Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Welch.
Katie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was always a performer, I feel most at home on stage, but up until college I always thought dance would be my ticket to a life in entertainment. I was always much more insecure about singing because secretly it’s what my heart wanted more than anything. During college at UCF in Orlando I got brought into a girl group founded by Royce Reed and during the two years of that is when I really got the confidence to pursue music as a career. I moved to LA in 2010 and it has been a wild ride, from shitty, money stealing managers to shady producers I’ve been through it all and after walking away from music for a few years to become a yoga teacher and pursue a career in fashion, music sucked me right back in. I was asked to perform a full jazz set at the HBO Golden Globes after party, which led to right back to the stage I always loved and I began performing at jazz nights and live music nights all over LA.
I started to make my own music again with friends and released my first single “‘Tan Lines” in 2015, LA nightlife hotspot Bootsy Bellows threw me an incredible single release party to celebrate. From there I continued to perform pretty regularly at other H.wood group venues, Blind Dragon and Delilah. In 2017 I began the release of my second project, a four piece visual EP titled “Typical Psycho” produced by production duo CHROMOSOMES. At the end of 2017, I entered a new singing completion happening in West Hollywood called “Off The Strip” with a $5000 cash prize that I ended up winning and now I host the show which is going into our 5th season and the prize has up’d itself to $10,000. Most recently I was just playing the role of Helen Shivers in I Know What You Did Last Summer the Unauthorized Musical at Three Clubs and had the honor of singing the national anthem at Dodger Stadium. Currently, I am in the process of finishing my forthcoming project titled “The New Renaissance” hopefully out this fall.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has been more like a rollercoaster of highs and lows and unexpected twists and turns…I think life in entertainment is never an easy one because its full of enormous amounts of rejection and heartbreak but the key is to never give up because all it takes is one moment to make everything worth it. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else but this so I have no choice but to keep going. I also believe everyone’s timeline is different and if you learn to follow your heart, trust that the universe has got your back then you will be rewarded when your time it right.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I have my hands in a lot of different ventures because its all very much a part of myself, I throw a giant Toys for Tots charity event every holiday season, I do local theater, I collect and curate Vintage Clothes that I am about to start selling online, but I am primarily a recording artist and live performer.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The entertainment business as a whole has changed tremendously over the last ten years since I moved here and is changing everyday, some things for the better some worse but what I love is that there is so much more power for independent artists to control their careers and have access to their fans. The internet, social media has opened so many doors. To be honest, it all terrifies me sometimes because I can be a bit of a private person but I am extremely grateful for the access it gives me to connect to people who appreciate my art.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.imthekatie.com
- Email: imthekatie@gmail.com
- Instagram: @imthekatie
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/imthekatie
- Twitter: @imthekatie
Image Credit:
Bryan Carpender, Connor Bowman, Jorge Barragan, Abigail Collins, Claire Lehey
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