Singing with Katie C

On Wednesday afternoons in the sixth grade I would take voice lessons at Miss Heather’s house on the army base I lived on in Fort Shafter, Honolulu, Hawaii.

I can’t remember how I came to find Miss Heather but I do remember that every Wednesday, my lessons would start after my friend Katie C’s. Katie would be finishing her music when I would come in and I would listen to the last few bars she was singing.

Katie and I went to middle school together and in addition to her being able to sing she also played the acoustic guitar and was an avid songwriter. She wrote our 8th grade graduation song, which I used to brag about to my friends all the time when they heard theirs on the radio.

“Oh, Green Day was your graduation song? My friend Katie WROTE ours, and it was really cool.”

Katie and I lost touch after my family and I moved back to the mainland, but through the power of social media I was able to reconnect with her over the past few years. I learned she had two young girls, and to my pride was still singing and writing songs.

Katie and I met up in a cafe in Brooklyn right before I gave birth to Ginny. She told me all about her motherhood experience, and we stayed connected after that. I love following her artistic journey as a fulltime mom, and am constantly inspired by her music and her voice- which somehow has the power to transport me back to my 7th grade self in one note.

Last winter, Katie reached out to me about helping her produce a new music video for her song “Lullaby”. I loved the idea and we got to work right away. Katie casted two of her friends to help her tell the story of “Lullaby” and she and I put together a shot-list for each supporting character who then shot their scenes on their iPhones in the middle of the pandemic. I had the pleasure of editing the video and adding in the motion graphics, and after a few months of coordinating the music video was complete.

You can watch “Lullaby” here.

And be sure to check out Katie’s new album “The Water Comes Back” coming out Oct 22nd which she wrote, produced, and recorded with the help of her favorite band from childhood, Jars of Clay.

And be sure to tell me what you think of the music video!

Sending all my love,

Erin

filmmakingErin Bagwell