the finished product. If you can’t get into the studio, I would suggest at least recording a demo that you could share on your Kickstarter site.

Also, the video has got to demonstrate effort. If you are going to have the nerve to ask people for money on the internet, you have got to convince them that you are a damn good investment. People pay attention to details, and a poorly thought-out video will subtly instill doubt in your potential supporters, causing them to question whether you will cut corners in the execution of your project or in the construction of their incentive packages.

Also, as someone who has backed multiple Kickstarter projects in the past, I have really wanted visual images of the incentives. So my team and I took great lengths to create really high quality photographs of the items in the packages.

Finally, I think an informative narrative is important. Not everyone knows how Kickstarter works, or why your project is more worthy of contribution than any other. You’ve got to be persuasive, which is easy if you are honest and thoughtful.

But obviously we’re not there yet. I still have a long way before reaching my goal, so I guess I’m just going to have to be patient and wait and see.

Talent in Borders: How do you think projects like Kickstarter are changing the music and film spectrum?

Katie Powderly: Artists and art lovers are far more empowered than we were 10 years ago due to organizations like Kickstarter. Thank God. Because of Kickstarter, independents like me are able to initiate projects that would have previously been unthinkable due to prohibitive start-up costs. It also satisfies people’s desire to root for the underdog, who might now make it without their help. No matter what side of the coin you’re on, artist or contributor, the world is gaining so much beauty in the form of music, photography and film as a result of this type of technological advance. And I couldn’t be more thrilled about it.

Talent in Borders: You have many notable special guests on your forthcoming album, 'Slips of the Tongue.' How did those fruitful collaborations take place?

Katie Powderly: I stayed in Knoxville for quite some time this past winter, with my friend and engineer, Scott Minor. I went down there to record pedal steel with my friend, Tom Pryor, who now plays with the Black Lillies. So Tom is actually the reason that some of these other guest appearances occurred, since it was him that brought me back to Knoxville in the first place.

While I was down there, I played a gig on Knox ivi’s 11 O’Clock Rock. I asked Josh Oliver to accompany me, and we just had a mus - Talent in Borders

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Katie Powderly Interview – From the Shower to the Taverns
July 11th, 2011 by Adam Hajnos Categories: Interview, Music

Katie Powderly has just finished recording her album “Slips of the Tongue” at Smart Studios. She is currently hosting a Kickstarter campaign to fund her cross country RV tour.

Photo by Mick McKiernan

FlyingRooster: You sold everything you own to move into an RV and travel the country playing your music. It doesn’t get much more dedicated than that, does it?

Katie Powderly: I guess not. But it makes some kind of crooked sense to me. In my early teens, I read and reread all of Jack Kerouac’s books until my copies were tattered and worn.

I have felt the pull of the road for as long I can remember. Ever since I was a young girl, my mind has been filled with so many questions. I always had a hunch that the answers to those questions existed somewhere at the end of a vast expanse of pavement.

Also, I’ve always been fixated on RVs. My grandparents had one parked in their backyard, and I used to play and sing in there for hours and hours, pretending it was my home. I’d color with crayons in my coloring books, absentmindedly chewing on a candy necklace, content pretending that it was something I’d fixed for supper in that miniature kitchen. I guess I’m still that little girl who wants to live in a charming little house on wheels. Maybe people don’t really change much over the years.

FR: What convinced you to try the Kickstarter philosophy to fund your album?

KP: I initially started my album with loans from friends and family. But I quickly realized that, without any other income, recording an album of a certain caliber would far more expensive than I could afford, even with the help from those loans.

I had heard about Kickstarter from a friend in D.C. who had successfully funded a folk opera that way. I thought I would see how far my loans could get me, so that when I finally launched my Kickstarter campaign, I would have something to show people as an example of my work. We’ll see if it turns out to be a good strategy! I am nervous but confident. Is there a word for that? Nervident?

FR: Your upcoming album, Slips of the Tongue, is described as you “acknowledging your demons and casting them into the night.” Can you explain a little about what you were going through when you were writing your songs?

KP: Hm. I’m not sure what that means. You tell me! It’s a pretty intense description. But if I had to take a stab at it, I guess it means that there is a lot of darkness in these songs, but that I refuse to succumb to it. Like maybe I flirt with it for a little while before deciding that it’s not for me.

I’ve had a tough couple of years. That’s clearly reflected in my writing. But I think that, though there are aspects of these songs that are sad, the take home message is one of hope for a better tomorrow. The final line I sing on the album says, “I listen to your heartbeat, knowing that the best of all our days are yet to come.” I think that leaves the listener on a high note, suggesting that there are good things down the road.

FR: Slips of the Tongue was recorded at Smart Studios, where other groundbreaking albums by Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Garbage were recorded. What was it like to record there?

KP: Recording at Smart has been a transformation for me, mostly from initial feelings of unworthiness to an eventual feeling of gratitude. For quite a while at first, I kept feeling as though it was an eventual inevitability that I would get caught for the crime of “impersonating a musician.” I think it’s because Smart’s history is so powerful that I initially felt really intimidated.

But as I dove into the project, I began to feel much more comfortable. That is definitely a positive reflection on my working relationship with Smart’s chief engineer, Mike Zirkel, as well as the musicians that I chose to work with. They really put me at ease, treated me with a lot of respect, and helped me to feel confident that I was a capable leader. I am so grateful to them for that.

Now as we wrap things up and prepare the album to be sent off for mastering, that feeling of unworthiness has begun to subside. I feel that I have begun to earn my stripes throughout this process. This is my first time ever having complete creative control, which I really needed. I wrote all the songs and their arrangements, played guitar and sang on all the tracks. And I produced the album, too. With that comes a lot of responsibility. It’s scary at first, but after doing it successfully and being proud of the outcome, it builds confidence.

And I am so proud of how the album turned out. Together, we really did make something incredible. Because of all of that, I feel less like an imposter. A sense of gratitude has begun to eclipse those initial feelings of unworthiness. Now I think, “I was able to grow and learn and gain experience wi - Flying Rooster, Chapel Hill, NC

"...Hauntingly beautiful...Slips of the Tongue establishes Powderly as one of Madison's most promising musical talents."

-Rich Albertoni, Isthmus, Madison, WI (12.8.2011)

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From 2002 to 2008, Katie Powderly spent her Tuesday nights barefoot and dressed in overalls, playing upright bass in the Lonesome Rogues bluegrass band at Wonder's Pub. Then she got the itch to start writing original music.

"I ended up quitting the band," she says. "I was tired of playing bass and cover songs."

That decision commenced Powderly's three-year musical transformation. This Saturday night at the High Noon Saloon, she'll be releasing her impressive solo debut, Slips of the Tongue, one of the last albums recorded at Smart Studios.

The album includes nine emotional Americana tracks that are drenched in pedal steel and brooding acoustic guitar. Its dark moments reflect Powderly's struggles when she began writing the songs.

"I'd been in an accident in 2009 that seriously impacted me," she says. "Between Thanksgiving of 2009 and February of 2010, I couldn't walk, and I was sleeping about 18 hours per day." She can't describe how she was injured because it remains the subject of an open legal case.

"The loss and the pain I went through is beyond the reach of verbal description," she says. "I lost my job and my home. So I wanted the album to sound like something was terribly wrong."

The seven-minute country ballad "Carry Me, Hold Me" fulfills that aspiration in a hauntingly beautiful way. The song is framed by cathartic fiddle and Powderly's soulful voice.

Times weren't always so tough for Powderly, who was born in upstate New York and spent her high school years living in Naperville, Ill., outside Chicago. She came to Madison to attend college at UW. Her dad, also a bluegrass musician, sent her here with his old Yamaha guitar. She used it to play open mikes at the Copper Grid, where she met the guys who would become her bandmates in the Lonesome Rogues.

When Powderly got restless for a new musical direction in 2008, she initially paired up with Lonesome Rogue Evan Murdock to form the short-lived duo Kentucky Waterfalls. "I was very tentative about songwriting at first," she says. "I wouldn't even tell the audience which songs were original. If I got positive feedback I would say, 'That's not even a real song — I wrote that song!'"

Around the same time, Powderly had a boyfriend from Tennessee. The relationship helped her discover the city that became her second creative home, Knoxville. There Powderly became friends with many of the musicians who are featured on Slips of the Tongue, including Jill Andrews, Josh Oliver and Tom Pryor of the everybodyfields. Bryn Davies, the bassist and cellist who plays with bluegrass luminaries such as Tony Rice and Peter Rowan, also supported the record.

Parts of the album were recorded in Knoxville by Sparklehorse drummer Scott Minor. The other parts were recorded at Smart by Mike Zirkel in the final days before the legendary Madison studio closed.

The first time Powderly went to Smart to talk to Zirkel about recording, he spontaneously asked her to play. She hadn't brought a guitar with her. "Mike pointed to one I could borrow," recalls Powderly. "It was in a case that said 'Butch Vig' on it. My hands were shaking when I went to open it."

Slips of the Tongue establishes Powderly as one of Madison's most promising musical talents. This Saturday's show will be her last local appearance for some time. She's preparing for a set of East Coast shows and is raising money for a 50-state tour in an RV next year.

Count on that happening, because the last three years prove that when Katie Powderly has a musical vision, she finds a way to make it come true. - Isthmus, Madison, WI

"Besides this Gypsy aesthetic, Powderly is a singer with a plaintive voice rising above her at-times-rollicking finger-style guitar. There's a hint of the Grievous Angel in this mid-west mama's music."

-Frank Di Blase, City Newspaper, Rochester, NY

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Perhaps she's beating life on the road's inevitability to the punch. Singer-songwriter Katie Powderly sold all her belongings and moved into an RV. And she'll hit all 50 States on her "From Sea To Shining Sea" tour. She'll be collecting bandanas from the people she meets along the way, (to ultimately stitch together into a quilt), as well is selling her photos and a line of clothing. Besides this Gypsy aesthetic, Powderly is a singer with a plaintive voice rising above her at-times-rollicking finger-style guitar. There's a hint of the Grievous Angel in this Midwest mama's music. By Frank De Blase

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http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/events/choice-concerts/2010/12/ROOTS-Katie-Powderly-12-16/
- City Paper, Rochester, NY

"...pretty vocal harmonies and adorable chemistry."

-The Onion's A.V. Club, Madison, WI - A.V. Club, The Onion, Madison, WI

"...[A] skillful singer, Powderly has a husky, hoarse alto that is well suited to mountain music."

-Kenneth Burns, The Isthmus, Madison, WI - Isthmus, Madison, WI

"...[A] skillful singer, Powderly has a husky, hoarse alto that is well suited to mountain music."

-Kenneth Burns, The Isthmus, Madison, WI - Isthmus, Madison, WI