COVER SERIES ALSO PAYS TRIBUTE TO COURTNEY BARNETT, BRANDI CARILE AND INDIGO GIRLS

PRUITT RECEIVES NOMINATION FOR EMERGING ACT OF THE YEAR FROM THE AMERICANA MUSIC ASSOCIATION

Toronto, ON – June 18, 2020 – Though Pride festivals around the world have been cancelled this year, it was keenly important to Nashville based singer, songwriter, and musician, Katie Pruitt, to celebrate Pride Month by paying tribute to women artists who inspire her. “To me, Pride Month is all about celebrating self-love,” she explains. “This year, we might not have the parties or parades, but it’s never really been about that. ‘Pride’ is a feeling that we find within ourselves. It’s a sigh of relief that we don’t have to hide anymore or alter our personality or preferences in order to make a Cisgender society more comfortable. So, when straight people ask, ‘Why don’t we have straight pride?’ I always respond with, ‘because society never told you to be ashamed.’”

Pruitt is commemorating this year’s Pride Month with a series of recordings of songs by artists she has long admired, which will be released weekly starting today through Thursday, July 9. “I picked a collection of songs by gay women in particular who have inspired me to be transparent in my music.” She reflects, “I think representation is huge. Having my experience represented in certain bands’/artists’ music has helped me to better understand myself. If it weren’t for people like Indigo Girls, Brandi Carlile, Courtney Barnett, and Tegan and Sara, I don’t think I would have been brave enough to be as honest as I was on Expectations.”

Today, Pruitt is sharing a special performance of Georgia that features accompaniment by Laura Epling (Violin 1) Maggie Chaffee (Cello), and Jake Tudor (Violin 2). The song, which appears on Pruitt’s acclaimed debut album Expectations, touches on the struggle to come to terms with one’s sexuality, though it’s likely to resonate deeply with anyone reckoning with issues of self-doubt and identity. Watch Georgia here.

Oh, 'cause I told the world
And they still saw me as the same girl
They listen to my songs
And they made me feel like I belong
Yeah, they make me feel like I belong
Oh, Georgia...
You were wrong

Pruitt’s debut album Expectations has received widespread critical praise. Rolling Stone proclaimed it a “majestic LP that blends country and folk with indie rock,” while New Now Next called her “country music’s next queer star.” NPR Music called the album “stunning…her voice in particular…radiates so much empathy and love and understanding,” and as NPR’s flagship program Morning Edition noted, “She was bent on telling the story of how she confronted the social and religious codes that once made her feel condemned. Pruitt's done that with such clarity of expression and disarming intimacy – Expectations is aesthetically warmhearted even in its tensest moments of confrontation – that she's given her own family a greater understanding of her experience.”

This week, the Americana Music Association announced its nominees for the annual Honors and Awards, and Pruitt received a nod in the Emerging Act of the Year category.

Check out Katie Pruitt's A Very Gay Playlist on Spotify. 

Katie Pruitt Out of the Closet Cover Series:
June 18 Walking With a Ghost (Tegan and Sara)
June 25 Closer to Fine (Indigo Girls)
July 2 Depreston (Courtney Barnett)
July 9 Turpentine (Brandi Carlile

www.katiepruitt.com