Interview - Caitlin Rose: Nashville to North Yorkshire – a country star is born

Country singer Caitlin Rose is making her name in the UK. Mark Butler met her ahead of her appearance at Deer Shed Festival next weekend.

DESPITE being a household name back in the US, where her preferred style of music has always been treated with a much greater degree of respect, American country sensation Caitlin Rose just can’t stay away from the UK.

“I love it here,” she says. “I’ve been to the UK five times now, and the last time I enjoyed it so much I didn’t want to come home. I made some pretty good friends over here, and I’m a big fan of the sense of humour. I guess I also like places where they speak English better.”

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The attraction is mutual. Rose’s debut album received widespread acclaim from the British Press and having packed-out shows everywhere from London to Newcastle, the 24-year-old has made it once again acceptable to admit to liking country music.

“I think people are looking for something that’s a little more real,” she says. “Aesthetically speaking, I’m the opposite of over-produced pop music and people want something different from pop right now – something with more of an emotional connection. Quite a few acoustic singers are springing up at the moment and there seems to be a real demand for what they’re offering.”

Having recently played Glastonbury, Rose is now taking in a number of other UK festivals and is looking forward to playing Deer Shed Festival in North Yorkshire this month, alongside I Am Kloot and The Go! Team.

It won’t be the first time the singer-songwriter has visited this neck of the woods either. Last year she played the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds. Rose enjoys the atmosphere of intimate venues – a legacy of years spent playing lively “dive bars” in her home town.

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Raised in Nashville, the spiritual home of country music, she comes from something of a country music dynasty. Her mother, Liz Rose, is a Grammy-winning songwriter who has penned a string of singles for US megastar Taylor Swift, while her father, Johnny B Rose markets country music for major record labels.

However, as a teenage songwriter she strived to avoid her parents’ love affair with the country genre, and it was the rebellious spirit of punk rock that held her in thrall.

“No one wants to hang around with their parents in high school,” laughs Rose. “I didn’t exactly want to ‘rock out’ to country with them in the car.” All of that changed, quite by chance, as a direct result of her love for indie rock outfit The Mountain Goats. She was stunned to learn that her favourite track, I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink, was actually a cover of a song by country singer Merle Haggard. And from that moment on she was a convert to the family cause.

Ever since then Rose has worn her country influences on her sleeve, and it’s certainly stood her in good stead. She claims to be surprised at her success, revealing that she can’t even stand the sound of her own voice on record.

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But despite this self-deprecating outlook, her debut album Own Side Now received near universal praise upon its UK release last year, garnering four and five-star reviews from tabloids and broadsheets alike.

It’s not hard to see why. Rose brings a precociously mature, sophisticated approach to the country canon, avoiding the corny melodies and lyrics with which the genre has – rightly or wrongly – long been associated.

Her songs combine sweet, wistful melancholy with playful, fresh-faced optimism, producing gorgeous ballads imbued with a sense of dreamy longing.

On tracks such as the beautiful Own Side and For The Rabbits, Rose treats regret and despair with a calming sense of hope, her soft voice complemented by sweet strings and occasional peals of slide-guitar.

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“The songs were written over five years of my life,” she says. “They’re a mixture of new tracks and older songs that had fallen by the wayside. I’m particularly proud of Own Side, I think, because it’s very personal to me.

“I’m happy I got good reviews, because the alternative isn’t very cool. I’m just thankful for it. It’s all a surprise to me.”

There’s that humility again – a fact she attributes to “growing up around really fabulous musicians who are all better than me” – and Rose certainly believes she owes much of her outlook to her grounded upbringing in the American heartland.

Just two weeks after her show at Deer Shed she’ll be right back there, playing in her home town of Nashville and other traditional country hubs such as Austin, Texas.

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But before then it’s gigs in Wiltshire, Cornwall, Cambridge and, of course, Yorkshire.

Proof, if any further proof were needed, that Rose’s beautiful brand of country-influenced musing resonates with audiences far removed from the dusty and distant Deep South.

Caitlin Rose plays Deer Shed Festival at Topcliffe in North Yorkshire on July 23.