Kat Harlton
Waterloo, ON-based singer/songwriter, Karli June recently released her single ‘Say Too Much’. The song was co-written by Francesca ‘Francci’ Richard, Hailey Collier, and Scott Chesak (All American Rejects). Best known for his production and songwriting with rockers Panic At The Disco and Weezer, Chesak’s collaboration with June has yielded pure country gold. “I had never recorded a song written by someone else before, but something about it really resonated with me. I’m very much a ‘wear your heart on your sleeve’ kind of person. I’ve been very guilty in the past of letting my heart get ahead of my mind. It was just a very fresh idea, I had never heard anything like it before, and I was kind of looking for a song that was a pop/country crossover and very feminine. Fraser, Scott and I worked on the project collectively to make it mine. So there was kind of a big curve there, how do we make this Karli’s song?. I learned a lot taking that on, and I learned a lot about my own voice and my own personality and how it comes through on a song, especially when you’re recording someone else’s. It was largely a pop song when we first had it, so we had to make it country and make it mine. It honestly went very very smoothly and things just happened really organically.
In 2016, June released two singles, both produced by CCMA Award winning producer/guitarist Jason Barry, ‘Black & White’ and ‘Setting Me on Fire’, which garnered June attention leading to her performing at marquee Canadian country music festival Boots & Hearts, something June considers a highlight, “Notably for sure Boots & Hearts, being part of the emerging artist showcase. Actually the year before I played that, I went to the festival just as a regular person, last minute and we couldn’t get a campsite, so we ended up sleeping in my friend’s car. So going from that one year to the next, I just remember pulling into the artist entrance and it was one of those moments where you’re like dreams do come true. You picture it in your mind, and you visualize those things and then it starts happening, and it’s just very encouraging, very faith building. You look back on those moments on your hard days and think there will be more hard moments to come, but you have to think of those big moments and celebrate them because they’re what’s going to carry you through.”
Karli June is currently in the studio with A&R veteran Fraser Hill (James Barker Band, Wes Mack, One More Girl, Serena Ryder) who she shares has left a lasting impression on her, “I started working with Fraser Hill at the beginning of last year and one of the first things we ever talked about was recognizing that I had a story to tell, and in my music I wasn’t really telling my story. It’s really easy as an artist to write what you think people want to hear or what’s going to be a hit, instead of writing from your heart. As soon as I started doing that, people started resonating with the music so much differently. It’s been amazing to see and it’s such simple advice, to be authentic and to tell your story, because we all have a story and that’s what makes us unique and different.”
For more on Karli June visit: https://www.karlijune.com