10 Questions with ... Katrina Woolverton

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/KatrinaFanPage
Twitter: @KatrinaMusic
Instagram: @katrinamusic
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/katrinamusicla

Demo:

1. What was it that got you interested in music?

I was so little and It was fun. I wasn't particularly good at sports either.

This one time when my Mom had signed me up for softball, we were on our way to practice. She was about to drop me off at the field then go to visit a friend of hers I adored. It was my preference (which I voiced quite resolutely) that I would rather go with her. Thinking it would deter me from missing practice she says "ok honey. But if you miss this practice you can't go back" to which I exclaimed with utter glee "you mean I don't have to go back!"

I always loved singing along in the car to musical starlet icons like Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstandt, and Karen Carpenter (to name just a few), along with the show tunes like "Memories." So my Mom signed me up for vocal lessons and performance workshops. I loved it to no end, excelled quickly, and never looked back at that softball field again!

2. What was the inspiration for your new single "Hold Me Down?"

I don't talk it about it much, because our relationship is personal to me. It is so close to my heart that I think it has completely taken over my whole heart. The song is about my husband George and the love we share. To say he means everything to me really doesn't begin to describe the kind of love and connection we have.

3. Please tell us about the making of your new video for the song and working with director Nick Spanos. How creatively involved were you with the video and the making of this video?

To say Nick Spanos is a massive talent is a gross understatement. His creativity is beyond explanation. We did collaborate on the concept, etc. I wanted a music video shot in the studio I was working in, where the music came to be. I wanted to show the process of writing, tracking, singing, mixing, collaborating, being away from the one I love so I can express through music how much that one person who inspired "Hold Me Down" means to me. Whenever I felt Nick inching in a certain direction to express that feeling visually I deferred to him and voiced my deference with love.

Nick is brilliant. He sees what other's can't. And if you trust him he will bring that vision to life. His perspective is unique, his work ethic is unreal. He is a gentle soul. I adore him and l am Iooking forward to working with him again.. I am hopeful that a photo shoot with him will happen soon. I mean, just look at his stills of Herb Alpert. He captures the spirit of an icon like I have never seen before.

I am so grateful and lucky he took on the project of the "Hold Me Down" music video. He really captures my love for music, being in the studio, songwriting, singing. He also depicted the relationship I have with my friend/producer and co-writer Mikal Blue.

Mikal and I became fast friends, kindred musical spirits expressing life through music. We have fun and work hard. We are committed to the process and finding the life in music and music in life. Nick captured all of the things I love about the process of creating music, from the beginning to the end of the creative process, in a way I always wanted and never expected. I watched that video for the first time with Nick sitting next to me. I wept tears of joy. I thought to myself ,"this is me." He captured all the things I feel about music in less than four minutes of footage. Thank you Nick!

4. Please tell us about the recording process on your new EP "Better Now"?

Ahh, the can of worms opens at last. No one is harder on me than I am on myself. A trust relationship developed very quickly with Mikal Blue. I am so persnickety about vocals and the inflection expressed in the note or in the way I even say the word. I learned early on in the "getting to know you" if he says "I've got it" that he does have what we need, what we are looking and shooting for.

Mikal won't say it because he is too humble, and he views himself as a producer, but he is an artist too. He can play pretty much any instrument. He sings beautifully. He navigates pro-tools like it is nothing more than a ride in an amusement park you just get on and the track takes you where you need to go (pun intended). But he is an artist in every sense of the word and he brought that to my music. He has an innate creative sense that brings feelings to life through sound. We first met because I needed a re-mix of a song. After sitting with him I said to the team "He's the one. I want him to do this project with me. Let's release an EP first leading up to a full length album. Let's make this happen. Please."

5. You've been touring with Blues Traveler front-man John Popper and Jon McLaughlin this year. Please tell us how the tours have been going and how did these opportunities come your way?

Zach Mullinax at Variety Art is the karmic glue who was able to land me the awesome tours like Jon McLaughlin, John Popper, MeatLoaf, and Leon Russell. Sadly Leon passed away before any of the show dates happened.

Let's talk about McLaughlin because it happened first. Jon is a genius on the piano. I wish I could play the piano like he does but wishing doesn't get you there, getting to know your instrument does. It was a wonderful tour. I was able to go away for long weekends to different cities and spend the weekdays with my family at home, which is so precious to me. I also had the opportunity to meet his wife at our show in Nashville. I can see why she inspired so much of his music.

Oh Popper, how do I love thee let me count the ways, but I can't because there are too many. Every time I get on stage to warm the audience for John Popper is a gift, and every time he invites me up to sing with him I am "bucket list-ing!" Wowzah!

When I was in college we loved listening to the Blues Traveler CD on repeat. I was the only one of my friends who was able to do the rap in "Hook." All of my friends loved it and at the same time thought I was totally nuts!

The first night of our tour John invited me on stage to sing "Imagine" with him as his encore. He has called me up on stage every night since. When I start singing my verse he starts up on the harmonica (AKA harp) I look up at him, because he is so much taller than me, and think to myself can someone pinch me please because this can't actually be happening. But it is. And it keeps happening every night I open for him. He is one of the most emotionally generous people I have ever met. I told him so to his face. And his face smiled. What he gives to me is something I can't quite describe. He and Ben Wilson (also of Blues Traveler) are so kind. I am eternally grateful for the camaraderie we share- well that they share and make me feel a part of. Touring is kind of like being a circus. You carry everything you need with you- you go from city to city, usually a different city every day. You put on a show, hope everyone loves it, and keep going then do it all over again. With John and Ben I feel like I am part of one kick ass circus. Hell to the yeah-ah!

6. How are you using social networks to market your music and keep your fans involved?

I love social media, because it is meant for being social and I love to be social. I am not an over sharer- and I don't "toilet tweet". But as a fan I love when I am able to tweet at someone like Perez Hilton or E.Jean Carroll, or one of my favorite authors Allison Pataki, and they tweet back ... it is a rush ... it's fun. You feel engaged. You feel a part of a creative interactive community connected by the art or expression the conduit personality is putting out there.

It's funny, I don't see myself as a celebrity personality. Maybe it's because my dog, my Mom and my hubby keep me grounded with my roots growing deep (not necessarily in that order ;). But I love hearing what the fans think. I love knowing what moves them. When I use the hashtag #MusicConnectsUs, I mean it. I think my use of social media is a physical manifestation of that feeling of music connecting people in far away places in ways we could never anticipate.

7. Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Yilkes! Ask me a question I love to answer, every time has a different answer, and every answer is honest because it depends totally on my mood at the moment. We listen to playlists all the time and my Hubby says "honey, you have such a widespread taste in music and it is all good and fun to listen to."

My mommy tells me when I was In Utero (Nirvana reference intended) she listened to The Beatles, Barry Manilow, Charles Aznavour, Elvis Presley, Edith Piaf, and then some. When I was little and had sick days home from school any Elvis Presley movie had me glued to the screen. As I grew a little older people kept telling me I had shades of Karen Carpenter, Barbra Streisand, and Linda Ronstandt (which is not a total surprise that "Mr. Heart Like A Wheel", "You're No Good" and "Desperado" aka Val Garay produced and co-wrote my first album) in my vocal inflection and expression. When I spent long stints in London writing and recording BBC had a special on Barry Manilow. I watched one night late when I was lonely and couldn't sleep, and I realized I had unknowingly adopted many of his vocal riffs.

High school was very hip hop AND grungy. I loved it all from Aaliyah (who I found out later in college I had won against on Star Search when I was 12 years old), Boyz 2 Men, Jodeci, to Nirvana and Sound Garden. That was also when I dove head first into bands like Led Zeppelin, Rush, NoFx, GreenDay, Dave Matthews Band, Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam, Primus, and artists like Peter Frampton. Then a little later I discovered Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Etta James, Dinah Washington and Eartha Kitt, all ladies who knew how to hit all the right notes.

8. We've heard that you used to do your own cooking show in Atlantic City. How did you become interested in the culinary arts and what led to you doing this show?

I have always loved food. I think summer fruit is beautiful and the bright colors just make me happy. We used to have a giant apricot tree in our backyard when I was little. We had so many apricots that we would have anyone and everyone over for an apricot picking party. You could take home whatever you could fit into as many bags you could stuff into your car. No Joke. My Mom would cook down some of the apricots because we had so many and she found creative ways so they wouldn't go bad. I remember walking past the stove in the kitchen and pulling out an apricot to nibble on every time I went by the simmering pot. We also had an orange tree, a lemon tree, a nectarine tree, and some blackberries. We even had grapevines that never really bore fruit but that didn't matter at our house. The grape leaves were more useful in our kitchen. We were eating stuffed grape leaves long before they were in the grab and go section at Whole Foods. I think all of these things planted the seeds of foodie-ness in me at a young age.

About 10 years ago I started becoming more sporty because I started skiing and fell in love with it and wanted to become a better skier. In turn the fitness journey made me more aware of what was in my food day to day. Then when I started going on tour things really changed for me because road food wasn't ripe with healthy options. I had to work at planning my meals and snacks ahead of time. I starting packing healthy food and snacks in my suitcase. I started hitting the supermarket while on tour instead of fast food.

Whenever I was home from touring, I enjoyed cooking and being at the house with my husband and my dog. It also became a fun challenge to create veggie recipes that were super tasty using only healthy ingredients, or finding healthier ways to make certain dishes. I am totally not a chef, nor do I pretend or have delusions that I am chef-like. But I think that's really the point. Food can be fun and easy with fresh ingredients and it doesn't have to be super complicated.

Creating more of the original recipes led to my food blog. Somehow Michelle Dawn Mooney, a total talent in her own right, came across my music and food blog. She was doing a radio show at the time and invited me on regularly to talk about my recipes, music, music travels, different restaurants and chef experiences I came across. Her support means so much to me. What makes her so special is that she is beautiful on the inside and the outside for real.

9. So far, what experience has really stood out to you as a performer?

There was a family who reached out to tell me that my song "So Eden" was their song for their baby daughter who they named Eden. She lived less than a day. That moved me in a way I cannot put into words. It humbled me totally. I had often looked to music to sooth my soul, but it was the first time I knew of a circumstance where my music had soothed someone else's soul. I think of Baby Eden all the time. I wish there was a way her mom and dad could know that. They are in my heart all the time.

10. Please describe your experience the first time you heard your song on the radio?

It was thanks to Kenny Allen in Monterey, California, and I screamed like a maniac. The person driving had to pull over for fear of getting into a car crash! Thank you Kenny. But in all fairness I still scream because the feeling of hearing myself on the radio NEVER gets old. It was and is my dream. It has never stopped being my dream. Every time it happens I am living the dream. Sometimes it is just me and my little dog, Trigger. She gets it that i am excited and she gets excited too- wagging her little tail and so we celebrate together in a screaming wagging "I Love Radio" ceremony!

What do you do in your spare time? When you aren't performing or recording new material, what do you all like to do for fun?

I love to go on a hike or skiing in Mammoth, California. It reminds me that we are all only specks in a wonderfully magnificent world that is so much bigger than ourselves or the moment we are living in right now.

Do you have any pre-performance rituals?

Vocal warm ups, lip trills, scales, a text to the hubby to say "I love you" and that the phone is going into airplane mode, a pow-wow connection and/or prayer of gratitude with my guitarist, and a big exhale that I am here to share the love of music and it that will translate in my performance.

What is your approach to songwriting? How do you capture the inspiration when it comes?

Voice memo, text to self, or write it down. Otherwise it will be lost never to be found again. Unless of course you are living groundhog day, in which case the inspiration happens everyday because you are having the same day everyday.

How do you balance your family life?

It is tough when I am gone all the time. So when I am home I love to be at home. I cook as much as possible. We cuddle lots and hang at the house. When I am gone we FaceTime all the time so we can see each other smile, and howl Trigger's name until she starts to howl along with us. Dorothy said it best: There's no place like home.

Is there anything else about yourself or your music that would like our readers to know about you?

I have pursued higher education like it was my life blood even though music was truly my driving and motivating factor. I sponsor a field trip from my high school to my law school once a year. The high school students are from the music class, held in the same room I sat in when I was in high school and until last year thew class was taught by the same music teacher who taught when I went there. I tell the young students, get an education. It gives you tools you can use for the rest of your life. It is something no one can ever take away from you. It will put a roof over your head, get you through the darkest days, and give you hope in the moments when you think all hope is lost. Be a good person. Come from a place of gratitude. A sense of entitlement won't get you nearly as far as feeling grateful. No one is perfect. We all have bad days. But if you are able to generally see the good in people and in life it can take you farther than you could ever imagine.