Caroline Kole didn’t just act her age, a typical 17 year old girl back in High School for her Senior Year after summer vacation, she sang songs that reflected her age. In a 45 minute, ten song set of sweet natured country pop at the Bitter End Wednesday evening, Caroline colored in the details of her life with a strong voice, a winning attitude and a three piece backing band who provided a rollicking good time swing to her songs.
This is very winning stuff.
Signed to Reba McIntyre’s label and managed by Narvel Blackstock of Starstruck Management Group (who also manage Reba, Blake Shelton, and Kelly Clarkson), Kole released her first EP Caroline Caroline in January and saw the single “Money To Me” (performed to great effect on Wednesday with the audience joining in on the “hey” hook ) currently # 3 on CMT’s video countdown, and fresh off a supporting slot on Reba’s last tour, Kole was making her headline in nyc debut. And it was a goodie.
At the Bitter End Kole seemed ready to break country big time though for the most part she wasn’t performing for her natural constituency; this is tailor made for her peers, the kid sisters of the girls who made Taylor Swift a star seven years ago. Like Taylor, Caroline doesn’t play at grown up, whether daydreaming about the guy she’s gonna marry, trying to get the attention of another fella, or, in a variant on Swift’s epic ” Our Song”, “Money For Me”where she goes blueberry picking with her guy, she is a typical teen with an atypical gift.
Although singing along to Katy Perry before the show, Kole isn’t a Perry either, she is the sort of performer parents would be very comfortable with their kids listening to. Pop music can be hyper-sexualized in 2014 and parents are still reeling from Hannah Montana, but Caroline has an aura of goodness about her. In the “Guy I’m Gonna Marry” she sings “the guy I’m gonna be with doesn’t have to be a genius but smart enough to know that Jesus is good to have around the house”. This isn’t a question of religion as such, but it is a question of a sort of well brought up girl, it suggests core values and those core values are something both children and their parents would love to see embraced in pop music. On stage this manifest itself with an easy grace and sense of place in the great scheme of thing : she shouts out her Daddy before dedicating “Moonshadow” to him cracking “I didn’t realize you were listening” before remembering Tampa’s big ol’ moon which seemed to follow them home. There was a hint of nostalgia in her voice, Kole moved with her family to Nashville from her home State Florida in 2011 after signing a licensing deal with SONY/ATV. Perhaps the slightest suggestion she realizes we grow up a little too quickly
It was one of two covers, the other being Ingrid Michaelson’s “The Way I Am” and both songs are perfect for her. Though Ingrid a little more what we’d expect. And listening to “The Way I Am” you might notice something else that is very obvious but worth repeating: Kole has a terrific voice. It has so much power and yet is so gentle at the same time. On “Mama’s Broken Heart” she attacks the hootenanny of a song with gusto and joy and on the very next song “Money To Me” she rocks the chorus with conviction. She can sing speak, she can shout, she can whisper, she can suggest intimacy with a guy and go down low and when she needs to she can belt it out.
As I said goodbye to her mother Marie who press listed me (Marie is a friend of my good friend Terry Salak -it was Terry who introduced me to the singer), I noticed Caroline hugging and talking to every audience member. Some day soon there will be too many people in the audience to meet them all but in the meanwhile appreciating your fans is a good habit to get into. One of many good habits Caroline exhibited at the Bitter End last night.
Grade: A
