The Sit Down with Erin Kinsey
Things have continued to go from strength to strength for Erin Kinsey since we last spoke to her in December when she was over in Europe to play shows with Restless Road. She is just concluding the US leg of touring her Gettin’ Away with It EP as her first headline tour and now is about to return to Europe for her first headline show in London, which has already seen the venue upgraded due to popular demand, along with appearing at both The Long Road festival and Sound of Nashville Open Air which she will headline in Cologne, Germany. With new music starting to emerge and a transatlantic flight just a few days away, we caught up with Erin to look ahead to her return to Europe.
Hey girl, good to see you and thanks for taking the time to hang and especially on a show day.
“For sure, no big deal. It’s good to see you again.”
Yeah, it was like December when we last spoke because you were you were in Germany and we were chatting about the Christmas markets in Cologne.
“We were and I’m going back!”
I know you are, so we’ll talk about that in a little bit but we’re very excited that you're coming back to see us too in a couple of weeks. Well, I guess it's probably next week that you're flying over to Europe. Are you literally going straight into the show in Sweden or have you got a couple of days here to acclimatise to the time difference and stuff?
“We're going straight to Sweden, then we go from Sweden to Oslo, which is sold out and after that straight to another festival in Norway but then we have like five days off. Those five days will be our five days to get our bearings, but we hit the ground running. It’ll be fine though, I mean it’s nothing that a few drinks can't fix.”
Oh nice, it's going to be fun though because you went to Norway, did the Restless Road stuff, had the headline shows in the States and now you’ve got the headline show come in in London and you’re headlining a festival in Cologne. With the way that everything's going now, is Europe becoming a real big part of planning ahead where it's almost to the extent of you haven't even come over yet and you're already looking ahead to the next trip to keep building that momentum?
“Absolutely, I just have such a desire to live off the people who are living on me so if they're overseas we're going overseas. If they're in Norway, we’re going to Norway or if they're in Germany, we're going to Germany. It’s been really fun to see the fruits already paying off from opening up for Restless Road in December to now having our own headline show in summer and headlining the festival in Germany, which is crazy. It’s cool, it is tangible, it is real people and I mean, why not just fly over an ocean and go play for them?”
Hey girl, good to see you and thanks for taking the time to hang and especially on a show day.
“For sure, no big deal. It’s good to see you again.”
Yeah, it was like December when we last spoke because you were you were in Germany and we were chatting about the Christmas markets in Cologne.
“We were and I’m going back!”
I know you are, so we’ll talk about that in a little bit but we’re very excited that you're coming back to see us too in a couple of weeks. Well, I guess it's probably next week that you're flying over to Europe. Are you literally going straight into the show in Sweden or have you got a couple of days here to acclimatise to the time difference and stuff?
“We're going straight to Sweden, then we go from Sweden to Oslo, which is sold out and after that straight to another festival in Norway but then we have like five days off. Those five days will be our five days to get our bearings, but we hit the ground running. It’ll be fine though, I mean it’s nothing that a few drinks can't fix.”
Oh nice, it's going to be fun though because you went to Norway, did the Restless Road stuff, had the headline shows in the States and now you’ve got the headline show come in in London and you’re headlining a festival in Cologne. With the way that everything's going now, is Europe becoming a real big part of planning ahead where it's almost to the extent of you haven't even come over yet and you're already looking ahead to the next trip to keep building that momentum?
“Absolutely, I just have such a desire to live off the people who are living on me so if they're overseas we're going overseas. If they're in Norway, we’re going to Norway or if they're in Germany, we're going to Germany. It’s been really fun to see the fruits already paying off from opening up for Restless Road in December to now having our own headline show in summer and headlining the festival in Germany, which is crazy. It’s cool, it is tangible, it is real people and I mean, why not just fly over an ocean and go play for them?”
You’ve been playing like headline shows in the US and it’s been like your first run of headlining shows which I guess you’re getting the knack of now but do you still find you’re learning as you go with each show? Keeping wanting to make it better and better each time
“Absolutely and it presents, I wouldn't say challenges but different obstacles. Whether it's the size of the stage or somewhere that don't have AC and you learn how to sweat your booty off while you're playing. There's always something different or the crowd is different. That’s something that's been really fun though, because we have, I forget the number, it’s about like 18 or 19 shows here playing the same set. Taking the same show on the road, I feel like it would have all been boring if it wasn't different every night and we are definitely not boring.”
Let’s talk about the Sound of Nashville show in Cologne first. Obviously, I know a lot of people are going to be focussing on TLR and the London show and things with you but you got to play some shows in Germany last year and things and it clear went down so well. It must be really cool that it's been a very limited amount of time that you've been touring mainland Europe to be able to headline a festival that's got a really cool international lineup on there.
“Yes, I'm really excited for that. You know, when we were overseas with Restless Road, I was like, dang, I don't I don't know if we'll ever get to come back, you just never know. I was like, yeah, I really hope we do, I need to love on these people again. So, the fact we get to come back within six months is a great feeling.”
It must be really fun as well. The fact you've seen C2C, which is a very different festival compared to anything you get back at home with it being an indoor festival and things, you get to see real festivals over here with the Sound of Nashville show and TLR. It’s not just the opportunity to showcase to a new audience but a chance to compare and contrast kind of how festivals work here compared to back at home.
“Well, it’s also good to be a fan, there are so many great artists playing, I mean, festivals always do such a good job with the music, which is obviously the biggest thing, but there's a thousand other things going on there. Festivals are so much fun and honestly, we didn't get to do a lot of US ones this year, just with the way that were doing the tour back home. So, I’m glad that at least I get to do to some, because I love music. I love watching music and just enjoying it myself. With our headlining shows, we don't really get to do that, we watch our openers sometimes, but sometimes with how the venue is set up, you literally can't, so I'm excited to get to go enjoy and be a fan too.”
Are you one of those people that genuinely like to be able to kind of walk around and explore everything? You’ve not just watching things from the side of the stage and you have a walk around, see the atmosphere and see what's going on the other stages as well.
“I want to be in the pit! I want to be right up at the front, I want to be screaming and enjoying it all, which sometimes that gets me in trouble with screaming before I sing but you know, sometimes we have off days and it works out okay.”
Since you last came over and actually very recently, you’ve started putting some more new music out. Starting off with “Strangers” which came out a couple of weeks back and when you cut it, you played the guitar solo yourself for the first time, which is crazy because when I watch your live shows, you absolutely slay girl!. I was like, what, seriously? You've been letting somebody else do that and you’ve been hiding away.
“I know but the thing you’ve got to understand is that before, when we were recording songs, we would do a studio session, where everyone comes in and plays all at once. There are factors; one, I'll be in the control room with the producer and giving my opinion and my ideas that stuff, so if I was in their playing, I wouldn't be able to do that. Also, we got some of like some of the best guitar players in Nashville. Like, they're so good, you want them to do their thing. But this last song, it was “Strangers”, Josh Kerr and I were in the studio and we were just trying to work it out with instruments then he got a guitar out, and he was like, you want to try to play a solo? He's like, we can always hire somebody or you could try. I was like, well, let me try, just a couple of times and we ended up playing something that I really liked so we kept it and we put it out. It felt like a really big step, but when we'd done it, I just knew that I couldn’t not do it. I’ve got more music out this fall and I’m playing all of the solos on those.”
“Absolutely and it presents, I wouldn't say challenges but different obstacles. Whether it's the size of the stage or somewhere that don't have AC and you learn how to sweat your booty off while you're playing. There's always something different or the crowd is different. That’s something that's been really fun though, because we have, I forget the number, it’s about like 18 or 19 shows here playing the same set. Taking the same show on the road, I feel like it would have all been boring if it wasn't different every night and we are definitely not boring.”
Let’s talk about the Sound of Nashville show in Cologne first. Obviously, I know a lot of people are going to be focussing on TLR and the London show and things with you but you got to play some shows in Germany last year and things and it clear went down so well. It must be really cool that it's been a very limited amount of time that you've been touring mainland Europe to be able to headline a festival that's got a really cool international lineup on there.
“Yes, I'm really excited for that. You know, when we were overseas with Restless Road, I was like, dang, I don't I don't know if we'll ever get to come back, you just never know. I was like, yeah, I really hope we do, I need to love on these people again. So, the fact we get to come back within six months is a great feeling.”
It must be really fun as well. The fact you've seen C2C, which is a very different festival compared to anything you get back at home with it being an indoor festival and things, you get to see real festivals over here with the Sound of Nashville show and TLR. It’s not just the opportunity to showcase to a new audience but a chance to compare and contrast kind of how festivals work here compared to back at home.
“Well, it’s also good to be a fan, there are so many great artists playing, I mean, festivals always do such a good job with the music, which is obviously the biggest thing, but there's a thousand other things going on there. Festivals are so much fun and honestly, we didn't get to do a lot of US ones this year, just with the way that were doing the tour back home. So, I’m glad that at least I get to do to some, because I love music. I love watching music and just enjoying it myself. With our headlining shows, we don't really get to do that, we watch our openers sometimes, but sometimes with how the venue is set up, you literally can't, so I'm excited to get to go enjoy and be a fan too.”
Are you one of those people that genuinely like to be able to kind of walk around and explore everything? You’ve not just watching things from the side of the stage and you have a walk around, see the atmosphere and see what's going on the other stages as well.
“I want to be in the pit! I want to be right up at the front, I want to be screaming and enjoying it all, which sometimes that gets me in trouble with screaming before I sing but you know, sometimes we have off days and it works out okay.”
Since you last came over and actually very recently, you’ve started putting some more new music out. Starting off with “Strangers” which came out a couple of weeks back and when you cut it, you played the guitar solo yourself for the first time, which is crazy because when I watch your live shows, you absolutely slay girl!. I was like, what, seriously? You've been letting somebody else do that and you’ve been hiding away.
“I know but the thing you’ve got to understand is that before, when we were recording songs, we would do a studio session, where everyone comes in and plays all at once. There are factors; one, I'll be in the control room with the producer and giving my opinion and my ideas that stuff, so if I was in their playing, I wouldn't be able to do that. Also, we got some of like some of the best guitar players in Nashville. Like, they're so good, you want them to do their thing. But this last song, it was “Strangers”, Josh Kerr and I were in the studio and we were just trying to work it out with instruments then he got a guitar out, and he was like, you want to try to play a solo? He's like, we can always hire somebody or you could try. I was like, well, let me try, just a couple of times and we ended up playing something that I really liked so we kept it and we put it out. It felt like a really big step, but when we'd done it, I just knew that I couldn’t not do it. I’ve got more music out this fall and I’m playing all of the solos on those.”
Well, you said about more new music being on the way. Instagram does wonderful things and tells you what's going on. So, firstly but obviously most importantly, I saw you got your hair done and it looks hot, which I'm sure you're very, very happy with. I also saw a couple of days ago as well, you were teasing what's going to be coming next on the 22nd of August. There’s a little teaser from inside your car of a proper summer banger that’s dropping, so can you tell us a little bit more about “Blue Jean Baby” and the background of that one.
“You know what? Firstly, thank you, she’s long and I love her. The song is about falling in love in the summer at home or spending the summer with your favourite person. I had an ex-boyfriend I was really mad at for a long time and I wrote a lot about that. Then one day, I was like, you know what? I'm done with this fool, I’m gonna have some fun. I wrote “Blue Jean Baby” that day and it has such a big guitar guitars, big drums and to me, it is the closest song I'm going to release that feels like our live show. In the past, it's been a compliment, I know but I've had people say you're so much better live and I'm like, okay, fine, then we'll make it sound like the live show. So I'm like, I’ll just see what people think about all it, it is a little bit different, but it's my drummer playing drums on it, my band leader helped me produce it and I played a lot of guitars on it. He played some of the guitars on it too so it feels very, for lack of a better word, in-house. It is everything that I envisioned in my mind for that song to be, for worse or for better and we're all about to find out together, but I like it, actually I love it.”
Has that been a key thing when you're thinking about with the new stuff after “Gettin’ Away with It”, where people really love and see the live show. “Strangers” is quite rocky, I'd say, in terms of melody and sort of sound, it’s very much what you expect from a live show and things. Was that kind of the big thing of wanting to keep the new stuff starting off, with a really bang and getting things kicked off that way?
“You know, to kind of put that stake in the ground and while, I have plenty of heartbreaker songs, I’ve got plenty of sad songs and while we're doing all the things we're doing, it feels almost like in-genuine to release some kind of sad, you know, touchy song, because that's not where I'm at. I'm leaning into the bigger emotions like that right now. I definitely still have the heart touching thing in the can, but I want to release something that says this is my whole life and it would be honest to do that.”
You’ve said that we're going to have more stuff coming in the fall as well. Are we looking to be building towards something else extended again or just leading down the singles route for the time being and seeing what happens?
“Honestly, I definitely always want to play and play but for now we're releasing these songs to kind of see how we want to roll out the rest of that. I mean, I have a bunch of songs that I feel I need to be out in the world, but I just picked my three or four favourites that I want to get out first and then go from there. I wish I was the kind of person that could just stop my whole life to work on one thing at a time but I could never, I gotta be bouncing”
Well, anyway, thank you for the hang. Enjoy the last nights on the run over there. Safe travels coming over, I'll try and get along to the London show but if not, I'll definitely be at The Long Road and hopefully bump into you on Sunday, because we've spoken on Zoom twice now so I need to properly meet you in person and hug you out girl but most importantly I need see that wonderful new main of yours in real life.
“I know, look at her, she’s great, I love her.”
You’re the best, I can’t wait to see you!
UK/EU TOUR DATES 2025:
August 14, 2025 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Kajskjul 8
August 15, 2025 – Oslo, Norway – John Dee
August 16, 2025 – Bergen, Norway – Byfjordfestivalen
August 23, 2025 – Cologne, Germany – Sound of Nashville Open Air
August 24, 2025 – Lutterworth, UK – The Long Road Festival
August 27, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Academy Islington
August 30, 2025 – The Hague, Netherlands – Once in a Blue Moon Festival
“Blue Jean Baby” will be the next release from Erin Kinsey which will be out on August 22nd and is available to pre-save / pre-add HERE. Erin returns to the UK and Europe for a string of shows, where you can find ticket details for all of the upcoming European dates including her first UK headline show in London, you can check out her WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that Erin is up to socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK X or FACEBOOK.
The Long Road Festival takes place at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire over the weekend of August 22nd to 24th where you can find ticket details and further information on their WEBSITE and you can be the first to know all updates ahead of the event by checking out their socials on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
Sound of Nashville Open Air will be happening over the same weekend (August 22nd to 24th) for our German friends at the Freideck Kantine in the beautiful city of Cologne which will see Erin Kinsey headlining on Saturday 23rd August. Full details are available on the Sound of Nashville WEBSITE and you can also learn more about the event on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
“You know what? Firstly, thank you, she’s long and I love her. The song is about falling in love in the summer at home or spending the summer with your favourite person. I had an ex-boyfriend I was really mad at for a long time and I wrote a lot about that. Then one day, I was like, you know what? I'm done with this fool, I’m gonna have some fun. I wrote “Blue Jean Baby” that day and it has such a big guitar guitars, big drums and to me, it is the closest song I'm going to release that feels like our live show. In the past, it's been a compliment, I know but I've had people say you're so much better live and I'm like, okay, fine, then we'll make it sound like the live show. So I'm like, I’ll just see what people think about all it, it is a little bit different, but it's my drummer playing drums on it, my band leader helped me produce it and I played a lot of guitars on it. He played some of the guitars on it too so it feels very, for lack of a better word, in-house. It is everything that I envisioned in my mind for that song to be, for worse or for better and we're all about to find out together, but I like it, actually I love it.”
Has that been a key thing when you're thinking about with the new stuff after “Gettin’ Away with It”, where people really love and see the live show. “Strangers” is quite rocky, I'd say, in terms of melody and sort of sound, it’s very much what you expect from a live show and things. Was that kind of the big thing of wanting to keep the new stuff starting off, with a really bang and getting things kicked off that way?
“You know, to kind of put that stake in the ground and while, I have plenty of heartbreaker songs, I’ve got plenty of sad songs and while we're doing all the things we're doing, it feels almost like in-genuine to release some kind of sad, you know, touchy song, because that's not where I'm at. I'm leaning into the bigger emotions like that right now. I definitely still have the heart touching thing in the can, but I want to release something that says this is my whole life and it would be honest to do that.”
You’ve said that we're going to have more stuff coming in the fall as well. Are we looking to be building towards something else extended again or just leading down the singles route for the time being and seeing what happens?
“Honestly, I definitely always want to play and play but for now we're releasing these songs to kind of see how we want to roll out the rest of that. I mean, I have a bunch of songs that I feel I need to be out in the world, but I just picked my three or four favourites that I want to get out first and then go from there. I wish I was the kind of person that could just stop my whole life to work on one thing at a time but I could never, I gotta be bouncing”
Well, anyway, thank you for the hang. Enjoy the last nights on the run over there. Safe travels coming over, I'll try and get along to the London show but if not, I'll definitely be at The Long Road and hopefully bump into you on Sunday, because we've spoken on Zoom twice now so I need to properly meet you in person and hug you out girl but most importantly I need see that wonderful new main of yours in real life.
“I know, look at her, she’s great, I love her.”
You’re the best, I can’t wait to see you!
UK/EU TOUR DATES 2025:
August 14, 2025 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Kajskjul 8
August 15, 2025 – Oslo, Norway – John Dee
August 16, 2025 – Bergen, Norway – Byfjordfestivalen
August 23, 2025 – Cologne, Germany – Sound of Nashville Open Air
August 24, 2025 – Lutterworth, UK – The Long Road Festival
August 27, 2025 – London, UK – O2 Academy Islington
August 30, 2025 – The Hague, Netherlands – Once in a Blue Moon Festival
“Blue Jean Baby” will be the next release from Erin Kinsey which will be out on August 22nd and is available to pre-save / pre-add HERE. Erin returns to the UK and Europe for a string of shows, where you can find ticket details for all of the upcoming European dates including her first UK headline show in London, you can check out her WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with all that Erin is up to socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK X or FACEBOOK.
The Long Road Festival takes place at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire over the weekend of August 22nd to 24th where you can find ticket details and further information on their WEBSITE and you can be the first to know all updates ahead of the event by checking out their socials on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
Sound of Nashville Open Air will be happening over the same weekend (August 22nd to 24th) for our German friends at the Freideck Kantine in the beautiful city of Cologne which will see Erin Kinsey headlining on Saturday 23rd August. Full details are available on the Sound of Nashville WEBSITE and you can also learn more about the event on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
