One More Girl

With Awards night less than a week away, the Canadian Country Music Association has announced who will be filling the final performance spot. Adding a touch of feminine flare to this year’s broadcast, 2011 nominee and 2009 Rising Star Award winner, Tara Oram will join 2010 Rising Star Award winners One More Girl in a performance that is sure to bring down the house.


Oram, who released her sophomore album Revival this year and has had the opportunity to share the stage with popular artists including Taylor Swift, has been nominated for a 2011 CCMA Award in the category of Female Artist of the Year, while One More Girl just signed a prestigious international deal with Interscope Records by the same A&R director who signed Lady Gaga.

These ladies are a welcome addition to the long list of Canadian and International country talent slated to perform on the 2011 Canadian Country Music Awards broadcast live from Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, ON on September 12.

These artists join the likes of Canadian performers Gord Bamford, Paul Brandt, Dean Brody, George Canyon, Terri Clark, Doc Walker, Emerson Drive, Johnny Reid , Deric Ruttan and a unique pairing of The Jim Cuddy Band with special guests , The Heartbroken. They will also take the stage with internationally acclaimed country stars Luke Bryan and Ronnie Dunn.

The 2011 Canadian Country Music Awards will be broadcast live on CBC Television on September 12, 2011 at 8:00 pm (8:30pm NT), and at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CMT . For more information about the Canadian Country Music Association and the 2011 Canadian Country Music Awards, please visit www.ccma.org .
- Country Music Fever

When One More Girl hits the WestJet Stage on Saturday night to kick-off this year’s PNE Summer Night Concerts series it won’t be the first time for the McKillip sisters. Britt, 20, and Carly, 22, grew up watching father Tom McKillip — an award-winning producer/player — perform at the annual fair, sometimes playing tunes penned by their mother songwriter Lynda McKillip. They’ve graced it themselves a few times over the band’s five year history, most recently following the release of the duo’s 2009 debut, Big Sky.

This year’s performance is different in so many ways.

The pair will have just flown in from a Los Angeles meeting with Lady Gaga’s manager Vince Herbert and label executives inking a deal with Interscope Records. One More Girl is the only country-oriented artist signed to the company whose roster includes Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Eminem, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre and others.

“It’s been the hardest secret to keep for the last six months,” says Carly McKillip. “We went down in February to meet with Universal and they set us up with Vince who said we had to play for (label head) Jimmy Iovine and there we were the next day doing just that.”

Undeniably well-positioned for crossover appeal à la Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood, the two admit that the follow-up to their cover-heavy debut will boast a more universal pop-rock vibe. They should be back and forth to Los Angeles to get some rough tracks down in the studio soon. While the plan is primarily original material, neither singer is opposed to working with top writers in the business.

“Our m.o. has always been to get the best songs possible, regardless of where they come from,” says Britt McKillip. “But we’ve really developed a lot and done a lot of writing lately we’re really proud of and expect to have a lot of our own material on the new album.”

There are sure to be some unexpected fresh covers in the set this weekend too. Watch for Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” and even the somewhat prophetic Mamas and the Papas’ gem “California Dreaming.”
- The Province

In a line coming from way beyond Mama Mabel Carter, through Dolly Parton and onto the likes of Lucinda Williams, country has always had a soft spot for sassy wimmin. It’s still like that except these days they seem to come up like that sooner. Just ask Taylor Swift.
Or the McKillip sisters, known collectively as country act One More Girl. They’re barely out of their teens but can cheerily relate tales of fending off challenges from managers and record label folk, having to step up in defence of their music.


Speaking from their B.C. home, the pair operate in tandem, tag team style, finish each other's sentences and take up the thread of the conversation at will. So all responses in quotes are from the One More Girl girls as a unit.


“ Essentially, it’s your name on the brand so you have to take responsibility for every part of your career. This is our first worldwide deal (with Interscope) but we’ve had experience with major labels before.


“ Our dad’s a country music producer and mom’s a songwriter so we grew up in the industry and watched how things worked.”
That’s their poised, professional side but they turn into kids when talk turns to the secret Interscope signing.


“ We’ve known about it for six months but legally we couldn’t say anything. It was agony, we were just bursting to talk about this big exciting thing in our lives. It's only in the last couple of weeks that it’s become public knowledge and it feels great”.


Part of the magic for the pair in the Interscope deal lies with the Lady Gaga connection. They’re huge fans and attracted the attention of Interscope A&R executive Vince Herbert, who signed Lady Gaga to his Steamline Records, a joint venture with Interscope.


In L.A. to audition for the label, it got spooky better for the girls when they were told the piano they would be playing was the same one Lady Gaga had played while auditioning for her record deal.


“That was a big moment for us as we are such Gaga fans. I think she’s a true talent. She has the theatrics but she can sing with just a piano and rock the room. Plus she stands for something”.


One More Girl debuted in 2009 with the Big Sky album. Given that they were 14 and 16 when work started, coming up with suitable material was a challenge, since there aren’t; that many suitable tunes for performers that young to articulate convincingly.


Nonetheless, the album put them on the country map. One More Girl saw radio success with the bittersweet single “When It Ain’t Raining” hitting the #1 spot at CMT. Their fourth single “Tumblin’ Tears” sprinted to the top of the charts, and in January 2010 became the most added single in Canada in all formats. In 2010 One More Girl took home the prestigious Canadian Radio Music Award for ‘Best New Country Artist’. BCCMA awards for ‘Single of the Year’, ‘Group or Duo’, ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Entertainer of the Year’ along with ‘Producer of the Year’ for Tom.
However, the very sweetest icing on the cake was their Canadian Country Music Award for ‘Rising Star’.


“ We were still young as songwriters and we only had one song fit for the first album. We didn’t have much to write about.”
This time, it’s gonna be different, the ladies say, as they’ve now had time to amass some ‘life experiences’.


“ The bulk of the new songs are developed from things either in our lives or in the lives of our friends. We’ve played around so much, have had more varied experiences, both personal and in the business, that now we have things to say”.


These rising stars are clearly on the cusp of big things, with not only the chops but also the business savvy to make it happen. Seemingly with all the bases covered and a solid support network, there are almost no speed bumps on their highway to the big time, right?


Except for the wildest of cards, the one that can inflame the tamest of hearts; we’re talking love, romance, the many-splendoured, many-splintered saviour of souls and wrecker of lives.


They’re young, they’re stars, they’re hot looking, you know this stuff has to factor in. Somehow, it’s no surprise that the ladies have a tight hold on the romance thing by simply keeping it in-house.


“ We’re both dating guys in the band (much mutual laughter here) and it’s working so well we call ourselves the Fantastic Four. It helps that we’ve all been together through both the bad times and the good as you get to know a lot about a person when you go through the lows together.


“ It’s been a great summer; we play one or two gigs every weekend. Love festival season, when we play a lot. We’re young, we like to have fun and we think that communicates onstage. That said, we’re not afraid of controversy, not afraid to speak our minds and ready to defend what we believe in.”
- CashBox Magazine Canada

VANCOUVER -- The past six months have been intense for country sister duo One More Girl.

The pair of Carly and Britt McKillip spent the better part of the year finalizing the details of their major label deal with Interscope, which they finally signed just over a week ago.

Their newly minted contract makes the Maple Ridge-bred sisters the only country act on Interscope in North America and, considering the label is home to acts like Lady Gaga, they hope it will allow them to crossover from country into pop.

One More Girl are already a bit of a household name in Canada, having toured extensively supporting their 2009 debut album Big Sky, opening on big tours for the likes of country superstar Toby Keith, among others.

With an Interscope deal and a new album set to be released next year, One More Girl have set their sights on breaking into the U.S. market.


“The new album is going to be different since a lot of the songs were written by Britt and myself,” Carly said.

Most of the material on Big Sky had consisted of collaborations or songs penned by other songwriters such as Gretchen Wilson and Victoria Banks.

“This album is probably going to have more of a pop-rock flair to it, which we love,” she added. “But it will definitely keep the country roots.”

It’s something one can already hear on their latest single Fall Like That, which buzzes with an electric pop-rock vibe while retaining its country backbone.

“If anything, we felt that on the first album, because we were new, there was a little bit more of a criteria to meet as far as radio guidelines go,” Carly said. “We had to make sure to be careful about adding too much pop or rock influence. This time around, because it’s not just a Canadian release, we felt like we were able to get away with a little bit more. We feel like we’re being a little bit more true to ourselves.”

“Carly and I love all music,” Britt added. “We never really stuck to one genre. We worship Lady Gaga, we love Katy Perry, Kings of Leon and John Mayer. We listen to everything.”

Before the pair heads out to Los Angeles and Nashville to begin working on their forthcoming album, One More Girl will have the honour of opening the PNE’s Summer Nights concert series, which will also feature the likes of Crystal Shawanda, Kenny Rogers, Chris Isaak, Stereos and more through Labour Day.

For the girls — Carly is 22, Britt is 20 — the PNE will always bring back fond childhood memories.

“We always wanted to be able to perform on that stage,” Carly said. “One of the first concerts we ever did was at the PNE. We were part of a talent competition. I think we were something like 10 and 12. ... So we’re really excited. We’re going to rock it out big time. We have the biggest band we’ve played with all summer — there’s going to be seven of us on stage. It’s going to be a long show — a 90-minute set with lots of new songs, tons of really cool covers. It’s just going to be a big party.”

Of course, the PNE experience wouldn’t be complete without catching a ride or two before the show.

“Oh, hell yeah,” Carly said. “My sister isn’t a huge ride person but I plan on doing every ride there.”

As for potentially getting sick right before performing, Carly wasn’t worried a single bit.

“I have an iron stomach,” she said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

- Vancouver Sun