Carolynne Poole Interview

Attachment 3511

If anyone personifies the adage that if at first you don't succeed, then try and try again, it is Carolynne Poole. The Yorkshire singer has lived music since her early teens and beyond and has been on a learning curve of a journey ever since.

Frustrated as a session singer in London at the age of 17, she moved to Scandinavia to work as part of song writing team, before appearing on the second season of Fame Academy in 2003. She then tried The X Factor, making it through to the judges' houses section before being given that awful rejection. Undeterred she returned a year later (2012) and this time made it through to the live finals. But Carolynne's dreams of making it deep into December were dashed when she was voted out after the first live week.

You would expect such a tough experience to have dampened Carolynne's enthusiasm for music, but quite the opposite. When we meet at an exclusive London club deep in Soho, she is excited and enthusiastic, not just about her new record, but also the experiences and disappointments that have gone before. After a day of interviews, she is warm and welcoming, despite many hours of similar questions and is honest in her assessment of her talent show appearances.

"I first moved to London when I was 17, and was a session singer. But nobody was into country music - which is what I wanted to do. So I moved to Sweden to work as a song writer. When I came back and it was suggested I do Fame Academy, I said no. I guess I wanted to be cooler than that, I wanted to be a credible artist. But as I got older I thought, I want a piece of that pie. The music industry is changing, and the way you get success is changing. I decided I wasn't going to be that person sat at home saying I was too cool for these kind of shows. And it worked for me. I didn't worry about my image and if they thought I was cheesy, because I am cheesy! The thing is, even though I only made it through to the first live show of The X Factor, it gave me great exposure. I could never get that kind of attention singing country music any other way".

And it is this love of country music that has always been the driving factor for Carolynne. Buoyed by the success of The Shires and Ward Thomas, the team behind Carolynne think now is the time to strike. Never before has a British band had as much success doing country music as The Shires.

"I'm delighted for them. Before now, all the artists that I have liked - those performing country music - have of course been American. I'm patriotic. I want British bands to be able to do it, there is no reason why not. We have a funny view of country music in the UK. People often call it County & Western, songs like Cotton Eye Joe or songs by Dolly Parton. The wrong kind of image. So many songs come from country music and people don't realise it. Also, England is very cool, we like to be into cool things, and people assume country is cheesy. But people like Taylor Swift or even Miley Cyrus are making ti cooler. We need artists to make country music that UK fans can relate to. We don't have cowboys here, so some of the lyrics mean nothing. Now it's becoming a bit more pop - more mainstream - we can accept it".

So now is the time for the singer - now approaching her mid thirties - to make a move. You can certainly hear the country influence in her debut single I Love You But Shut Up, with its slide guitar, but as she herself warns, there is also a good helping of cheese. It is music to make you smile, no bad thing when the charts are littered with introspective male singers or rappers singing about "boobs and bums" as Carolynne puts it, with a giggle.

"I have always been song writing but I wanted a collection of songs for this album that fitted with the mood I wanted. I didn't want to write anything too sad, or include songs from when I was a teenager that were angsty. I really wanted this album to be fun, I didn't want it to be too dramatic. I wanted to catch my personality, a little bit cheeky, quirky, tongue in cheek - maybe a little bit risque."

Carolynne enthuses about her new album, getting more and more Yorkshire as she gets more animated. Strangely it appears that Americans get confused about her heritage.

"In Nashville, they thought I was Irish. But that's maybe because when I am there I start speaking quite posh. They don't hear the accent that much."

It's that time in Nashville though that has been a huge influence on this next step of her career. Having spent time in America, Carolynne says she has become aware of how determined you must be to get everything right.

"I just feel it helped me take aware the essence of a music city. They are very clinical about writing, making sure the radio pluggers are happy with the songs being produced. They talk about where the chorus must go and things like that. It's fine for Nashville, but not for me. I think it takes aware the creative spirit. They'll have songwriting workshops where they write twenty songs in two days. And I'm thinking, blimey they must all be crap. But it is a different way of doing it. So that side of it, the business, is less appealing, but the other side, that is more creative is cooler. I didn't want to make my first record there, as I would have felt I was being pushed in the wrong direction."

There is no doubt after half an hour with this sparky - stunning - singer that whatever direction she chooses will be the right one. Despite some knock backs over her career, Carolynne has a talent that should shine. Expect to see more of her over the coming months.