“I remember my mother buying a record, then sitting down next to the stereo with the liner notes in hand, and listening to the whole thing from start to finish, while marking her favourite tracks with a pen”، muses Australian born, Nashville-based Singer-Songwriter and instrumentalist Katie Cole.  Reading liner notes isn’t the only thing that Cole got from her mother.   “My mum was essentially raising my sister and I on her own.  She worked a lot of part time jobs to make ends meet, but she never complained, she just did what needed to be done to make sure we were all taken care of”, she says.  This lesson in sheer determination and persistence has been a motto of Cole’s throughout her journey from a working-class neighborhood in Melbourne, to her current spot as keys player for the Smashing Pumpkins recent arena tour. “I’ve always said, ‘You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it started’” , she laughs.  Cole’s grounded confidence and years of hard work, shine on her current solo EP Rivers & Roads.

Cole’s story is a unique one and involves some great luck and a whole lot of fearlessness.  As a kid, she loved to sing, and in her teenage years she taught herself piano and then guitar, studying everything from 80’s pop to Beethoven.  Around age 16 she started gigging, playing mostly covers gigs at bars and pubs across Australia.  As a band leader, her personnel options were limited, so she often found herself responsible for all the parts; teaching bass lines, making charts, and explaining harmony vocals, while relying completely on her ear for guidance.  She was always obsessed with records, and would study every person involved in a recording, from the musicians to the engineers, and especially the producers.  “I actually put a list of my dream producers on my website - it was just a pipe dream, you know, it said ‘by the way if anyone knows so-and-so, I’d really like to work with them”. 

As luck would have it, one of her top 3 dream producers, Howard Willing (Ok Go, Sheryl Crow, Glen Campbell) actually found the site, listened to her music, and invited her to come out to Los Angeles. “It’s something that doesn’t happen, but it happened to me!” she muses. Cole’s first ever trip to Los Angeles, paid for out of her own pocket, was the beginning of her American music career.  After a meeting with Willing, her plan was formed.  After months of work back in Australia, and a lot of money saved, she secured a Visa to live in the United States, and with a production deal signed, she picked up everything she knew and moved to Los Angeles.  With Willing, she created her first double EP, Lost Inside a Moment / Melodiem and then a full-length LP, Lay it All Down, which included the song “Penelope”, featuring Kris Kristofferson.  Both recordings gained some traction and radio play, especially in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 2, and led to high profile opening spots for Glen Campbell and the Smashing Pumpkins, a gig that would turn into years of touring work when Billy Corgan asked her to join the band on bass and vocals then later, on keys and guitar.

Cole’s sophomore offering, Things That Break, Part 1. Features rootsy instrumentation, weaving Americana moodiness with Cole’s own brand of soaring melodies. The resulting music is both personal and profound, akin to the storytelling of Patty Griffin or Lucinda Williams. In the Gospel-inspired song “Graceland”, she writes “It’s a long road I’m on to get me here / when all the lights have gone out but the stars / so I’ll follow them, wherever they lead me dear / far away, far away from your heart”.  Her emotive vocals ring clearly throughout the EP, from the heartfelt, acoustic “Time on My Hands” right through to the Lou Reed/ Nico-infused “All My Winters”. Next up was the acoustic-focused EP Rivers & Roads. “I wanted to get back to the song being the focus.” Says Cole. This was made in the midst of the covid pandemic. Katie explains “I was doing a lot of livestreams and connecting with people, so I wanted to create something more organic to mark the moment. Remind us, what matters most”. Cole back out on the road touring with the Smashing Pumpkins through much of 2023 and then 2024 marked a large-scale tour with Interpol in Europe and Green Day in America playing stadiums.

These seemingly dreamy opportunities have been anything but an easy road for Cole.  “My mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, then Breast Cancer, then later on it was Lung Cancer. I learned so much of who I am as a human from my mum, and being away from her has been awful,” she says.  “I know she’s happy that I’m over here pursuing a dream, but I would drop anything in a heartbeat to be where I need to be for her.” Her mother passed away in 2024 during a scheduled trip to Australia. Cole and her family were quick to plan a funeral then she would continue onto a stadium tour. “Life doesn’t wait for you” she remarks, “you just have to be prepared to start again at any given time. I’ve done that before a few times”. Cole continues to say “The world feels very different without my Mum in it, but I try to take her with me wherever I go in the world”.

Working with the Smashing Pumpkins, has afforded her a great opportunity to create BGV arrangements for albums including “Cyr”, “ATUM” and “Aghori Mhori Mei” Katie brings a softness and connectivity with her vocal offerings in this different landscape. Fresh off a recent European and American stadium tour with Green Day, playing to more than 800,000, Katie says “I’m ready for something new. I’m making a completely new type of album called Forest. This new album is slated to involve an orchestra and large-scale string and horn arrangements working with Nashville-based Tim Lauer. Howard Willing is set to produce and oversee it’s completion.

Despite the challenges that she has come up against, Cole has never fallen into the trap of making music solely for the purpose of commercial success.  “I really have had to give up a lot to get where I am”، she says.  "I just want to make music that makes me excited and proud, and if I'm being truthful in it that will make me really happy.  If I’m not doing that, with everything I’ve sacrificed, what would be the point?”.

Recently she has been selected to perform at Namm, Folk Alliance conference and an exclusive Spotlight showcase at SXSW hosted by Bluegrass Situation and Yamaha Guitars. Writing, Recording, Touring and in the Studio, Katie Cole is a force to be reckoned with. “Forest” is set to be released late 2025/ early 2026.