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10 Questions with ... Runaway June
October 23, 2016
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/RunawayJuneOfficial Twitter: www.Twitter.com/RunawayJune
Nashville's new female trio, Runaway June, is composed of lead singer and guitarist Naomi Cooke, singer and mandolin picker Hannah Mulholland, and singer and guitarist Jennifer Wayne. The Florida native and California natives, respectively, describe their sound as rootsy and real with a western and cowboy feel. Wheelhouse Records' new trio is in the midst of their radio tour as they promote their debut single, "Lipstick," to Country radio. Naomi, Hannah, and Jennifer sat down with All Access to discuss what unique strengths and sounds they each bring to the group, why there is power in numbers, and more.
1. Before I get to how you met, how would you describe yourselves as individuals - what kind of unique story (and sound) do you bring to the group?
Hannah: I know for me growing up, playing instruments was always kind of one of my passions. Learning new instruments is something that I always really enjoyed. I think that I have the kind of love for learning new things and learning new instruments. So I can bring that to the group, and I feel like that's one of my strengths in the group!
Jennifer: Hannah is so great! She plays everything, so that really is a strength of hers! I would say that my strength is writing. I really love writing - that's why I moved here. I also feel like I'm the momma bear of the group.
Naomi: I would say I hope that my strength is hearing melodies - I hear lots of melodies when I write, and even like sometimes in my sleep when I'm going to sleep, I hear a melody. My favorite thing is when we go to write - Jen is very lyrical, and Hannah can kind of bring the melodies that I hear to life, because she's such a great musician. That kind of brought us together as a group. It's one of the things that was like, "Oh my gosh, we all have these pieces of being able to write together like no one else!"
Jennifer: And don't forget about your voice!
2. Jennifer, we know that you left a pro tennis career to pursue music. What sparked that transition to music - and what brought each of you to music and eventually Nashville?
Jennifer: I was playing tennis, and I always wanted to do music, but my whole family - they're all tennis pros - so that was kind of what they knew. I was born with a racket it in my hand, so I kind of had to do it until I was 18. When I graduated college, I was like, "You know what? I can do whatever I want now!" So I moved to Nashville, and I didn't know anyone, and I didn't know what I was doing. I was so green, and if I would have known how hard it was and how good people were, I probably wouldn't have moved. So thank God I was naïve! I really had a lot of help, and it's such a great songwriting community. I just kind of dived in, and I really had a lot of help and got embraced by Nashville, so I'm really grateful for everyone here.
Hannah: For me, growing up, I've always been writing music. I started writing songs when I was about six years old. I've always had a love for that, and I kind of knew that I wanted to be a singer and a songwriter. I grew up my whole life in Los Angeles and was always playing music out there. One thing led to another, and just to make a living, I started teaching art. I was an art teacher for the last six years! I started realizing if I want to take it seriously, I need to move to Nashville and make that my full time focus on songwriting. So I just picked up and started over and moved to Nashville, just kind of looking for that songwriting community that I was always lacking to take it to the next step. I really just moved for songwriting. That's what really brought me to Nashville.
Naomi: I had been gigging a lot in the area where I live in Florida, the Gainesville area. I had met a songwriter who was ten or 12 years older than me that moved to Nashville. We were from the same hometown, and he moved up here. He had a lot of success. He had written three hit songs, and we had some mutual friends. We met, and I had known - at this point I had been gigging hard core since I was 15, and so I was about 19 or 20 - that I really wanted to take it to the next level. I knew I didn't want to go to school or pursue any other kind of profession. I really loved it, and I was making money. I was like, "I think I can do this for a living, but I need to move to Nashville to take it to the next step and really give myself the opportunity to have a shot!" So I met this songwriter - his name is Rob Hatch - and he and his wife Shannon Hatch really encouraged me and nurtured me as a writer. They introduced me to people and really helped me. So many people helped me along the way. But that's why I moved. I knew that to have a real shot at doing this as a living forever, I'd have to move to Nashville and take it to the next level, as scary as that was. It was a really scary thing to do, but I moved out to Nashville, and I started working at Tootsies, cleaning houses, and nannying and doing whatever I could to make money and kind of get in to the songwriting community and the music community. That's kind of how I met the girls!
3. So did you all meet in that songwriting community?
Naomi: I was almost here for five years - like right at five years - when I met Jennifer. Jennifer and Hannah have known each other for about six years. They have the California connection - they met out there. They had been writing together here and there, so Jennifer and I had been writing together, and it was her idea to bring Hannah in to our write. She said, "I know this girl who is really great, and I think she would be a great addition to our write." She brought Hannah in, and it was like the best thing that ever happened. That's where the band really formed and took off. It got really serious. It was like, okay, we're all going to be artists together and do this new thing that we hadn't really talked about.
How did you come up with the name Runaway June?
Jennifer: My grandmother's name is June, Naomi has a sister named June, Hannah went on a 25-day hike in June, and we got a record deal in June. June is just kind of lucky for us. We're all kind of runaways at heart. We all kind of ran away from home chasing this crazy dream, and so we came up with Runaway June.
How long did it take you to come up with that?
Naomi: It did take us probably about a month or maybe a little more - when we realized, "Oh my gosh we're a band. We need to come up with a name - one that people like! It has to define us and mean something to us." It took us like a month to come up with something that didn't sound super foreign or weird, because when you're trying to find a name, there are a lot of bands that have names that you can associate with success or great careers. Like Rascal Flatts for instance; that's a really weird name, but you associate it with Grammys and huge stars, and it's not weird anymore.
4. How did partnership with BBR Music Group come to be, and how did you know the label would be the right fit for you?
Jennifer: I had been writing at Platinum Pen Publishing for a few years, and before Broken Bow moved onto 17th Ave., they were right next door to us. We developed a little relationship with all the people at Broken Bow and [BBR Music Group EVP] Jon Loba - I also did a brief stint in record promotion, so Jon Loba really helped me. It felt like a little family over there for me. [BBR Music Group Founder/CEO] Benny [Brown] is actually the one who introduced Naomi and me. It really felt like home!
Naomi: I agree with that! I had done a showcase here in town. Rob and his wife Shannon helped me put the showcase together, and Benny came to see me, and obviously I had known who Benny was. Broken Bow is a very prestigious record label for an indie label in town. They have so much respect from the major labels in the industry. So I knew who Benny was, and I had met him a couple times just in passing, and he came to my showcase. It's so funny, because I saw him from the stage, and I was like oh my gosh. You never know who will come to those things - you invite everyone. I saw him come in, and he was very incognito and low key. He just sat in the back for our whole set. He didn't move or nod his head or anything. As soon as my last song was done he left, and I didn't hear anything back from him. Then two weeks later he called Rob and wanted to know if Jen and I wanted to write together. He said he knew this girl, Jennifer Wayne, and he wanted to see if I wanted to write with her, and I was like, "Oh my God, is that all he said?" Rob said, "Yeah, he wants to know if you want to write with this Jennifer Wayne girl." I said, "Yeah, of course, sure!" That's how Jen and I met! He had his little wheels going, I'm sure.
5. Your single, "Lipstick," is a breakup song that's actually upbeat and positive. Why did you choose this as your first single, and what do you hope listeners take away from it after a full listen? Is the single part of a larger forthcoming project?
Hannah: I think that for us, it started playing it live. Not only did we have so much fun playing it live, but it felt like the audience was really reacting well to it! Then we were even more excited to play it live! We just liked the energy on that song. It was always really special. When it came time to really dig deep and choose what our first single was going to be, that was our first choice, because we just loved playing it so much!
Is the single part of a larger forthcoming project?
Jennifer: Yes! We're actually making an album right now! We've done nine songs, and we have a few more to go! We're really lucky to be able to do a full album instead of just an EP.
When can we expect that out?
Naomi: The timeline we're trying to do is early Spring 2017. That's what we'd like to do!
6. What else is on the horizon for the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017?
Hannah: We've been doing a lot of the festivals and awesome radio shows, and we have a couple dates coming up with Kip Moore, which is going to be really exciting! We have some stuff until the end of the year, and a few things in early spring; we're hoping to finish the album in that time, as well! We're hoping to dedicate some time in Nashville off the road to work on the album! Those are our hopes for the end of the year!
What has the recording process been like for you?
Jennifer: It's been awesome! Mickey Jack Cones is our producer, and I cannot say more wonderful things about him! He's so much fun to work with! He's so positive, and he's got a really good ear for songs! His mom and two sisters were in a trio, so he kind of grew up with a female trio, and he had never worked with one before us, so I think he was kind of excited about that, too! It's really been fun with him, because he's got such an ear for harmony. I feel like he's really helped us develop beyond what we ever thought we could get to.
7. You recently shot the music video for "Lipstick." What was that experience like?
Naomi: It was really like a moment in your life and your career where you dream of that thing happening to you for a long time. You think up your own music videos throughout your life. Like for that to come together, even more wonderful than we ever imagined, it was crazy! It was amazing!
Jennifer: Also, we had the coolest guy! I don't know if you're a "Bachelor" fan, but Luke Pell, who was on [ABC-TV's] "The Bachelorette," was our leading man, and he was so cool and so nice! Of course, he's so cute! But he really made us feel comfortable and was so easy to work with. I think that really helped the whole day. I mean, he added such a great energy to the shoot!
How much input did you have creatively?
Naomi: We actually had a lot. We're really fortunate to have a label that thinks the world of us and thinks we're creative and smart. And also our director is very collaborative and creative. He wanted to make sure we were putting input in on this video, like little details that we liked. It was very collaborative. I was surprised at how hands-on they wanted us to be, being a baby act and this being our first time. I think for everyone it was important that we were happy with the product. Having our own ideas showing up on screen - or little things like that - is so important. It's important that we have our fingerprint on it. We had a director who knows that, who knows that an audience can tell if we had anything to do with it or not. It was really fun, and we put our heart into it!
8. As you launch the single and get into radio, what is your awareness or perception of where Country music is right now? What is the landscape in front of you?
Naomi: I've never been in the business this deep before. This is kind of the first of it for me, but I really feel like there is a lot more acceptance of different sounds, different stories, and different types of styles of people. I feel like probably more than ever, this is the most exciting time to be in Country music.
Jennifer: I think there's a little bit of something for everyone right now on the radio. I think for a little while, we were missing that traditional Country sound. People like Jon Pardi, Chris Stapleton, and William Michael Morgan are kind of breaking in to that, and I think that's helping us, because I think we have a pretty Country sound. I think that it's good to have a little bit of everything. There's room for everybody on the charts, I think!
9. As a format, it's difficult to break/establish new and young female artists. How do you feel you can break through?
Hannah: I think that there's been a missing voice for a while on Country radio for females, so it's just kind of nice to get the story, and to have that variety back. I feel like lately, there have been so many awesome girls breaking through on radio! Whether it's Kelsea Ballerini, or Maren Morris, or Brandy Clark - people like that! I feel like right now there are so many amazing female Country musicians that are coming out that are kind of breaking through those barriers again. Like the girls were saying before, there's more variety now than there was.
Do you think there's power in numbers - as a girl group instead of a solo act?
Naomi: Oh my gosh, yes! I think just like Hannah said, it's almost like the best of the best are just breaking through with no excuses. There's a high bar for us to reach for now. It's kind of like, the door is cracking for you guys to get out there and prove yourselves! It totally does! It helps in so many ways for there to be three of us and not just one, because now that we're doing it, I see how hard it is for these females to be out on the road. It's kind of a hard life, especially to get started and to get noticed. Having three of us, we can just divide and conquer, and we're there for each other. We can kind of build each other up. We are going through this more than our regionals and our manager. We understand what each other are going through. Or if one personality doesn't connect with someone, then one of us is bound to. It makes it so much easier, in my opinion.
10. How familiar were you with how radio tour works before this promo tour?
Jennifer: I feel like I've been on radio tour for like six years now! Haha! I've done it before, but it was the girls' first time doing it. I think it kind of made me helpful - you girls can correct me if I'm wrong - I think it helped that one of us knew a little about it. I have a lot of friends at radio, and we really feel like they've embraced us. We've made a lot of friends, and I think they've been really good to us! That's how I feel.
Naomi: I second that! It was tremendous having Jen who kind of - and obviously, Jen, it's changed so much since you've been there, but it's always changing - for her to kind of know the layout and what to expect and know some of these program directors who just love her. It really made it a lot easier for Hannah and me, just kind of going in there knowing what to expect. Otherwise, it's pretty hard.
Where were you the first time you heard yourselves on the radio?
Hannah: We were in Baton Rouge inside of the station, and they decided to play it while we were in the station. They played it right over the speakers there - so we weren't in the car. Right when the song finished, a woman came in to the station and she said, "Oh, I was just listening to it in the car," and that's when we really flipped out! We were like, "In a real car?!" Haha!
Bonus Questions
1. If you could open for any act - dead or alive and any format - who would it be?
Jennifer: I would definitely pick Garth Brooks!
Naomi: I would just die to not just open but get on the road with Tim McGraw. I think we're the perfect fit for him. He and Faith coincidentally just announced that they're getting back together, and Hannah loves Faith Hill. I think we would be the perfect opener! I mean they took the Dixie Chicks out on their first tour, so... And we just opened for him, and want to keep opening for him! It was so fun! We were treated like stars, and he came in to our dressing room and spent time with us. I was like, "Okay, this needs to keep happening."
Hannah: I agree. I think Tim McGraw would be the perfect choice. Not only do we love his music, but just him as a person. I feel like he's so kind and real and such a legend. He is where is he is because of the way he treats people! His team is wonderful! His fans are all so sweet! They treat us so well, that would be the dream! That would be such a great first tour to get on. The Tim and Faith "Soul2Soul" tour, if we could hop on that that would be a dream come true!
2. If you could collaborate on a song with any artist or group - dead or alive and any format - who would it be?
Naomi: I would love to collaborate with Alison Krauss, or probably I would say Johnny Cash. We actually play this game a lot by ourselves on the road.
Hannah: I think just for the six-year-old in me, I would say Sheryl Crow because she's been my biggest inspiration in life, just wanting to be a musician. That would be a dream come true for me. And then if we could collaborate with Willie Nelson, I think that would be the most fun! There would be nothing like that! Those would be my two! Maybe we could do one collaboration all together!
Jennifer: Mine is a little weird, because one isn't Country. I love Michael Jackson, and if we could ever do something with him, that would be the coolest thing ever! I think he's a genius! My other one would be Patty Griffin!
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