Kate Bollinger Shares New Single “Shadows” & Announces Tour With Real Estate

Photo Credit: CJ Harvey (download hi-res)

Plus Upcoming Shows with Faye Webster, Jeff Tweedy, Overcoats & More 

Early Praise for Kate Bollinger:

“The emerging Charlottesville, Va. singer-songwriter Kate Bollinger is an architect of chill vibes.” – The New York Times

“Kate Bollinger writes smart, melodic indie pop music. It makes for easy listening, but there’s real insight in her lyrics. Dig deeper and you’ll discover a thoughtful songwriter coming into her own.” – NPR Music

“‘Feel Like Doing Nothing’ is a whimsical track that showcases both the pop sensibilities and jazz flair that defines her music” – GRAMMY.com 

“[Kate Bollinger] makes languid, indistinct pop songs…[‘Grey Skies’] is pillowy and alluring” – Stereogum

“A little closer to jazz-pop side of indie rock this time, the single is a quiet ode to procrastination — a little more anxious than its melodies suggest.” – The FADER

“The title of Kate Bollinger’s forthcoming EP — “A word becomes a sound” — is quite telling as Bollinger has a prowess for nuanced lyrics and earworm melodies.” – KCRW

“On [‘A word becomes a sound’], the Charlottesville, Virginia singer feels like a blast from the past at the same time as something uniquely modern.” – Uproxx

Richmond, VA-based artist Kate Bollinger returns with her first song since the release of her 2020 EP, A word becomes a sound. Forced to finish her last EP in lockdown, Bollinger excitedly returned to sessions in the spring of 2021 to explore a new batch of songs, the first of which to emerge is “Shadows,” written by Kate with her longtime collaborator John Trainum and guitarist Chris Lewis. Warm and languid melodies mingle with pointed lyrics; there’s an air of mischief sweetened by a surreal, fish-eyed video directed by Bollinger’s childhood friend, Kia Wassenaar. “Maybe the last year made me want to hide a little,” says Bollinger, referring to the song’s abstract nature. “I made this song with two close friends of mine in our month-to-month storage space during a time when many things in my life were shifting. It was a complicated time with lots of conflicting feelings, which I think can be felt in the song.” Her verses and chorus bounce along stuttered percussion; augmented with swirling flourishes, the arrangement is as much ‘60s psychedelia as it is beat-infused contemporary pop. Listen to the track and watch the video now HERE

WATCH THE “SHADOWS” VIDEO

Today Kate also announces an upcoming tour with Real Estate, starting this Fall. These dates are in addition to her upcoming shows with the likes of Faye Webster, Jeff Tweedy, Annie Blackman, Overcoats, and more. See below to find a show near you, and get your tickets HERE.

Tour Dates

09/29/21 – NY, NY – Mercury Lounge – w/ Annie Blackman

09/30/21 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Made – w/ Jeff Tweedy – SOLD OUT

10/01/21 – Washington, DC – Black Cat – w/ Overcoats

11/03/21 – Buffalo, NY – Asbury Hall at Babeville – w/ Real Estate

11/04/21 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom – w/ Real Estate

11/05/21 – Ferndale, MI – Loving Touch – w/ Real Estate

11/06/21 – Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme – w/ Real Estate

11/07/21 – Madison, WI – High Noon – w/ Real Estate

11/09/21 – Bloomington, IL – Castle Theatre – w/ Real Estate

11/10/21 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue – w/ Real Estate

11/11/21 – Louisville, KY – Zanzibar – w/ Real Estate

11/12/21 – Lexington, KY – The Burl (Outdoors) – w/ Real Estate

11/13/21 – Columbus, OH – Skully’s Music Diner – w/ Real Estate

11/14/21 – Pittsburgh, PA  – Thunderbird Music Hall – w/ Real Estate

11/16/21 – New Haven, CT – Space Ballroom – w/ Real Estate

11/17/21 – Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace – w/ Real Estate

11/18/21 – Holyoke, MA – Gateway City Arts – w/ Real Estate

11/19/21 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios- w/ Real Estate – SOLD OUT

02/01/22 – Birmingham AL – Saturn – w/ Faye Webster

02/03/22 – Dallas, TX – Trees – w/ Faye Webster

02/04/22 – Austin, TX – The Parish – w/ Faye Webster

02/05/22 – Houston, TX – White Oak – w/ Faye Webster – SOLD OUT

02/07/22 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent –  w/ Faye Webster

02/08/22 – San Diego, CA – Casbah –  w/ Faye Webster

02/10/22 – Los Angeles, CA – Fonda – w/ Faye Webster

02/11/22 – Oakland, CA – New Parish  – w/ Faye Webster – SOLD OUT

02/13/22 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom – w/ Faye Webster

02/14/22 – Seattle, WA – Neumos – w/ Faye Webster – SOLD OUT

02/15/22 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore – w/ Faye Webster

02/19/22 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown – w/ Faye Webster

02/21/22 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line – w/ Faye Webster

02/24/22 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe – w/ Faye Webster

02/25/22 – Montreal, QC – Petit Campus – w/ Faye Webster

03/01/22 – NYC – Webster Hall – w/ Faye Webster

03/03/22 – Charlottesville, VA – The Jefferson Theater – w/ Faye Webster

03/04/22 – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle – w/ Faye Webster

Kate Bollinger’s songs tend to linger well beyond their run times, filling the negative space of ordinary days with charming melodies and smart phrasings. She writes them at home in Richmond, Virginia, letting her subconscious lead sessions on guitar, an open-ended exercise she likens to dreaming. From a chord progression appears a line, maybe a syllable will start to stick, enough to pursue, but she says sometimes they don’t even feel like hers, these words, more like shapes that form in the mind’s sky. While many are personal and deal with the emotions that surface with finding her place in the world, she’d prefer they be whatever you’d like them to be, to connect with listeners in their own way. Bollinger’s musical universe is relaxed, tender, and unassuming; within lives a timeless sensibility, a songwriter’s knack for noticing the little things and their counterpoints. Darkness and light, pain and pleasure, reality and escape. 

Her project is collaborative; she shoots music videos with her friends and colors each of her folk-pop songs with her band. An agile group of players with backgrounds in jazz, they recorded her first EP, I Don’t Wanna Lose, as live takes in a single day, then slowed it down to build out her 2020 EP, A word becomes a sound. Bollinger sings fast at times; she jokes that can get her into trouble when it comes to playing live, “some of these songs are going to be a mouthful.” She’s always been drawn to singers in that free-flowing style and got into the habit of writing quickly while watching her longtime collaborator John Trainum work with rappers in the studio. 

Shadows” is the first taste of more to come from Kate Bollinger soon.