Katie Belle – Back To California
ARTIST NAME: Katie Belle
SONG TITLE: Back To California
RELEASE DATE: July 2021
GENRE: Pop/Hip Hop
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Katie Belle is an American singer-songwriter. Kicking off 2021, Katie is focused on finishing up tracks written throughout 2020. Katie and her producers Josquin Des Pres (California) and Kipp Williams (Nashville) are pulling together tunes, which highlight Katie’s raspy vocals. Now in the mixing/mastering stage, the tunes are supported by pop beats, a little bit of trap (honing to her southern roots,) and a little bit of that! Katie is an avid songwriter and several of the tracks are her originals. The summer starts off with the June 11th release of “Back To California” which features Rapper Corleone. A real take on west coast vibes filled with energy and the silvery vocals Katie is known for.
Katie released two originals during 2020. Her first single release of the year was in March, “Love Someone” (songwriters: Katie Belle and Kipp Williams). “Love Someone” is an endearing song about the back and forth of relationships. She followed up with a fall release, “Carrousel” (songwriters: Katie Belle and Nathan Levingston). “Carrousel” is a dreamy track with haunting vocals and a calming, mesmerizing melody. Both singles have performed well digitally solidifying a strong and growing fan base. When Katie is not songwriting or doing studio work she is busy as Lead Female Vocalist for “Color the Night”. The band plays college campuses, Black Tie Events, and Corporate Parties.
If Katie’s name sounds familiar think back to American Idol S16. 2019 started off with a “gold ticket” to Hollywood for S16 American Idol. Katie received her pass to Hollywood with her rendition of Jennifer Hudson’s version of “Golden Slumber”. Luke Bryan literally fell out of his chair as the three judges gave Katie her pass to Hollywood week!
Katie got her first thrill of the spotlight in her 3rd-grade school choir and by the time she was in 4th grade she was performing solo’s in school plays and church. At the age of twelve, she wrote her first song penned on a hotel napkin titled “Born For This”. Spending time crafting her songwriting style first with country influences and transitioning to a more pop sound of late, Katie is influenced by contemporary pop artists, classic rock, and classic country. Katie released, “American Wild” in 2017 to date accumulative streams and music video views exceed 550k. 2018-2019 saw a sequence of releases “Promises”, a chill R&B release, “Down For You”. “WAS” and “Out Tonight”, an electro-pop bop tune. “Out Tonight” has hit a new milestone for Katie with over 780K digital streams to date. She is continually busy in songwriting sessions in her hometown of Atlanta, LA, and her favorite studio RxSongs in Nashville. Look for more tunes coming throughout the year.
LYRICS:
I remember the time
Sunset nights
Wild young and alive
Staring into the sky
West coast time
Summer love in July
Pre-Chorus
Racing hearts in the dead of night
Windows down brand-new start
Falling so deep in love I’ll go where you are
Back to California
Chorus
I know that I haven’t felt this way in so long
And where you go my heart will follow
Now every night is shining brighter than dawn
California takes me home
Verse 2
(Corleone Rap)
California where it never rains
LAX where we take a plane
Look, we out in Hollywood you wanna stay
Let’s take a drive up and hit the bay all-day
I ain’t gonna lie
You looking muy fuego
Good vibes from Sacramento to San Diego
I don’t wanna leave hold up wait
Let’s stay forever in the golden state
Let’s hit the waves in the morning
The snow in the afternoon
Let’s take the freeway on the way and see the desert bloom
I’m on you and you’re on me
Cali with my girl is where I’d rather be
There ain’t no city by the sea, that I’d rather see
I’m with my babe by the bay
I hope she stay with me
And we ain’t done yet, you never done that
You need to come back
Chorus
Verse 3
(Katie)
Just a moment in time
This feels right
Easy calling you mine
Dreaming every night
You and I
For the rest of our lives
Pre-Chorus
Driving down on the PCH
Windows down brand-new start
Falling so deep in love I’ll go where you are
Back to California
Chorus
Outro:
Corleone:
L.A. they crazy
Out in Frisco they like to disco
Out in Dago they muy fuego
Katie Belle:
Going Back to California
Corleone:
They like to rally in the valley,
There’s more talk by the boardwalk
Com’ on you know how we do
When we in Malibu
Katie Belle:
California takes me home
Tune: “Back to California” has a vibe of its own, when I was recording this I wanted to give the lyrics a lively, happy, and snappy-toe tap attitude.
Feedback: My fans love this song! I have a lot of US fan base; interestingly enough there are a lot of streams coming in on this song from Latin America.
Music Production: I have grown up (started recording at the age of twelve) in the “digital age”. My first recordings were completely done with session musicians. Phasing into digital production started being used by my producer about five years ago… I feel confident in my producer’s knowledge and how to best utilize the vast variety of sounds available digitally but I still really insist on some overlay of live instruments. Josquin Des Pres is the producer for “Back to California”. The response has been so great for this track and we are in discussions of doing a remix with a very well-known charting Rapper…wink #fingerscrossed…
Experience: A pivotal moment for me was when I took the steps of evolving my music from Country (my award-winning original “Georgia Moon” )- to – Country Pop ( “American Wild” also an original ) – to the here and now ( Back to California ) which has a Contemporary pop sound. I love adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that i.e. R&B, Electro, Synthesizers thrown in suitable to the songs I’m recording. Take a listen to “Promises”, “Was”, “Down for You” you’ll hear a complex variety.
Lyrics: “Back to California “ is a song project, which was brought to me. The songwriters on this song are Josquin Des Pres, Jean Castel, Haley Morrissey, Fabien Renoult, Anthony Montes fisher, I love the lyrics of this song, and since I have traveled to Cali many times and totally get the vibe the lyrics are going for.
Timeless Music: I have had the blessing of having some wonderful songs released. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Creativity: Emotions! The good ones, the bad ones, the ones I see others experiencing!
Musical Ideas: I read a lot, and I get some great concepts from my reading material. I daydream and let my thoughts wander and keep many notes and one-liners written in my journal.
Greatest Song: My last releases have done quite well for me as an independent artist. “Out Tonight”, “Carrousel”, “Love Someone” all pre-date “Back To California.” My team’s strategy is to build on the last song…. Make the next one better and I have a lineup of songs we are working on now!
Composition: I am not a writer on “Back To California”, but my last original release, “Carrousel” written by Nathan Levingston and myself was inspired by the baseline track. The instant I heard the raw track I thought of a “Carrousel” you ride at a fair… the lyrics revolved around that concept.
Song: My current single “Back To California” has a total west coast vibe going on. Moods are uplifting, hopeful, positive, and promising. Back to California evokes the promise of fleeting summer love, carefree ocean drives, and the feeling that everything is somehow trapped in an endless summer.
Artist’s Name: I use my name “Katie Belle”.
Album’s Title: The single release is titled “Back To California” produced in the studio of TrackStarEntertainment, San Diego Cakifornia.
Press:
RadioAirplay
JangoRadio Song Review
Song: Back To California
Overall Impression:
Now, I’ve been to California on a number of occasions and saying I love it would be a massive understatement, but every now and again you come across a song that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of the golden state and I can safely say, this is definitely one of those very songs. Showcasing excellent performances, an infectious amount of energy, and overall good vibes, “Back To California” is a wonderfully upbeat homage to the great state, and Katie Belle does a fantastic job of really capturing the feel of the place with a tremendous amount of heart and soul.
Strongest Point(s):
Mixing elements of pop, R&B, dance, and rap make for a stylistically interesting song, borrowing elements from each really helps create both an investing and inspired piece of songwriting that will undoubtedly appeal to a wide audience. The track is well arranged and flows perfectly, sections weave in and out of one another effortlessly and this is another clear sign of strong writing, offering a diverse variety of ideas and sounds for the listener to really engage and connect with. It goes without saying that the lead vocal performance is the heart of the song, expressing the lyrics with oodles of passion and assurance, they fit the style of the track perfectly, and the addition of R&B/rap vocals make for an interesting contrast, complementing the lead vocal lines greatly and adding interesting tonal textures to the performances. The production is excellent, crystal clear and boasting a superb amount of clarity and polish whilst managing to retain the individual characteristics of the instrumental parts and performers, the track has a great amount of bounce to it, which again, helps add to the upbeat nature of the song tremendously.
Area(s) of Improvement:
None to note, this is a solid track that has obviously had a lot of time and dedication put into it, great work!
Target Audience Appeal:
This fits the pop genre perfectly and has that certain modern sound to it that will allow it to sit alongside many of the current popular tracks.
Artist target suggestions:
Camila Cabello, Ally Brooke, Alessia Cara, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Zara Larsson, Fifth Harmony, Demi Lovato, Halsey, Justin Bieber, ZAYN, Shawn Mendes, Nick Jonas, The Weekend, Bruno Mars
– Andre