Interview: CATHERINE MCGRATH, Under The Bridge, London

A few months after first seeing her perform at the Under The Apple Tree Roots Festival, I was lucky enough to catch up with rising star Catherine McGrath ahead of her set supporting Kelsea Ballerini on Kelsea's first trip to the UK (you can read my review of both acts here). Read on to find out Catherine's thoughts on touring, convincing people to listen to country, career aspirations, and of course, Taylor Swift!

Ciara’s Country (CC): It’s Ciara here and I’m joined today by perhaps the most exciting new addition to UK country music – it’s Catherine McGrath! Thank you so much for joining me today.

Catherine McGrath (CM): Thanks for having me!

CC: So to kick off the interview and get people to know you a little bit better, can you tell me one fun fact about yourself that people might not know?

CM: Umm, I don’t like hot chocolate. It’s weird, I don’t like coffee, I don’t like milkshakes.

CC: What do you have when you go to a coffee shop then?

CM: Just water or tea. I’m so basic.

CC: I feel like tea is quite an Irish drink though, so it suits you, and is probably something people didn’t know about you before! So I first saw you perform a fantastic set at the Under The Apple Tree Roots Festival last September – what have you been up to since then?

CM: That was like one of the first big shows I played, and since then I’ve been on tour with Canaan Smith, The Shires, and have just been doing as much live stuff as possible. I’ve been releasing songs about every three weeks and am just about to put out an acoustic version of my song Just In Case, and we’re just doing lots of festivals over the summer and keeping releasing music. It’s been so fun.

CC: Very exciting! It seems to me that you’ve been the opening act for just about anyone who’s toured the UK recently, what’s that been like?

CM: It’s been so fun! It’s so crazy, even just Kelsea Ballerini, as soon as I saw she was coming to the UK I was texting everyone – my manager, my agent – and I was like please, please, please can I get on this show. I just love country music and I want to play to the people who love it too and meet them, and want them to like my music too and get out there as much as I can too.

CC: So has it been you proactively seeking out these opportunities then?

CM: Yeah, definitely. It’s all music that I love and for the festivals, I’ve never played at festivals so that’s going to be fun. That’ll be different to what I’m used to because so far it’s been artists that I know and love.

CC: And I guess C2C was one of your first festival experiences.

CM: Yeah, that was one of the best weekends of my life. Even just being there in general and watching everyone playing was just the dream.

CC: So you’ll be back next year?

CM: If I’m not playing, I’ll definitely be there anyway!

CC: Great! Have you had any crazy experiences on tour so far?

CM: I don’t think so. It’s weird because I had a picture of being in a bus and driving around everywhere with everyone, but for us it’s kind of like been getting trains to the venue and then having to leave and get back home by midnight, and so it wasn’t what I thought but it’s been really fun. Nothing crazy yet, but we’ll see…

CC: So touring is a bit different to what you’d expected.

CM: It can be quite stressful.

CC: Hopefully tonight won’t be!

CM: Tonight’s going to be fun I think.

CC: Have you had a career highlight so far?

CM: Playing C2C definitely is the biggest thing I’ve done. And tonight is probably going to be a highlight, playing with Kelsea because I love her music so much and she’s one of the people who if someone asked who inspired me and who I love, Kelsea Ballerini is always in there.

CC: Who are some of the others?

CM: Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts – they’re all the people I started listening to first. It’s kind of a mix of everything but they’re the main people I love.

CC: I couldn’t agree more with those choices. So so far you’ve released your EP One and most recently a couple of singles – how do you choose which songs are the ones you put out?

CM: I’ve been writing for just over a year, so I had this whole list of songs, about fifty songs, that I went into a meeting with my record label and management and we just listened to all of them. Luckily I’m with a team of people who have the same kind of tastes as me so we all picked together and all loved the same songs so it was really easy to pick the ones we wanted to put out.

CC: Can you tell me a bit about the creative process when it comes to writing songs?

CM: It’s always different but a lot of the time, I think of a random lyric and I write it in my phone, and I’ll go into a session and someone will say ‘do you have any ideas for what you want to write about’ and I’ll bring them to the table, or experiences that have happened to me. Then everyone talks about it and what they’ve been through and it kind of goes from there. Everyone pitches in.

CC: Is there one song you found particularly interesting to write?

CM: Yeah, I have this song called Wild which I’m going to release but it’s not out yet. I literally went into the studio the day after I went to a Coldplay concert, and I was on a rant about the guy I went with. I was writing with Lindy Robbins who wrote down everything I said and we kind of pieced together a story word for word as I’d said it, so that was a really interesting way to write a song. It turned out very honest.

CC: That’s something for us to look forward.

CM: I’m so excited to release that. I sing it live but I don’t have a proper version yet.

CC: Will we be hearing that tonight?

CM: You will!

CC: So you mentioned Coldplay there – it seems your music taste is quite broad.

CM: Yeah, I started listening to country from Nashville when I was about 12. My family loved traditional country and so I kind of grew up with that side of it, but I was also listening to what was on the radio and what my friends listened to – Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, that kind of stuff. I think the music I write and listen to is just a blend of everything. If a songs good, it’s good. I don’t really restrict myself to genres, but country’s the main thing I listen to.

CC: I’d say that’s the case for most country fans. 90% of the music on my phone is country, the other 10% is anything and everything! So as well as your songs, one of the things I particularly have enjoyed is your music videos because they seem very innovative in that they’re tailored to social media.

CM: Those videos were so fun. I was standing in front of a green screen and then to see it come to life is just so cool. I love social media – it’s how I’ve found people who liked the same music as me because my friends didn’t like the same music that I did. It’s just fun to post pictures and stalk other peoples lives too.

CC: Are you managing to get your friends into country now?

CM: I think in general, not even just my friends, people are starting to realise that country is more than what they think it is. I think people have this idea that country is only Johnny Cash, or it’s only George Strait.

CC: Or songs about tractors and beer.

CM: Yeah! And I do love that side of country music but there’s so many different kinds now – there’s Sam Hunt and Maren Morris and all these people who are breaking new ground with country, and I think as people listen to it they realise it is cool and they do like it and then give it a chance. I think it’s growing as people hear songs on Spotify and things like that.

CC: Speaking of Maren Morris, I know she’s coming over in November – maybe there’s an opening slot for you there?

CM: Ah, I have to take everyone I can get! I saw her at Country 2 Country and I was like ‘oh my gosh, I love you’. She’s amazing.

CC: That was definitely a C2C highlight for me. So with all this music you’re releasing, will there be a full length album on the way soon?

CM: At some point I definitely want to put out an album. Right now there’s no specific plan, I’m still writing. We’ve got some songs that I like and I just want to get some more. My main focus right now is to start playing for people and getting people to know who I am and what they think of what we’ve got so far before I put out a big album. It’s definitely on the bucket list to get that done.

CC: So more singles and acoustic versions then?

CM: Yeah, some more songs are coming your way soon hopefully.

CC: I have to say I find it really exciting meeting you at what is pretty much the beginning of your career. What are your aspirations for the next 5 to 10 years?

CM: I just want to be able to play music and see people enjoy it. I’ve seen people at Country 2 Country who knew the words to my songs and so when people ask me what I want I always say I’d love to see people know the words to my songs, or dance along, or say ‘I know exactly what you mean in that song’. Even in these first few shows that I’ve done, people have known the words and have told me that my songs mean something to them. That’s just what I’ve always wanted, and so for that to keep going or grow onto a bigger scale, that’s what I hope to do.

CC: I’ve seen photos of you after shows with huge lines of people queuing up to meet you. It seems people really are interesting in knowing more about you and your music!

CM: Yeah, it’s crazy – every night I think ‘nobody’s going to show up’ and then loads of people do and they’re all so nice. It’s so cool because they’re the people who love the same music as me and are like me that I didn’t even know existed when I was 12. It’s been so fun.

CC: I think we definitely get that kind of homegrown country vibe to you as well that we like.

CM: Irish as well. The Americans love the Irish. I went to Nashville and everyone was like ‘I have a great-grandad who’s Irish!’

CC: When I played one your tracks to my friends, they said ‘Is that Taylor Swift? I’ve not heard that song before.” I definitely get some Taylor Swift vibes to you so that’s a career trajectory I can see you going down.

CM: That was actually how I got into country music. I listened to Taylor’s album and then she talked about Rascal Flatts and all these artists and so I started to look at that and get into it. That’s really cool to hear!

CC: What kind of music would you say you’re listening to right now?

CM: Right now I’m listening to Sam Hunt, Kelsea Ballerini, Raelynn – I really love her.

CC: Her new album is fantastic.

CM: The Apple is my favourite track ever. And Love Triangle – oh my gosh. There’s just so many people I love. I go onto Spotify and listen to the country playlists and listen to all their songs and find out that way. There’s a guy called Steve Moakler as well who I discovered recently and he’s amazing. An endless list.

CC: Would you ever consider covering any of their songs?

CM: Yeah, I put up covers on YouTube every few weeks or so and I just cover whatever songs I love, or something someone’s asked me to do that I really like. So I’d definitely do covers of those.

CC: So you’re taking fan requests then.

CM: Yeah, I used to wait and read all the comments on my videos and think ‘oh, that’s a good idea’ if I didn’t know what to cover next.

CC: Are there any artists that you really like who you think are underrated and deserve more recognition?

CM: There’s a guy called Donovan Woods who has really good acoustic style and lyrics. He’s from Nashville and he’s amazing but I don’t think many people know who he is but I tell everyone about him because he’s amazing, so you should listen to Donovan Woods.

CC: Will do! Is there a dream artist you’d love to collobarate or perform with?

CM: Taylor Swift, Kelsea Ballerini and Raelynn. They’re my three hits.

CC: Well I suppose tonight is almost ticking one of them off! I’ll expect you to perform with the other two over the next few years, okay? And my final question for you tonight is what’s the one question that you wish you were asked in interviews but never have been?

CM: I don’t think so. If I was interviewing I would have no idea what to ask. You’ve done a pretty good job! But no one’s ever asked me what my favourite chocolate, so maybe that one because I’m very passionate about chocolate.

CC: And what would your answer to that be?

CM: Cadbury Dairy Milk or Lindt, hands down.

CC: There you go, you can add that to your rider then. Thank you for answering all of my questions and I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with me today!

CM: Thanks for having me!

I hope you enjoyed reading this interview as much as I enjoyed doing it! You can find out more about Catherine McGrath on social media @imcathmcgrath, and keep up to date with all things country by following me on Twitter at @CiarasCountry. Thanks for reading!