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Kerri Watt – «Chasing Aeroplanes»
Not every day does the opportunity arise for an artist to work with someone who sits so dramatically on the opposite end of the musical scale, but whose artistry is still compatible. So when Kerri Watt, who had garnered the affection of the country and Americana community with her live shows and debut single, was told that metal and rock producer Machine was interested in working with her, she jumped at the opportunity. «When I first heard that Machine might be interested in doing the record, I was pretty excited to be honest. I loved the idea of joining forces with someone from a totally different genre to bring something unique to the sound. Machine and I spoke at length about the sound of the album, influences, bands/playlists/moods we liked and found we had a lot in common».
The single is indicative of Kerri’s willingness to evolve as an artist, expand her sonic pallet, and her fearlessness at introducing fans to elements of her musical upbringing that they perhaps would not have suspected. Machine grasped all the elements of Kerri’s songwriting that could be emphasised and pushed to the forefront to help her transition from country darling to fully fledged rockstar, whilst retaining the essence of the songs. It’s rock, it’s raw, it’s still Kerri Watt, and Kerri couldn’t be happier, «I was absolutely buzzing with the final result. It perfectly encapsulated the 5 weeks Machine and I spent experimenting and creating magic at his studio with some incredible Austin players!».
Lyrically the song tackles issues that almost every young adult will face when weighing up the pros and cons of growing up and starting a family, «’Chasing Aeroplanes‘ is a stream of consciousness about my future and a conversation I’ve had with many girl friends about having kids, and the next stage of life», says Kerri Watt to MySoCalldedGayLife.co.uk. «Do I have to have everything figured out first? What about my independence, my career? I’m sure I want to have a family one day, but until then I’m loving being young and free».
The video is exactly what you would expect of Kerri. With its clever narrative and retro-vibe, we are introduced to her new ‘band’, whose personalities shine through as fully realised characters a-la Spinal Tap. Keep an eye out for Sage (guitar), Darla (drums) and Barbara (keyboard) on social media, as word is they are due to make themselves known to the world any day now… «Chasing Aeroplanes» follows Kerri’s debut Cooking Vinyl single «Cut Me Loose», described as «Adele meets Lana Del Rey» (Laurel Canyon Music) and «hauntingly unpredictable with a Tarantino-like attitude» (Kick Ass Indie Jams). Both tracks are taken from the forthcoming debut album by the Glasgow-born singer-songwriter, who at age 16 won a scholarship to a music college in Orange County, California.
An incredible live performer with a growing reputation, this year has seen Kerri support a number of legendary artists at incredible venues including Keith Urban in London (where she additionally joined him on stage to sing Carrie Underwood’s vocal parts from his 2016 hit single «The Fighter») and as special guest to Julio Iglesias at The Royal Albert Hall and Joe Jackson at The Palladium. This summer saw her perform a mix of solo and full band shows at Glastonbury Festival, Country2Country, British Summer Time (with Celine Dion) , Kew The Music and Cambridge Folk Festival, and she recently performed at BBC Radio Scotland’s inaugural Singer/Songwriter Awards 2019.