Vanilla Star Jeans, one of the top jean brands for kids & juniors is sending the message for back to school that Smart Girls Rock & that they can live whatever dreams they envision. The new Vanilla Star Smart Girls Rock Advertising Campaign features US Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medalist, Nastia Liukin & My Space Recording Artist Kate Vogele.

New York, NY (PRWEB) August 26, 2008 — Vanilla Star is a brand that dares to be positively different at a time when young women seek positive role models amongst their own peer groups.

Vanilla Star Jeans is the rising star of tween & junior labels amongst major retailers such as Macy’s , Belk, Wet Seal,and JC Penney’s, just to name a few. Vanilla Star has set its sights on celebrating the positive attributes of young women by allowing them to “live their dream” thru the Live The Dream Scholarship, awarded annually to young women to pursue their dreams in academics, fashion, sport & entertainment.

With much praise from Vanilla Star’s customer base & the retail success of the “Smart Girls Rock” Ad. Campaign; Vanilla Star will be dropping the second series of the campaign featuring US Olympic gymnast, Nastia Liukin & Myspace Records artist, Kate Voegele.

The Ad. Campaign will drop in August , right in time for the busy back to school season in magazines such as Cosmogirl & Seventeen, along with buses, kiosks & billboards in New York & LA.

Nastia Liukin has taken the “Smart Girls Rock” message to the global stage as a member of the 2008 US Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team. Nastia is a Senior International Elite gymnast & a four time World Champion. Nastia’s other accolades include: nine time World medalist, four time US National Champion and has won multiple Pacific Rim and American Cup titles. In 2005 she was also named the Gymnast of the Year by the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame and was a nominee in both the World Top 10 Athletes Award and the US Sport’s Academy Athlete of the Year Award. In 2007 she joined 1996 Olympic Champion Shannon Miller as the most decorated American gymnast in World Championship competition. Nastia comes home from Beijing with 5 medals: gold, three silvers and a bronze.

Kate Voegele will be touting the “Smart Girls Rock” message as she embarks on her nation-wide headlining tour starting on August 8th, 2008. Kate’s will be featured on the AT & T Olympics promotional album to be released on August 8th, 2008. Kate’s music has also been featured in TV & film spots such as: Sister Hood of the Traveling Pants 2, DisneyMania, Oprah’s Big Give , Extreme Home Makeover, The Reaper, So You Think You Can Dance, and One Tree Hill, where she has a recurring role as the singer/songwriter, Mia .

The juxtaposition of music, sport & fashion are mediums that unite Vanilla Star’s customer base nationally & globally. Vanilla Star tapped Nastia & Kate as global ambassadors for the “Smart Girls Rock” campaign because they exemplify young women living their dreams in high profile & high pressure fields while remaining true to themselves as role models for other young women.

Nastia & Kate have designed signature t-shirts to promote the campaign with proceeds going to the Vanilla Star Live The Dream Scholarship, sold exclusively at www.vanillastarjeans.com.

Source: prweb.com

Singer-songwriter Kate Voegele leads a bit of a double life. She is one of just four artists signed to MySpace Records, which released her debut album “Don’t Look Away” in early 2008. And she’s also a successful actress, who will soon reprise her role as rising star Mia, a former band mate to the skanky Jason (played by Kevin Federline), on the new season of “One Tree Hill.”

We called Voegele for a chat and found a well-spoken and noticeably exuberant personality who is making the most out of her MySpace and CW connections. No overnight success, this 21-year-old—who plays acoustic guitar and piano—has been focused on her goal to succeed in music for more than six years. Now that she’s breaking through, she’s already taken it as far as the Olympics, writing a song called “Lift Me Up” for the “Team USA” soundtrack.

Let’s just get it out of the way: how was it to work with K-Fed?
It was great! It was just such a funny thing; just being from the Midwest in a suburb of Cleveland, I am a person that never expected to be in the music business, let alone acting alongside K-Fed. He was really friendly and he did a great job with the role. It definitely goes to show you that you can’t believe everything you hear, because going into it of course you think, “Oh, it’s K-Fed, it’s gonna be insane or crazy or weird.” But he was so cool.

Your character on the show, Mia, is a solo artist now, right?
Yep, she was previously in the band with K-Fed, but then K-Fed got fired because his character Jason was a big jerk and Mia got signed as a solo artist. I think it’s awesome that I’m playing a character, but the songs are exactly the same from my record. I thought at first that people were gonna get confused between Mia and Kate, but it was perfect and has worked out so well.

Do people call you Mia?
Rarely do fans come up and ask me to sign stuff as Mia, which I thought might happen constantly. They did the same thing with Tyler Hilton. Tyler played a character, but obviously he was playing Tyler Hilton’s music and the fans kind of understand that that’s the way it works. People still do come up to me and say, “It’s Mia!” But at the end of the day, the majority are there and excited about Kate Voegele’s CD.

You’re an example of the changing music industry. You have to be creative like this in order to sell records, because radio doesn’t have the effect on sales that it once did.
It’s very, very hard having to find new and creative ways, so I’m glad to be working with people like “One Tree Hill” and MySpace Records. You can throw something at radio and a lot of times it won’t do anything.

The sponsor of your tour is the University of Phoenix. Are you enrolled there?
Yeah, that’s another really cool and creative way to get the music out there. I’ve been taking classes at the University of Phoenix for a couple of months now and I think that, for me, it was the perfect partnership to do. I went to college for two years even though I knew ultimately that this is what I wanted to do, but I wanted to start at least working towards my higher education. I was a dork in high school.

Why don’t I believe that?
I loved school, and it sounds stupid, but I really do enjoy learning and delving deeper into things that I’m excited about. I’m majoring in psychology at University of Phoenix and it’s really cool because they are so flexible. It’s an online university so it’s real easy for me to log on to class whenever I don’t have a show. It’s great for someone who kind of has a life but also wants an education.

Source: lehighvalley.metromix.com

Kate is featured in the gag reel (a whole bunch of goof up) of One Tree Hill Season 5 in a few places. First, in the scene with K-fed saying he is going to do things “his way” (she is in the background), next is the scene of her, Peyton and the creepy manager guy from LA (Kate has lines here but you can’t see her face, just her hair), and finally they show a couple goofs from the library episode (Kate is in the background). Check it out below, if you are a fan of One Tree Hill you will definitely enjoy this!

As most of you know, I am the owner of Lauren Conrad Online so I just wanted to mention to you all that Kate’s song “One Way or Another” was played from 11:08-11:30 in the season four premiere of The Hills on MTV last night. If you are a fan of the Hills, check out episode on MTV.com!

For fans of new pop singer-songwriter Kate Voegele, it’s good she has double-jointed shoulders.

“I love the Olympics. … I’ve had such a fun time watching them all week. I love the gymnastics. When I was a kid I always wanted to do that,” the 20-year-old said during a day off from her “Back 2 School Tour” in Boise, Idaho.

“I’m double-jointed in my shoulders though, so they were like, no, you could never do that unless you had some sort of surgery. So I was so bummed out. But no, I don’t think it was for me at the end of the day.

“I’m more on the artistic side of things.”

Voegele still has managed to be a part of Beijing’s Olympic games.

Her song, “Lift Me Up,” is featured on Team USA’s Olympic soundtrack.

“That’s been amazing. It’s so cool for me to be a part of that,” she said, saying she wrote the song overnight beginning at midnight when her manager told her they needed a song the next morning.

But writing songs is what Voegele does best. She released her debut CD, “Don’t Look Away,” on MySpace/Interscope Records, in 2007. And she’s trying to prove pop music can have integrity and weight, despite popular belief.

“I love acoustic music, and I like really like raw, organic stuff the best, I think, more than stuff that’s super produced. But I think for me, I also enjoy the art of writing a pop song — writing pop music that also has a lot of sincerity. Because I think pop music can be poetic.

“People a lot of times write it off as, oh you know, it’s all just very surfacey and bubble gum, and it can be that, too. … (But) I really love writing stuff that’s a little bit less produced and it’s a little bit more kind of channels some of my influences — Carole King, James Taylor, Patty Griffin.”

Understanding there is a plethora of female singer-songwriters and pop-celebrity stars, Voegele believes she’s found a little comfy place in the middle of all that.

“I really think that my main goal with my music is to reach people lyrically and basically through the combination of a great melody and a lyric that really speaks to somebody,” she said.

Her music is featured on TV shows such as “One Tree Hill,” in which she also guest stars as a recurring character. She will return for the sixth season to air before Christmas.

Her acting is mostly a way to market her music. Voegele says she is going to stick with music.

Her tour stop on Tuesday at The Intersection will feature a full band, with which she’ll play most, if not all, her album’s tracks plus an Alanis Morissette cover.

“We try to take it a more folk, indie route. It’s very cool. It’s like totally unexpected,” she said.

No matter where this tour or her TV spotlight takes her, Voegele says she’ll always be weirded-out be the celebrity pedestal thing which she finds “ridiculous.”

Everyone’s just people. And that’s what you realize,” she said.

“I’m just somebody who’s lucky enough to get to make a career out of something I love to do. Other than that, the whole celebrity thing is kind of bizarre to me.

Source: mlive.com

One of our visitors, Tonya, is selling an autographed 8×10 poster of Kate Voegele and a large double-sided posted. Here is the official description: “Authentic Signed 8×10 Kate Voegele Photo & Double Sided Poster - I obtained this autograph through her agency. It is authentic and was signed by her. I am selling his from my personal collection. Also a percentage of the winning bid goes to benefit the Fandom Rocks charity organization. The rest of the money will go to trying to obtain more items for the charity. So by bidding on this item you not only get this photo but you get to help others.” Check it out! The current bid is only $10 USD!

I just wanted to thank everyone out there for your prayers, kind words, and encouragement these past few days. My grandfather’s memorial service was beautiful and a real tribute to his kind and gentle spirit.

I was honored when my grandmother asked me to sing “Lift Me Up” at the service. This song will always serve as a reminder of my grandpa to me now. =) Many of you have asked for the lyrics to this song so I have posted them below.

I flew back to Seattle last night in time to play my show and the audience was amazing. We are on our way to Salt Lake City now and so excited for the rest of this tour. Hope to see you at a show!

Thanks again! It means more than you know…

Lift Me Up

This road is anything but simple,
Twisted like a riddle, I’ve seen High, I’ve seen low.
So loud, the voices over my doubts,
Telling me to give up, pack up, leave town.
Even so I had to believe, Impossible means nothing to me,

Can you lift me up?
Turn the ashes into flames,
I have overcome more than words can ever say,
I’ve been given hope that there’s a light on up the hall,
And a day will come when the fight is won,
I think that day had just begun.

Somewhere, everybody starts there,
Counting on a small prayer, lost in a nightmare.
You’re here, suddenly it’s so clear,
The struggle through the long years,
It’s hard for me to outrun my fears.
But everything that’s worth having,
Comes with trials worth withstanding.

Can you lift me up?
Turn the ashes into flames,
I have overcome more than words can ever say,
I’ve been given hope that there’s a light on up the hall,
And a day will come when the fight is won,
And I think that day has just begun.

Oh lift me up, Oh lift me up,
Oh lift me up, Oh lift me up,

Down and out is overrated,
I need to be elevated,
Looking up is not enough,
I would rather rise above, Oh , Oh , Oh.

Chorus
Lift me up, lift me up, lift me up.

- Kate

 For more Kate Voegele lyrics or to bookmark these lyrics, see our Lyrics Archive page!

Source: blog.myspace.com

Hey Everyone,

I got some very sad news that my grandpa passed away suddenly this weekend and I had to fly home for his memorial service which is being held in Ohio tomorrow morning. I had to cancel my show in Portland tonight and I apologize to anyone who bought tickets. He was a wonderful sweet man and I am going to miss him terribly. Thank you for understanding and for all of your continued support.

Kate

Webmaster’s Note: My condoloences go out to Kate right now. Losing someone you are close to is a very hard thing to go through. I am very sorry your loss Kate, we will all be thinking about you these next few days. =(

Source: blog.myspace.com

Hey Everyone,

As you all know, the Olympics start today and I am so excited to be part of the AT&T Team USA Soundtrack. You can listen to and download my new song “Lift Me Up” at attblueroom.com.

All of the proceeds from this go directly to Team USA. Check out the other songs on the soundtrack…there are so many great songs by such talented artists and I am so proud to be a part of it!

I LOVE watching the Olympics(gymnastics, diving and swimming are my favorites..how about you?)and I will be watching with my band from our tour bus because today kicks off my University of Phoenix Back to School headlining tour. The tour starts tonight in Pomona, California and we will be playing 40 shows all across the country. I hope to see you at a show!!It’s going to be a fantastic tour.

Thanks so much for all of your support. Go TEAM USA!

Kate

Source: blog.myspace.com

Singer/songwriter Kate Voegele will be the first MySpace Records artist to land a sponsored headlining tour. The University of Phoenix is sponsoring the artist’s 40-date North American “Back 2 School” trek, which launches Friday (Aug. 8th) at the Glass House in Pomona, Calif.

As part of the sponsorship, Voegele, who is a psychology major at the University of Phoenix, will chronicle her experience on the road through blogs and video diaries via myspace.com/kateontour. The 21-year-old singer will also upload behind-the-scenes footage from the tour, post bulletin updates and maintain the site’s “Ask Kate” forum. Part of the online content will delve into Voegele’s attempt to balance two college courses while playing concerts every night.

Under the deal, University of Phoenix will cover some of Voegele’s touring expenses in exchange for branding on myspace.com, according to MySpace Records GM J Scavo.

“It’s all wrapped up in this bigger ad package sold by MySpace,” Scavo tells Billboard.biz. “The centerpiece is the media that’s running on myspace.com, which drives traffic to this co-branded page.”

Scavo notes that MySpace has been proactive in organizing one-off concerts and branding tours, and sees tour sponsorships as the “next evolutionary step” for the social networking site.

“The MySpace sales staff feels embolden now to go offer these far more complex and integrated packages to advertisers,” he says. “If we can keep doing this, it adds awareness and creates some support for our efforts as a label.”

The label exec is quick to note, however, that MySpace Records will continue to provide artists with financial tour support even if a sponsor isn’t involved. “I would never wait for an advertiser to put a band on tour,” Scavo says. “They need to be on tour.”

Meanwhile, Voegele spent much of 2007 opening shows for such artists as Ben Lee, Matt Nathanson and Natasha Bedingfield, among others. “She’s done sporadic headlining dates but has never done a full tour,” Scavo says. “This is where it pays off.”

Voegele, who launched her career on prime-time teen soap “One Tree Hill,” is touring in support of her debut album “Don’t Look Away,” which has sold 187,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The artist’s collective digital tracks have sold 435,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Voegele’s upcoming jaunt, which wraps Oct. 5 at Holloway Hall Auditorium in Salisbury, Md., will feature support in various cities from artists Matt White, Amy Kuney, Keaton Simons, Brendan James, Josh Hoge and Leslie Roy.

Source: billboard.biz