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“At its frequent best, Katie Armiger’s stunning second album recalls one of country music’s greatest talents…This is the best album by a young country artist I’ve heard in years.” -Joey Guerra - Houston Chronicle
Like many rising country artists, Katie Armiger is faced with the constant struggle of balancing personal and family time with a packed schedule of concerts, interviews and recording and writing sessions.
Unlike most of her peers, 17-year-old Armiger also is faced with maintaining good grades.
Working her second album release inside of a year — the new Believe, issued in July by Cold River Records — the high school senior hasn't let the juggle dampen her enthusiasm. The career demands can be tiring; all the traveling between Nashville and her family home in Sugar Land, Texas, Armiger jokes, makes it feel like her second home is in an airplane seat. But it's also "so much fun."
"It just means so much to me, because this whole album has been an amazing process," Armiger says via phone. "I started coming to Nashville about two years ago, and this just took off. And singing has always been my dream."
'We all have a lot to say'
Cold River discovered Armiger, then 15, two years ago when she won first place at Houston's Best Country Singer competition. After a flurry of trips to Nashville, the young singer is earning comparisons to the mature country likes of Sara Evans and her idol, Martina McBride.
While some may be quick to compare Armiger's work to that of 18-year-old country star Taylor Swift, who, like Armiger, writes much of her own material, the young artists' voices and music are dramatically different. Armiger nurtures her share of teen-appropriate pastimes (the hard-core Star Wars fan loves Lord of The Rings, Batman and a good Harry Potter book), but her limber growl and lovelorn lyrics reveal an emotional maturity that underscores those McBride comparisons.
Still, Armiger believes Swift's success can only help other teen singers such as herself.
"She opened a lot of doors to a lot of young artists," she says. "I think that is awesome. We all have a lot to say."
Armiger's own ideas show up on Believe. The singer co-wrote 10 of its 11 songs, which focus on the kind of real-life situations plenty of adults still struggle with. That mature leaning, Armiger admits, might come from the fact that the singer looked outside herself for inspiration.
"(The songs are about) things that may not have happened to me," she says. "They could have happened to my friends or my parents, or I watched movies before and wrote a song from them. One of my favorite songs I wrote after My Best Friend's Wedding.
'It was my dream'
Armiger does have plenty of practice with self-reflection, too. Her earliest songwriting experience goes back to preschool "timeout" bouts that she turned into songwriting sessions for tunes about loving the alone time.
More than a decade later, the cheeky talent she demonstrated during punishment has evolved into a skill that she uses to create songs about life, love and emotions that the typical 17-year-old has yet to experience.
Armiger co-wrote Believe's first two singles, "Movin' On" and "Wash Away," with Ashlee Hewitt, and also collaborated with songwriters Rebecca Lynn Howard, Hunter Davis, Lisa McCallum and Quinn Loggins.
Although Armiger's goal was to write all the songs on Believe, she changed her mind when producer Paul Compton called her in to listen to a demo. Armiger immediately fell in love with "Unseen," now her latest single.
Getting to the point where she has the opportunity to cut songs such as "Unseen" along with her own work, Armiger says, was a complete mystery to her.
"I didn't know how to start up and get to Nashville; I was just a 15-year-old singing in my home state," she says. "It was my dream. So when my label found me, it was one of those dream-come-true moments." -Dipti Vaidya
- The Tennessean
February 5, 2008 – On the heels of releasing her second single “Make Me Believe” to radio yesterday, newcomer Katie Armiger is featured in People Magazine’s Country Special issue, on newsstands now. The Country Special issue, which will be on newsstands until March 10th, features a free download section where nine of country music’s hottest new singers are recognized for their rising talent with Katie’s power ballad “Let Him Go” highlighted as a must-have download available at www.people.com/countrydownloads. Katie, who’s new single “Make Me Believe” was featured in the last Country Special issue, is listed among Emily West, One Flew South, Whiskey Falls, and Monty Lane Allen, as some of country music’s new rising stars.
“I wrote ‘Let Him Go’ after watching My Best Friend’s Wedding on TV,” Katie told People Magazine. “There’ve been guys I liked, but they liked my best friend. But that was in high school, so no one was getting married!”
“Let Him Go” is a ballad that explores unrequited love. Whether an innocent schoolgirl crush or an unfulfilled love affair, the song takes the listener on a musical journey with powerful vocals and a catchy melody.
Katie just released her second single, “Make Me Believe,” which she co-wrote with Ashlee Hewitt, and is the follow-up to her debut hit single “17 In Abilene,” the highest charting debut for an independent artist on Music Row’s CountryBreakout chart in four years. “Make Me Believe” has already landed at #78 on Music Row and has been garnering adds at major radio stations across the country.
- People Magazine
“Katie has this unbelievable big voice…. she is one of the most pure and refreshing talents to come along in a very long time." -Jim Asker - All Access
“Katie Armiger's latest release is the perfect example of how things should progress between a debut and a sophomore effort. … with Believe all you have to worry about is sitting back and enjoying the fine music by this talented young lady.. Anyone who listens to this album should Believe in Katie as much as I do…” - About.com
Discography
Believe (2008)
Singles: "Unseen"
(Current Radio Play)
"Trail of Lies"
(Top 20, Current Radio Play)
"Gone"
(Current Single)
Katie Armiger (self titled, 2007)
Singles: "17 in Abilene", "Make Me Believe"
Photos
Bio
Rarely do you hear of a young artist whose vocal ability and talent is compared to the likes of seasoned country artists like Sara Evans and Martina McBride, but Katie Armiger, who burst onto the country music scene last year is just that. If her debut album showcased her undeniable abilities, her second album will make you Believe.
The album, Believe, title says it all. “I have learned so much over the last year and one of the most important things I’ve learned is that you just have to believe in yourself,” said Katie. “It’s been an unbelievable year filled with so many challenges and through those challenges I continue to learn more about myself, especially as an artist. This album speaks to those challenges in a way that I hope listeners can relate.”
The 11-track album, which features the previously released single, “Make Me Believe,” is a recording that truly captures Katie’s heart and soul. She has written a group of songs that convey messages of strength, hope and inspiration. Katie, even at a young, is driven by her desire to have her music touch others and with this album it is clear that she has the ability to do just that.
For Believe, Katie was able to throw herself into the process of songwriting. “I would always have an idea of what I wanted a song to sound like, but never really had a way of showing someone the chords. So I began taking guitar lessons,” said Katie. “I still have a long way to go but it’s a great start to communicating better with my co-writers. It’s definitely made the process easier.”
Katie Armiger has just scratched the surface of what she is capable of. She is a passionate and driven performer well beyond her years. From the moment you hear the first song on Believe it will come as no surprise that this Sugar Land, Texas native is poised to take her place in country music for years to come.
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