24.12.03
So Christmas is upon us...

Hi all,

So Christmas is upon us and I hope you're all surviving it. Actually its weird cause I've been enjoying Christmas quite a bit this year. I think you always expect it to be worse than it is. Maybe its because my family hasn't gone mad with Christmas prezzies this year. Perhaps that is the key! To resist the corporate madness and just enjoy the family bits. I was so shocked when somebody told me that the red Santa Claus we all love and cherish is actually a trademark of Coca Cola. Santa Claus's outfit is apparently not traditionally red. So would I be right in saying that all those Santa Clauses in shops are in breach of Coca Cola's copyright?! No wonder 'Mad World' is number one this Christmas! Having said that, I think I'm just being naive. It isn't really true is it? Does anyone know?

We've had a lot of fun recently, and it's been fantastic to see the album become successful. They tell me it will go Platinum by selling 300 thousand copies by Christmas, this week. That's totally mad. Anyway, thanks to everyone who sent those wonderful messages to my guestbook, you really are giving me confidence.

I recorded "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" for BBC TV a couple of weeks ago. Apparently the producer saw me on Rise TV and booked me. I was a panelist with Alice Cooper, who is a really nice guy, and very funny. Mark Lamarr tried to tease me and give me a hard time - like he does with everyone, but I hope I gave as good as I got! He's a sweetheart. It's amazing how obscene he is though, while recording. They record about two and a half hours, with much effing and blinding, then edit it down cutting out all the filthy bits! Good fun. It goes out on BBC TV on January 12th.

When the single went into the charts at number ten I was in total shock! (We never expected number one, by the way, - our campaign just hasn't been geared that way) - but what a great honour to be in the top ten with the first single. Mike tells me that staying in the top twenty for three weeks, like we have, is very unusual. He is now having meetings with all the major record companies, organising the international release. Next year looks as if it's going to be a busy one! I think we are putting it out in Europe in March. We are also working with Barry Marshall to put a tour together, of the UK and later, on the Continent, early next year.

I was recently given a Damien Rice album called O, I didn't know much about him but was totally blown away by his album. Its very acousticky but has some interesting production and his voice is great. It gets me quite emotional because his lyrics are very simple but the way he sings them tells you a hundred things behind one line.

I thought today I'd write back to some of the people who've asked me some questions on the website.

To Tony Dobb, - the two extra tracks on the single were recorded on the same sessions as the rest of the songs on the album. 'Thank you, Stars' was recorded around January 2003 and 'Downstairs To The Sun' was more recent.

Also I can see why you'd think me being inspired by Led Zeppelin would be strange because of my music is so different to that. It's because I grew up listening to them. My uncles (who were in their teens in the late eighties) used to play them when I lived in Georgia. They were hugely into the whole rock thing and the bands that stood out for me as a kid were Queen and Led Zeppelin. Both these bands made such great records. Bohemian Rhapsody and Stairway to Heaven are two of my favourite songs of all time.

Nick, if I absolutely had to choose only TWO songs of Queen, which is almost impossible, I would have to go with Bohemian Rhapsody (see above) and Who Wants To Live Forever........ oh....can't....do it......must.....say....more..... The Show Must Go On, A Kind Of Magic, Under Pressure and many many more....

Lee Smith, about the Matrix..... you'll probably be very shocked to hear that I haven't yet seen the 3rd film, that maybe because I have heard negative things about it but I am going to reserve my opinion until I see the film, you're right in saying that the trilogy could have been a landmark in cinema history. However if the Wochowski (hope the spelling’s right) brothers don't deserve that their first matrix most definitely does. Its still an amazing film.

Dave Bull, you didn't ask a question but I'm going to say hi anyway so... hi! - have a good Christmas. Joe Numpty, I think we will be releasing a DVD of or including parts of the Shepherd's Bush gig, although I don't know quite when. Sonal, you want to apply to the Brits, and don't know which course to do. I would say that if music is what you love then do music because it doesn't matter if you haven't done music GCSE. As long as you have a fairly good knowledge of music theory you should be alright. Hope you get in.

So I'm gonna round off now, thanks to everyone who's left a message on the site. Have a cool Christmas. See you in the New Year, and thanks again for caring.

Love, Katie

xxx

30.11.03
Back from Edinburgh

Hi, Everyone.

I've just got back from Edinburgh after doing the Royal Variety Show and Children in Need on Friday in Belfast. Going back to Belfast was brilliant. I showed Mike where I used to live, near the Royal Victoria Hospital. It hasn't changed a bit. A lot of memories came flooding back, as it was the place where I spend my last years of childhood and early teens. The Irish were as warm as ever. I strongly recommend anyone to go to Belfast for a holiday. It's a brilliant city and there's things like the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland that absolutely must be seen. Oh, and Edinburgh was fantastic, - very exciting to meet the Queen, and to play to a great audience, mostly Scots. We visited Edinburgh Castle, and had lunch ar Dirty Dick's!

I think today's newsletter will be dominated by the thing that has been on my mind the last week. Some of you who have been watching the news will have noticed Georgia, (my home country) carrying out a "bloodless revolution". I was worried when the people stormed into parliament demanding that the president resign, - because they believed the recent elections had been rigged. I got even more stressed when the president said he would hold onto power and if the opposition didn't leave the buildings he'd set the army on them. However, deep down I never thought it would turn into a another civil war, because being from Georgia I know that we would never again be violent against each other, and sure enough after twenty-four hours the president resigned. Horaaaa!

For all of those who wanna see me play live we've got a tour of the uk early next year and I'll definitely try to come to all the towns and places you've mentioned in the guest-book. Thanks to everyone for your messages, you've all got good taste in music... hee hee, but seriously even the constructive criticism is appreciated. I'm just at the beginning of my career and hope you'll stick with me even when I go all jazz experimental... the next album is going to be called "closest thing to atonal"... only kidding!

I'll really, really try to keep these newsletters as frequent as I can. In the meantime some of the things that are coming up this week are: I'm doing a short performance at Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street on Wednesday the 3rd Dec at 6pm so if you feel like a bit of music to relax you after your Christmas shopping then feel free to drop by. Also I'm gonna be on Rise TV on Thursday morning so look out for me, I'll be the one being completely bleary-eyed and wondering where the hell is my bed so early in the morning.

Stay safe.

love, Katie x x x

p.s.. every one should read the book 'Lovely Bones' if you fancy an enlightening read and aren't scared to shed a few tears then its the book of the month!

16.10.03
Terrible cold

Hi Everyone

I'm sitting here at home with a terrible cold. Imagine:... overblown nose, puffy eyes sitting in a sea of tissues.. unused and used. Eh, well, - chin up! So last week we had the launch party for the album at the Noble Rot club in London. It went well (see GALLERY on this site for pictures) - but later on that week I did a small gig at the tiny little 12 Bar which honestly is the best acoustic venue in London. Serously, you should try and go see someone there. It's on Denmark Street (a heaven for musicians, which used to be called Tin Pan Alley because it was the centre of the music business years ago). If you're into guitar based music then you're bound to have a good night out at the 12 bar.

I must tell you about the new artist in my life that has convinced me and my friends that there is still hope for our generation to have its great artist, you know the Frank Sanatra, Bob Dylan, Neil young of our decade.

Who is this artist?! Jack Johnson! And i'll bet you anything you haven't heard of him. Ow what a crime that is! The thing is that he isn't really known to the mass public especially in England but I've heard he's quite known in America (He lives there). His music is a mixture of Bob Dylan, Coldplay with a hint of a reggea feel. To some people this combination might sound naf but trust me his work is fascinating and enlightening, his delivery flawless. I could go on for paragpgaphs about how his lyrics express the world perfectly using simple but beautiful imagery. However I won't do that becaue I know that when people analyse art it's usually a load of bollocks cause the artists themselves never actually think of all the psycho-analytical stuff when wrtiing their songs. Some do of course, but Jack is the type of artist who you know just picks up his guitar and writes whatever comes out of him. Anyway the point I'm trying to make is go buy his album, its called 'On and On' and the best way to realize how good it is is to listen to it.

I'd like to thank everyone again for leaving messages on the website. Some of you are waaaaay too kind. So kind that as each day passes I think my head is slowly growing bigger and heavier, and if you continue the way you are I'll start dragging my head on the ground from the heaviness. And that's NOT a pretty sight! But seriously I always wonder what all this will do to my brain if I'm succesful- and lets be honest here's everychance at this early stage that I won't ( there are so many amazing artists and bands who never get a second looking from record companies either cause they don't look good or have potential and aren't quite there yet.) HELLO! The Beatles were'nt amazing when they first started. Everyone takes the piss out of that guy who turned them down but what people don't realize is that the Beatles when they first started weren't the legends we all remember them by but someone saw POTENTIAL in them, gave them a chance and took a RISK! ...... now where was I?! Oh yes, about celebs, psychology and the bighead syndrome. So could this condition be something that no successful artist can avoid?! Or does it not exist at all? Maybe people just act normal but because they're constantly in the limelight and if they lose it a bit they are labelled as divas. I don't know. I don't mind if I don't sell shed loads of records, as long as I can always play live in small venues and enjoy sharing music with people.

See you later

Katie

15.8.03
Too hot!

Hi people,

Katie here on my second newsletter. I know its been ages since my first one!

Right this moment I am sitting at home enjoying the boiling weather. Actually I'm not enjoying it at all - its been wayyyyy too hot. No sleep, no fast movements as my brain and everybody's around me gets boiled. No wonder, then, that I've been writing really weird and depressing songs. (murders, suicides. rapes, - note: none of these weird songs will be appearing on the first album as it would probably spook the audience) - speaking of which I wanna say the BIGGEST thank you to all of you who have left messages on my website. It's really cool. Some of you guys are too kind and sometimes I think it must be my friends pranking around. If its is....... I'm on to you!! ....yeah .... you know who you are!!!

By the way can I say to Katie Baird thank you so much that you agree with me about the Matrix reloaded film. I've spoken to a lot of people since writing my last newsletter and not everyone has been as excited about the film as I was..... HELLO if you don't believe me, Listen to Katie Baird, - she knows her stuff!

Anyway this month I have been HUGELY excited by Tom Petty's new album called 'Heartbreakers'. I really must insist that while you're waiting for my album to come out on November 3rd (if you are!) - go out and buy this one. I don't really know much about him as I was given his album by my agent who I believe is also his agent. So I just put it on one day and was blown away. Not by the guy's melodies or his voice but by his lyrics which are mainly about the horrific state of the music industry. He talks about this by telling great sarcastic stories about people in the music industry. So if you feel like a bit of revolutionary fun - like when you first heard the master...... (Who,I hear you ask? Bob Dylan of course) - then buy this guy's record. ( I think Tom Petty actually worked with Bob. Wasn't he a Traveling Wilbury?).

Thank you Mr Wogan and people on the show and Michael Parkinson and Ed Stewart for playing the record. Never thought we'd get such feed back (unless of course it's my friends.....don't think I'm not onto you!...)

Before I go, let me tell you a little bit about my computer which after hearing this I think will help when I apologise about the lateness of my newsletters. You see the computer in our house which has internet access is considered, how should I say this? - an antique! My dad brought it back in 1996 and we haven't upgraded it since. Before you all start thinking that my family is extremely poor I do have a computer of my own which I use to record my songs on but it's always recommended not to have internet access on music computers.

So the only computer with internet access in my house is this old dilapidated turtle, which can really infuriate me sometimes as getting onto my own website turns into a slow, teeth-gnashingg ritual of the computer telling me that clicking on my own newsletter is an internal error and an illegal operation...huh! Someday I will be able to get onto my website without any hassle, - if I sell enough records, that is! So now it's time for me to sign out before this computer breathes its last breath!

Loads of love

Katie

23.5.03
My First Newsletter

Hi everyone.

This is my first ever newsletter. so you'll have to excuse its unnewsletterness. That sounded like one of those weird vocal warm ups! Anyway I'm sitting at home relaxing after exam turmoil yesterday. Yes I'm going through good old A-levels. I had a THREE hour (not a minute less) exam, in Baroque harmony. which is part of the A-level exam. Towards the end my eyes started going blurry from all the staves and notes. The best thing about exams is that if you look up at the teachers supervising, they're bored out of their wits, - and its heart-warming to know when you're sitting there wrecking your brain over question b2, that you're not the only one suffering.

Let me tell you what happened after the exam. To celebrate the end of 20% of our music A-level my friends and I went to the cinema to watch the Matrix reloaded. All I can say about that is ........ Wow! It was soooo good. I loved the first one, but you've got to see it a couple of times. I reckon that on one of your viewings (to me it happened on the second watching of the 1st matrix) - you get completely mind blown. Not by the fighting and special effects (that's for the first watching) but by the ingenious intricate storyline. You sit there thinking about your own life, whether its real, fake, or made of jelly. And yesterday, watching "Reloaded" I wasn’t disappointed, and I don't think you can be if you loved the 1st one. It's early days yet - as the 3rd part is coming out in November but I think the Matrix trilogy is probably going to become one of those classic films like Star wars or Terminator. Its good that at least one aspect of the entertainment industry is making history. Even though its been a while since we've had a really classic film made.

We went to the States last week - my first time in New York. It's strange because you go there with preconceptions of it but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I kept comparing everything to "Sex In The City" and I had a weird evening with three women in their thirties, that was exactly like a scene from that show, - except that Mike Batt, my manager/producer was there! (So I knew I was in reality).

I played for lots of Record company presidents, - and had an amazing chance to play Bob Dylan's guitar, (at Sony music) - but goddam it - it was a steel string one, and it wasn't quite right for the song!

After a week back in the UK (for my exam) we're off for another week in New York, - (very exciting). I'll tell you all about that next time.

Thanks for reading my newsletter!

All the best,

Katie