Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Whitney Rose has announced the release of new EP South Texas Suite. The six song EP follows Rose’s 2015 critically acclaimed record “Heartbreaker of the Year”, produced by Raul Malo of the Mavericks; which was awarded Country Recording Of The Year in 2016 at the East Coast Music Awards in Canada. The breakout album presented Rose’s vintage country-pop influences, converting critics with its beguiling blend of then and now.
Can you tell us about yourself? Where you’re from and what you’ve been up to over the past few years?
I was born on Prince Edward Island in Canada and moved to Austin, Texas in 2015 after releasing “Heartbreaker of the Year”, my second LP. I play a weekly residency at the Continental Club here in Austin when I am not touring with my band and recently signed with Six Shooter Records. I recorded an EP called “South Texas Suite” in Austin this past summer to be released in early 2017 and will be touring that record extensively in the US, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia and the UK upon its release.
How would you describe your music?
I guess the best way to describe it stylistically would be to call it a love child of early country sounds and early pop rock sounds.
Can you tell us a little bit about your influences?
I grew up with my mother and my grandparents and my grandparents are huge country bumpkins so there was always a lot of country music around the house. Older country music, specifically…George Jones, Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, Johnny Cash, etc. I was drawn to it from a very young age and preferred it to anything I heard on the radio. When I got a little older I discovered pop and rock music from the same eras of country music I liked such as the Ronettes, Chiffons, Elvis, Del Shannon etc and fell in love with that, too! That music is still what I’m drawn to most today and are absolutely my influences when I’m writing my own songs.
What are you currently promoting?
South Texas Suite! A six song EP I recorded at Ameripolitan Studios in Austin this past summer. It’s released January 27th and I’ll be touring it for almost four months straight starting February 15th. We’ll be hitting the US, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia and last but not least, the UK.
Have you got a particular song you’ve done that you’re particularly proud of, one that might define you?
Not really. The record that I am probably most proud of is Heartbreaker of the Year. But I’m proud of everything I’ve done- you have to be. I used to cringe when I heard recordings I hadn’t heard in a while but now I embrace them and use them as a learning tool to keep moving forward and improving, hopefully.
What are you currently listening to?
I’ve been listening to a lot of Merle Haggard this past year. I always listen to a lot of Merle but it really hit me when he passed away and as a result I’ve been listening to him even more. I actually had tickets to see a show with him and Willie but he died about a week before that show happened. So I never got to see him live but his writing just blows my mind. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Doug Sahm, Dolly’s earliest offerings (from the late 60s), Linda Ronstadt and Gram Parsons. More contemporarily I’ve been digging the Cactus Blossoms, Margo Price, Jim Lauderdale’s latest album, the Mavericks and Shovels and Rope.
And your favourite album of all time, the one you couldn’t do without?
Judy at Carnegie Hall.
What are your hopes for your future career?
That I’ll still have one.
If money were no object what would be your dream project?
Maybe I’d bail Phil Spector out of jail, keep him in isolation in a straightjacket in a recording studio and force him to produce a record for me. I wonder how much that would be.
What’s the best thing about being a musician?
Creating every day- whether it’s onstage creating a show, in the studio creating an album or home on my couch working out a new concept for a song. Having people tell me that something I created touches them makes my day every time. It keeps me sane…kinda. Oh, and the travel. Seeing so many new places by doing what I love makes me feel like I have hit some sort of life jackpot. It’s not always glamorous, mind you, but it’s always an adventure.
And the worst?
Horror film-like, middle of the night in the middle of nowhere, run down gas station pees. I’m still not convinced I won’t take my last breath in one of those someday. Oh, and not being able to please everyone. But you’re forced to get over that one pretty quickly or else you’ll perish.
Finally, have you anything you’d like to say to the readers of Americana UK?
I’m looking forward to finally getting to the UK in May! I’m anticipating some laughs as I’ve always maintained that y’all are the world masters of comedy. No pressure, of course…
