Kate Voegele is a young singer-songwriter with a lot of tie-ins. There’s her having signed a record deal with MySpace and her inescapable presence there. There’s her returning to school online to complete her Bachelor’s Degree with University of Phoenix, who is sponsoring this Back 2 School tour. Then there’s her recurring role on the CW TV series One Tree Hill, where she plays a young musician who becomes the lead singer of a rock band after kicking out Kevin Federline, which always seems like a good idea. So it’s easy to come at Voegele with predetermined opinions even before hearing a note of her music.

And it is about HER music. She isn’t a teen actress recording rote music a committee wrote for her. Voegele’s music is HER, disarmingly cute, with flashes of Christina Aguilera/Alicia Keys soul stirring. Like another musical prodigy named Kate, Kate Bush, Voegele signed her first record deal at age 16. Unlike Bush, who wrote songs like Wuthering Heights that seemed the work of someone well beyond her tender years, you can believe every song from Voegele’s early EPs and her debut album Don’t Look Away was written by a teenager. That’s not a knock-Voegele is head and shoulders above any kid-pop a young teenage girl might insist you play in the car in 2008. Her band rocks with far greater conviction than the Jonas Brothers and songs like I Get It and Chicago (which she opened with in that order) are no strangers to get-stuck-in-your-head hooks. Generally, it’s the bridges of her songs that shine the brightest and every original in Sunday’s Martini Ranch set list (with the exception of Lift Me Up, the well-sung, rather bland “overcoming obstacles” ballad she contributed to the 2008 Team USA Olympics soundtrack) has smart chord changes and a good pop sensibility to recommend them.

Wearing a grey Fedora and a smile that barely disappears even when she is singing her saddest breakup songs like Wish You Were and It’s Only Life, Voegele uses the ballad as her opportunity to step out from behind a guitar to do some vocal gymnastics. In between songs like No Good that represent the “I hate myself for loving you” contingency, she tells us how amazing University of Arizona has been, how awesome an audience we are (”This is a love song and I love you,” she exclaims before I Won’t Disagree) and what a rock star her guitarist Sam is for performing with a cast on his foot. “He was hit by a car in LA and played the show on morphine the same night,” she remarks, and you wonder what adjective she might reserve for Keith Richards for whom that would’ve been a good night.

If you’re wondering who Voegele’s heroes are, she names Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette, who she melds together in her “ironic” cover of You Oughta Know. “You probably know she wrote the song about getting dumped by Joey Gladstone of Full House but I couldn’t cover it angry.” Instead she does the song as Sheryl Crow might have, gutting it beyond recognition, almost the way Morissette did with My Humps.

After Might Have Been, she leaves for a trio of planned encores and I can’t help but wonder if it’s necessary to make Sam hobble offstage just to return seconds later. Voegele has the good sense to curb that cruelty and come back alone for the first one, her rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, her favorite song in the world, which she says she was turned onto by an indie band she was touring with. “It’s like the new Stairway to Heaven,” she says and people stand quietly as she softly finger picks it. That’s followed by the song that led to her acting career, Kindly Unspoken and the mere mention of the show One Tree Hill draws the biggest shrieks of the night from the audience. Capping things off is Only Fooling Myself, her first single that had a really cute cut-and-paste video. Someday, if it hasn’t already happened, the word cute will be overtaken by people who are anything but. By then, Voegele and her young audience will have moved onto other adjectives but we’ll remember her as being cute when cute was cool.

Source: azcentral.com

The crowd anxiously waited for Kate Voegele to take the stage at The Roxy on Wednesday night. The guitars began, the curtain rose and the crowd went wild for this petite 21 year old Ohio native as she began to belt out the lyrics to the first song of her set. It is always surprising to find how such a tiny person can have such a powerful voice. Not only is Kate’s voice powerful, but it is also very captivating and unique, which makes her the perfect vehicle for Myspace Records to launch their label. Her sound reminds me a lot of Michelle Branch in the early years. There was plenty of fun to go around as Kate’s energy was present for the duration of her set, keeping the audience involved and the music flowing from song to song. Many young girls were sitting in the front row mouthing the lyrics to each of her songs. In between songs, Kate was very personable with the audience. At one point, she talked about the horrible events leading up to the show, i.e. her guitarist getting hit by a car while crossing the street on Sunset Blvd. Luckily, he was cleared to play the gig. Being the dedicated musician he is, Sam Getz sat on the stage and played the guitar with his leg wrapped in a boot during the entire show. Afterall, the show must go on right? Aside from being a talented singer, Kate is also an award-winning songwriter. There is something to say about songwriters performing their own music; the emotions are present in their performance because each of the songs have a personal meaning to the artist. You may have heard some of Kate’s songs featured on various episodes of the hit CW TV series “One Tree Hill”. This was by far one of the best concerts we have attended over the last few months. We strongly believe that Kate Voegele is a name you will be hearing a lot more of in the near future! The “Back 2 School” tour is sponsored by the University of Phoenix. There are 19 shows left on the tour. (Thanks to Bessie at hollywoodteenzine.com for letting us know about the review!)

Source: hollywoodteenzine.com

With the release of this phenomenal debut record and armed with more pipes than an Alaskan oil line (think Christina Aguilera without the yodel or Alanis Morrisette without the crazy), Kate Voegele is ready to ascend to her rightful position as the Queen of Teen Music. But to throw such a jejune and inaccurate label on this wonderfully talented artist would unfairly diminish the maturity and depth of this thoughtful collection of well crafted songs. Don’t Look Away (MySpace / Interscope Records) is an assemblage of “pick yourself up by your boot straps” empowerment songs that are delivered with remarkable soul and passion.

Her astonishing and sudden rise to fame was assisted by MySpace founder Tom Anderson, who was on the lookout for talent to start his MySpace record label. At the same time producers for the television show One Tree Hill were doing the same thing to support a musical story line that they were introducing to the show. They were so impressed, not only by her music but with Kate herself, that they auditioned and ultimately chose her to play the character Mia (an aspiring singer) for an episode arc on the show. Timing, as they say, is everything, and after her first appearance on the show, her album gained a 2000 percent increase in sales as well as concert promoter interest.

The album’s title, Don’t Look Away, reflects Kate’s own take on confronting life’s inevitable challenges directly. The delicate “It’s Only Life” is a surefire hit that helps to convey that mantra with a pinch of fatalistic sarcasm. “Wish You Were Here,” a song already made popular from its One Tree Hill exposure, successfully wordplays the sometimes crushing difference between one’s desire and inescapable reality with the line, “I’m still in love with who I wish you were/ and I wish you were here.”

“Kindly Unspoken,” the album’s closer, has a gospel inspired piano/vocal that showcases Kate’s powerful range and an uplifting message of resilience. But it’s not all woulda-shoulda introspection and remorse. Bonafide rockers like “Chicago,” “One Way Or Another,” “Devil In Me,” “No Good,” and “I Won’t Disagree” keep things moving along quite nicely and help to spotlight a voice that’s been described as a “religious experience” by the multitudes of her loyal and expressive fans.

Inspired by a love of ’70s folk and alt-country music, Kate’s music has an earthy texture to it but also a sophisticated and polished craftsmanship that separates her work from many of today’s singer-songwriters. “Only Fooling Myself” is the first single released and the reason for that selection was probably because they couldn’t find a thirteen sided coin to flip. There are actually so many potential hits here that showcasing them all properly to the public just might delay her sophomore release a bit longer than originally intended.

Kate Voegele is poised to become one of music’s brightest talents, so keep an eye on her and “Don’t Look Away” for a moment because that’s how most shooting stars are missed.

Kate is currently on tour supporting Don’t Look Away with Natasha Bedingfield and The Veronicas.

Source: ink19.com

Kate Voegele’s Don’t Look Away is just the album to get one in the mood for spring and the upcoming summer.

Not one for depressed souls, this full-length album by MySpace Records contains 13 songs, some of which will make listeners want to get up, dance and sing along, while others are the perfect melancholic tune for a rainy day.

Voegele, who at age 16 opened for John Mayer’s and Counting Crows’ 2003 tour, made her national debut on the series “One Tree Hill” with the song “Only Fooling Myself.”

Much like Kelly Clarkson, Voegele’s edgy voice is able to manage a variety of harmonies and music styles.

Knowing this, she confidently straddles the lines between pop and rock in her songs and caters to a larger audience and proves to be a talented singer as well as songwriter.

The blues-y “Kindly Outspoken” and punchy “Chicago” are just two of the songs that display her musical strengths.

However, this album is not for everyone, and it is mostly fans of pop music that would truly be able to enjoy Don’t Look Away.

Source: theticker.org

There’s just something about a girl who plays guitar. When that girl also sings with passion and writes some quality songs, the impression resonates even more. With her debut album, Don’t Look Away, twenty-one year old singer/songwriter Kate Voegele exceeds all such criteria, signaling the arrival of a promising new artist.

With qualified craft and conviction, Voegele imparts an astute pop sensibility while, at the same time, enveloping the energy of rock and roll. Her voice compares to those of contemporaries like Michelle Branch and Anna Nalick, yet Voegele’s overall sound - vocals and music - suggests some veteran and sonically edgier influences. Thus, one can hear traces of Fleetwood Mac and Linda Ronstadt, but also of Pat Benatar and Heart. In her own way and when she’s at her most affecting, Voegele offers what such predecessors delivered in their relative primes: songs as solid in composition as they are in expression.

The tracks that best achieve this balance are ones with well-defined melodies or hooks, as well as strong, compelling vocals. On rockers like “Might Have Been” and “I Get It,” Voegele sings with sass and assertion, her voice matching the intensity of their punchy, guitar-driven grooves. She demonstrates soulful and emotional depth on “I Won’t Disagree” and “Kindly Unspoken,” both songs sobered by a piano’s melancholic tone. And with “Top of the World,” she parlays comparable depth yet with layered harmonies and more rhythmic intimations.

Her creative diversity and versatility pay off the most on “Only Fooling Myself” and “It’s Only Life,” which respectively combine melodic and harmonic elements of pop with the thrust and substance of rock to yield equally stirring and powerful performances.

With Don’t Look Away, Kate Voegele has begun to carve out her own niche as a unique singer/songwriter. She exhibits confidence grounded in talent, ambition, and effort. Such attributes make for an impressive debut album and suggest even better music to come.

Source: blogcritics.org

02/27/08 - Kate Voegele may play the shy Mia on “One Tree Hill,” but her live set is anything but shy.

On Saturday, Voegele played at the Wheel House in Narragansett. Before taking the stage though, two opening acts played. Matt Hartke opened the show wearing ripped jeans and a trucker hat. He brought a soothing, smooth sound to the show as he delivered a Jack Johnson-type performance. He got the crowd involved by playing an acoustic version of “Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”

Following Hartke was the band The Whitest Light, which treated the stage as if it was a second home. The upbeat band moved flawlessly across the stage, causing the crowd to dance around the floor. The Whitest Light joked about how they searched for seafood in Rhode Island, and they ended up at an IHOP.

Then Voegele took the stage.

On “One Tree Hill,” Voegele’s character plays the background singer for Kevin Federline’s character, Jason. After one episode as the background singer, Mia becomes the lead of the show, and it is easy to understand why-Voegele is an amazing performer from start to finish.

The crowd ranged from teenagers to people in their twenties - most of whom were “One Tree Hill” fans.

Dressed in a comfortable tank, jeans and boots, Voegele entered the stage with her band and began singing “One Way or Another.” Music on “One Tree Hill” highlights Voegele as both a solo artist and head of a band. At the Wheel House, Voegele performed with a full backup band.

She seemed cool and confident with the band behind her as she rocked out with her guitar.

As the song came to an end, fans yelled, “I love you Kate.”

Kate continued to keep the mood light and fluffy as she joked, “I broke my g-string” (on her guitar of course). She then broke into the songs “Chicago” and “I Get It.”

Again Kate kept the crowd laughing as she mentioned that one of her songs is used in the background of the Oprah giveaways. “Maybe I will get some free stuff from Oprah,” she joked.

Kate then sang “Wish You Were” and “Top of the World” off her recent album, Don’t Look Away.

“You’re amazing,” the crowd yelled. “You guys are amazing,” she yelled back, and then started a string of songs including “No Good,” “I Won’t Disagree,” and “Devil In Me.” During “Devil In Me,” Voegele took an intermission and left the stage while the band rocked out, keeping the audience on their feet.

When Voegele reemerged, the audience was off the wall. She and the band finished “Devil In Me,” and the band left the stage.

Voegele went on with the show with just her keyboardist. She mentioned that the next song she was going to sing, “Kindly Unspoken,” was one of her favorites.

It was one of the crowd’s favorites as well, as they recognized it from Voegele’s debut on “One Tree Hill” in the episode “It’s Alright Ma, I am Only Bleeding.” Voegele’s vocals on “Kindly Unspoken” were immensely enjoyed by the crowd as she hit each note flawlessly.

As the song came to an end, the band came back on stage for the song “Might Have Been,” before Voegele closed out with her single “Only Fooling Myself.” It felt like the most upbeat song, as the audience members flung their hips and sang along.

Voegele’s night didn’t end with “Only Fooling Myself” though, as she headed over to the merchandise table. Immediately a line began to form, and fans were getting autographs and pictures taken with the star.

University of Rhode Island junior Jess DeRoche asked, “How do you like being on ‘One Tree Hill?’”

“I love it,” Voegele answered.

That’s probably a good thing, because her fans definitely love her.

Source: ramcigar.com