Coming up: Katie Powderly

Katie PowderlyUsually 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 travelling 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 infowww.katiepowderly.com and and on Facebook here
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.

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Flush the Fashion

Editor of Flush the Fashion and Flush Magazine. I love music, art, film, travel, food, tech and cars. Basically, everything this site is about.