There’s not much more exciting for an artist than releasing a new single, or playing at a festival you’ve only ever imagined playing at, or announcing a gig you’ve had on your dream board for years. Well, for UK country singer-songwriter Katie Rigby, all of that happened in one weekend and I had the privilege of speaking to her in the immediate aftermath.
Katie Rigby is a 27-year-old Manchester girl, taking the UK country scene in her stride. Her song, Past Life Cowgirl became a bit of a TikTok sensation, putting her name on everyone’s radar. She calls herself a ‘Cosmic Cowgirl’ and you need only spend five minutes on her Instagram to see why. There is a spiritual side to her that she’s proud of and this is echoed in her music – imagine Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour meets Taylor Swift’s Evermore. There is thought behind the lyrics and detail in the melody – especially in her new song, ‘Luke Combs’.
Rigby embraces the universe and all its plans, leaning into manifesting and asking for what you want. In 2021, she quit her job to study song writing at university and ‘fully invest’ herself into music, making a ‘dream board’ to focus her energy. With the board to hand, Rigby shared what ambitions she had two and a half years ago – some made more sense than others. It had lost the ‘bo’ of ‘board’ so was just a ‘dream ‘ard’, but I like to think that’s just the northerner in her telling her to ‘dream hard’.
“Some things are quite random on here now. Like, I’ve got New Zealand on here - what did I want to do in New Zealand? And Thailand – I’ve already been but put it on there anyway. But the big ones; Bridgewater Hall - I actually did backing vocals for a few of the choirs and stuff at uni, so that was like my first one off my bucket list. Then Buckle and Boots…”
She lifts the board up to show me; it is covered in pink stripes and spots and flamingos and butterflies and simply exudes the fun cosmic cowgirl in front of me.
“’I will play at buckle and boots’ I’ve wrote there. Country 2 Country is on there, 10k followers, a new guitar - which I got last week! BBC Introducing which I’ve been played on there several times now which is insane and Nashville – I’m going in September. I’m gonna have to chuck this board out the window – completed it mate…It’s so great to have you know, to look back on and remember what was huge to you. I think it can be really easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing and it’s like…hang on a minute girl!”
On International Women’s Day (8th March), Rigby released her new single, ‘Luke Combs’. It’s a reminder to her about why she started her journey into UK country music, reaffirmed by seeing Luke Combs at Country 2 Country (C2C) in 2021 and feeling the love of the community ‘across the pond’. On the very same weekend, Rigby also played Country on the Clyde in Glasgow – watching the line-up get announced each year, she was thrilled to be able to play there as an artist. With C2C happening the same weekend across London, Belfast and Glasgow, the city was alive with country music fans.
“It’s great because you can keep it going all day long,” Katie said. “It was a great starting point for everyone to see local talent and then go to the arena. Even the Live Lounge started at 5ish, and this finished at 4 so nothing clashed.”
In her video for Past Life Cowgirl, Rigby uses her hands to make the angles of a camera during the line, ‘I ain’t picture perfect babe’. This has become somewhat of a signature move for her, with someone approaching her at the festival doing it. She giggles as she recalls the encounter with a firm disbelief that anyone would know who she was. Rigby is so humble and warm in the way she talks about her experience that weekend, like she won a competition to be there rather than earnt it through her talent.
As an independent artist, Rigby is still learning the ropes – and the stresses – that are associated with releasing new music. She talks about how her desire to launch the song on that day, ready for that weekend, caused great anxiety when it got to midnight on release day and…it wasn’t there.
“I had it in my head, right, Luke Combs has been ready for a while. It wasn’t mastered but it was mixed, and it just felt really fitting that it was Country 2 Country weekend, it was where I got the inspiration for writing the song and it’s like my dream to play at C2C. So, I was like I am manifesting this I’m going to release it on the Friday.”
With the master in her possession, Rigby uploaded the track. She held off on announcing its release until she had confirmation that it had been distributed and that it would be coming out on Friday. However, the universe had other plans.
“You’re supposed to give it a certain amount of time for Spotify and things to process this and I didn’t think that. Now I know. But I didn’t know that at the time. So, then there was this delay on it showing up on Spotify. And it was so embarrassing for one. And yeah, it was a little bit stressful but by 9.30 it was on. But I didn’t go to bed - I was waiting at midnight for it to go on and there was just nothing. Then at 1am and every hour I was waking up to check and then I was up at half 6 to go to Glasgow.”
It was all worth it though as she was able to play it during her set at Country on the Clyde and announce that it was out now.
“I know I keep saying it, but I genuinely feel like it’s a live manifestation – like this is my dream. Even playing Country on the Clyde…this time last year I’d never have believed anyone if they said, ‘oh you’ll get to do this and you’ll get to do that’. I think the song in itself is very personal but it’s a message to anyone like you can follow your dreams. It will happen, just keep the faith.”
Rigby studies song writing at university which has given her more opportunities than she could have hoped for. It has put her in touch with other writers, her band, her producer and allowed her to dive deeper into the genre of music she loves.
“In terms of inspiration, I have a note on my phone because I’ll wake up at 3am like ‘this is going to be a sick song!’ Then you look at it in the morning and you’re like, ‘mmm maybe not’. I sometimes keep a list of titles of phrases or things I see so that when I do go into a scenario like that and I’m not in the mood, I’ve got something to start me off.”
Song writing is the ultimate insight into someone’s personal life – be that the good or bad times – especially in country music. It’s a genre that is renowned for its story-telling nature and that can be a soul bearing exercise. I wanted to know how, as an artist, Rigby copes with the vulnerability of it all - handing over her pain and joy to others.
“Do you know what, I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it properly…so I’ll probably think about that all night now,” she says as we laugh together.
“I believe there’s a massive power in vulnerability. It’s such a gift to be able to share something that you have gone through with someone who might be able to take some comfort from it. So, I try to look at it like that. It’s going to enrich someone by being able to listen to something that you’ve made – but also if it doesn’t then it’s, like, whatever. It’s what I feel like is my purpose and I feel like I’ve got to do this. As I’ve got older, I’ve come to terms more with the power in the vulnerability thing as opposed to just being really, like, ‘this is cringe’ or, ‘people are going to say this’. I’m happy in what I’m doing. That being said, I did have a meltdown the other day because someone was really going in on me on all of my videos, so there is that. I’m still learning.”
Katie Rigby is a precious northern gem that needs protecting at all costs. She brings a calm, spiritual energy interspersed with pockets of joy and raw emotion to the UK country scene. She is pure, she is genuine, and she is fun. Rigby doesn’t think the world owes her anything and this girl is grafting to make it happen. With her debut at Buckle and Boots in May, new singles dropping every few months and a trip over to Nashville in September, 2024 is going to be a big year for this Past Life Cowgirl and I cannot wait to see what happens next for her.
This interview was conducted in collaboration with Clewes' Country and wouldn’t have been possible without their support and encouragement.
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