17-year-old multi-instrumentalist, Jeorgia Rose has been working closely with Grammy award winning writer Femke Weidema and mentor Neal Handforth. She's really committed to introducing modern country music to more of her peers and is now ready to release her debut single I Will Still Remember. The single is accompanied by a gorgeous and dreamy music video which will actually be part of the BETA launch for new video brand, Viktrs, an exciting new technology, set to be the future of music videos. Viktrs is completely reimagining the landscape for music videos to transform them from a marketing cost into a digital asset. Hailing from Cheshire, England, Jeorgia discovered an instant love for music when she began learning the piano aged 6. She made her stage debut the following year and had written her first song, Missing You by the age of 9. A multi-talented musician, Jeorgia grew up playing the piano, harp, flute and guitar.
Drawing inspiration from the likes of Taylor Swift, Cassadee Pope and Little Big Town, Jeorgia writes songs to help her navigate life and is committed to bringing country music to a younger and wider audience in the UK. After being discovered by Grammy award winning writer Femke Weidema and mentor Neal Handforth, she has worked hard to develop her songwriting and performance. Now, with her debut single I Will Still Remember, it’s finally time to introduce Jeorgia Rose.
In true 2020 style, Jeorgia wrote I Will Still Remember during a lockdown writing session over FaceTime with Femke and Neal. Inspired by a summer romance, the lyrics look back at all the memories shared together with the realisation that as the summer comes to an end, so too will the relationship. With an upbeat country-pop production and stunning vocals, Jeorgia asks if he will still remember, because she will. “I'm excited (and a little nervous) for people to finally hear this song. The recording process was fairly smooth, for my first time in the studio. At first, we had to find a mic that suited my voice, and I trialled a few. The music was recorded in Nashville which is like a dream come true for me. The song tells the story of a summer romance that comes to an end as autumn comes around... it's a love song with a twist!
Ahead of the release of her debut single, Jamie chatted with Jeorgia to hear all about it and her draw to country music along with her life as a teenager who is studying at LMA in Liverpool during the crazy world of 2020. I think the first lockdown was definitely a lot harder than this one just gone. For me it doesn’t feel half as bad, I’m an outgoing person but not like I have to go out all the time and socialise. I like having my time out and can come home and do my music. For me going to college is the best thing, I can go then come home and focus on music, so it doesn’t feel bad for me at all. I felt so sorry for people that have been stuck in their homes for the whole year doing that. So how exactly does a teenager from Cheshire in England make the discovery and fall in love with country music? When I was younger my mum used to play Carrie Underwood, well my mum and my dad did actually throughout my whole childhood. She was telling me that she was listening to her a lot when she was pregnant, so I don’t know if that’s had an effect? I guess growing up to that kind of music that you do just grow fond of it and as I got older, Taylor Swift was obviously a massive thing. Even my brother liked her! That just watching her perform and other people perform, then I started to perform and sing all around the house. I’d play guitar all around the house, well not guitar actually. I used to try and play guitar, I started off playing piano. It was always something that I was passionate about, then as the years went on, I started to grow more and more into country music to where it got to be this is my genre! It’s a genre that not everyone likes but not everyone wants to say that they like it and it’s seen as a guilty pleasure for people. People just need to be open about it if they love it because chances are that most people do. That’s how I got into it and I love writing songs, I’ve always wanted to write songs since I was young and it wasn’t until I started having my own life experiences that I started to feel it properly where I started to think that these are actually OK! Some of the music that I play to people and they think it is rock or pop and I say no this is country! Then as soon as I say that it is country, they are like I’m not too sure? Then you think that they liked it before? So, what’s the stigma around it?
Beyond Taylor and Carrie, what other artists have influenced her and shaped Jeorgia Rose as an artist? Kacey Musgraves has been a big one, but she is more recent over the past couple of years and in terms of the sound and the instrumental, I love Tim McGraw and especially his more acoustic ones. It’s not even just country artists though, a lot of songs when they are stripped back, I really relate to like I love The 1975 and their lyrics, their songs may not be in my style, but I think the lyrics are so clever.
So considering herself as an artist, what exactly is it about country music that felt the right feel and genre for her to be creating music in? I think it’s all about how you connect through music. Even though there’s a lot of things I connect with, country is the big one that stood out. The way it is portrayed is so whole, it’s so complete and when listening sometimes someone can just sum up exactly what I’m feeling in one song. It’s crazy, especially when you’re a young girl, you don’t know if it’s just you that’s feeling like this. You kind of single yourself out because of that and when you listen to music and hear the songs, you realise it’s not just me which is the best feeling. I just always thought that if I could make one person feel that way, like I did and that it’s not just me then I’ve done something right. Country music was just the way that I though I could do it and it’s also my favourite type of music to sing anyway!
Her debut single “I Will Still Remember” comes out today (December 11th) and is available HERE which Jeorgia told us a bit more about: My song, honestly, it’s nerve racking having never released anything before and I’m so young. When you are young, you care about what people think even if people say that they don’t! Over the past year I think I have developed and worked on myself, releasing this song is like the biggest achievement for me because it’s exactly what I have wanted to do for so long. It’s crazy that I’m releasing a song and even just saying that is insane. I’m so happy, it’s not even about getting anywhere or have people sing it. I’m so excited to release it and it’s obviously about a summer romance that you don’t know if it’s going to last or not, but you hold on to hope. I’m just really excited and really grateful that I’ve had this opportunity to release it.
Jeorgia on the process of recording and releasing her debut single: It’s a big process, I think a lot of people, especially those that don’t see the music business just think that you write a song, do a few tracks, you put it together and then you’re done. It’s so not like that and the whole experience has been so new to me, realising the time and energy that a lot of people put in is literally insane! When you say to someone that you want to be a singer or a musician, there are times that they downplay it. They really do and people don’t actually realise how hard it is, it’s not like a 9 to 5 job. You could be working on something until the AM from the day before or random calls at whatever time. The people that have worked on that track are so talented and the fact that they were doing it for me who is an artist that hasn’t come out yet or released anything, I don’t believe my life sometimes. It’s crazy, the tracks that they were sending back and forth so I’m so grateful for everything. “I Will Still Remember” is a track that Jeorgia worked on with Femke Weidema and Neal Handforth, so how did her collaborating with the two of them come to fruition? I met Neal a while ago, when I was fourteen or fifteen maybe, but I was very young and at the point where I was starting to get really passionate about music. At this point he kind of stepped back to see how much I actually wanted it then this past year he has seen how much I want it and that it’s a dream where he really believes in me. I honestly wouldn’t have been able to do this if it wasn’t for him, so I am so grateful. Then Femke, who worked on this track with me, she’s literally a Grammy award winner who is working with a seventeen-year-old girl who is not even a thing! Neal watched me grow and saw my passion, where throughout this year everything has come together and he introduced me to Femke. She is so lovely, just the nicest person and so sweet, she has helped me so much. She gives the best advice and an incredible songwriter, so she’s just been a massive inspiration and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the two of them.
Along with the release of her debut single, the accompanying music video will be available through a new platform called Viktrs but what exactly is different about sharing and been involved with a music video in this way? It’s an app that’s a great idea. The amount of times I have seen stuff in videos and thought I want that! Things come up like everything that you are wearing and where to get it, I don’t know if it focuses necessarily on the Ferrari in the background but it’s really cool. I can’t wait for everyone to see it and the fact that I’m the first person with that is really cool and exciting. The debut single “I Will Still Remember” from Jeorgia Rose is out today (11th December) which you can listen to HERE and you can keep up to date with her on FacebookTwitter & Instagram.