Caroline Reese and the Drifting Fifth to Tour Back Home in Pennsylvania

Looking for something awesome to do this weekend- something with amazing music and talented people- look no further!

On Friday, April 1, at the The Other Farm Brewing Company Mason Porter will be playing with special guest Caroline Reese. $15 at the door, show starts at 8pm. 

128 E Philadelphia Ave, Boyertown, Pennsylvania 19512

Plus, I got to have an awesome Q&A with the talented Caroline! Caroline Reese is a songwriter from Reading, PA. 

Her music combines country, folk, and rock elements.. She has opened for Chris Stapleton, Ben Folds, Israel Nash, and John Hiatt.

Caroline and her band, the Drifting Fifth, have been featured as an emerging artist on Nashville's Music City Roots. The group’s EP “The Electric Year” was named Y102's 2014 album of the year. The band's next LP is due out later this year.

How she got into music is incremental, but she knows her talents and gift as a songwriter is where she is supposed to be. "being a songwriter feels right to me in every way - the performing, the creativity, being completely in control of my own career, booking shows and traveling," she says. 

"I am the child of two very independent people. They had me start taking music lessons, but aren't musical themselves. They always pursued their own dreams, and so later, as I got more and more serious about songwriting overtime, it felt natural to pursue my own goals. They expressed some concerns early on, but they see how happy I am when I perform and how driven I am."

"I started playing guitar around 15 because the piano wasn't portable. And genre is tricky, because I listen to a broad range of music that often doesn't include folk at all - but these are the songs that come out of me. Somewhere between country and rock and folk and Americana. 

I don't judge them too much - if I am excited about a song and the band is excited, we work on it - regardless of genre. But they seem to work well together under the Americana umbrella," Caroline explains. 

Caroline does all the songwriting, and the guys write their musical parts. "We practice until we feel that the message of the song is getting expressed in the right way - and that it feels fresh. And then we practice a lot more. Inspiration is weird! I am attracted to places and travel, and a lot of my songs have sad aspects to them. I don't tend to write when I'm super happy - it's more of a therapeutic thing for me," Caroline adds.

Caroline loves traveling and touring and being out on the road. "I love how narrowly I can focus during tours. We just drive, play, sleep. I leave my laptop at home, I can't do any other work except the task at hand. And the bonding with the band is so special to me. 

Traveling like that is definitely exhausting, and we stay at cheap gnarly hotels most of the time, but it's a very inspiring part of the songwriting work. I get very inspired by looking out of car windows into people's towns and lives.

Coming up, Caroline and the Drifting Fifth will be at Sands casino on April 9. 
Caroline will also be at the Taste of Kutztown event on June 11!

"We are schedule to perform locally right now for the most part - playing great shows like opening for Brandi Carlile at the Sands in Bethlehem April 9, playing the Wyebrook Music Festival April 30, and we have some great shows in Philly coming up. We will be traveling more and adding more shows once we finish recording our new album, sometime in the next month. That's the main focus right now," she says. 

"We'll be releasing a new album mid-2016, and releasing several singles before then. It's in a shapeshifting phase right now, but the songs are coming and sounding very cool. Pre-order information will go out on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/carolinereesemusic) and our website, www.carolinereesemusic.com when it's ready. Not for a few more months though!"

"And the best part about playing PA: I can sleep in my own bed at night! And rural PA is my favorite. I love learning about my home."

The band's music is great- it gets you in the feels (first time I've ever written that) and all songs tell a story that you want to be a part of. 

Follow this great talent on social media, and def see one of their gigs! @reeskay (Instagram) @reeskay10 (Twitter). Pictures herein courtesy of CarolineReeseMusic.com.