Katie Armiger In Dispute with Record Label / Locked Out of Social Network Accounts
Up-and-coming country artist Katie Armiger appears to be in a struggle with her label Cold River Records, and a struggle to be able to speak for herself. The 23-year-old originally from the Houston, TX suburb of Sugar Land is regularly named as one of country music’s rising female country stars, and her last album Fall Into Me from 2013 debuted at #7 on the Country Albums chart.
Right as Armiger was getting ready to release her fifth album through independent label Cold River Records, it was revealed on Wednesday (6-17) by label President Pete O’Heeron that Katie had decided to take a “breather” from country music to pursue her “next career aspirations.”
“It has been the thrill of a lifetime to work with her and watch her blossom into one of the best singer-songwriters of her generation,” the statement from Pete O’Heeron read. “Katie is a special talent and an even better person. As a label, we love her and support her decision and we will always be her biggest fans. To our radio partners, we thank each of you for your support and friendship through the years. We hope to have an opportunity to thank each of you in person and we will be in touch very soon. We will have more information in the coming days about the future of the label. We have no plans for a reduction in staff. For now, we are going to take a minute to reflect on our many friends and the tremendous support the country music community has given us.”
The news was originally reported by Country Aircheck, and then dutifully rebroadcast by Taste of Country and The Boot among others.
However, Katie Armiger herself is refuting the news that she’s moving on from country music, or at least she’s trying to. Apparently locked out of her Facebook and Twitter accounts, Katie made an Instagram post late Wednesday explaining that she was at odds with what Cold River Records is claiming.
“‘A breather? Quit country music? Leaving mt career behind?’ Not my words, and certainly not my intention,” the Instgram post reads. “I’ll be able to make an official statement soon..Love you all! Oh…and I no longer have access to my Twitter or FB accounts.”
The Instagram post was taken down, but Katie posted another shortly…that was taken down as well.
Meanwhile Katie Armiger’s Twitter account appears to have been deleted, and her Facebook makes no reference to the current drama.
Cold River Records has two artists—Katie Armiger and Neal McCoy. Armiger is the original artist for the label, releasing her debut, self-titled album through in August of 2007. Cold River boasts ten employees including multiple regional managers according to their Facebook page. They have no formal website.
Whether were seeing the implosion of Cold River Records, or the separating of ways for Cold River and Katie Armiger, it’s never good to see the words and intentions of artists being misrepresented, and their ability to speak to the public being stifled. It all underscores the difficulties the country music industry has attempting to launch sustainable careers for female country artists.
Stay tuned as we continue to attempt to sort out what is happening in the Katie Armiger / Cold River saga.
June 17, 2015 @ 10:27 pm
Anyone else automatically think it was Curb Records when they read the headline?
June 18, 2015 @ 7:07 am
yup lol
June 18, 2015 @ 5:02 pm
Yep
June 19, 2015 @ 6:51 pm
Me three. I had to google Katie to find out it was not. Now I’m wondering about Neal McCoy, too.
June 17, 2015 @ 10:48 pm
I know one thing about Katie Armiger–she’s awesome. I hope this doesn’t get too ugly.
June 17, 2015 @ 10:58 pm
Never heard of her , she’s a good singer but that is definitely not country. More of a pop/ punk pop singer.
June 18, 2015 @ 12:04 am
Uggggghhh, I don’t like the looks of this!
If anything, I’m admittedly shocked that Katie Armiger has even been able to cut and release as many records as she has without one hit single, let alone on the same label. Her first three albums didn’t even chart the Billboard 200, and yet she has gone on to have sixteen (!) music videos to her name to date.
Usually with a track record like Armiger’s, a label would toss you on the cold hard asphalt after three failed singles. So I have to say Armiger’s staying power has been one of the more interesting stories I’ve noticed as of late. I’m expecting Kelleigh Bannen to be dropped from EMI Nashville soon after a handful of failed singles of her own, but even she hasn’t been around nearly as long as Armiger on a label.
Still, while the writing had to have been on the wall, I do NOT approve of deceitful tactics like these supposed ones that are putting words into her mouth on her social media pages. If Cold River Records wants to oust her, they have every right to. Just be honest to her and say it straight.
June 18, 2015 @ 12:28 am
Noah, you echoed my thoughts exactly. I’m surprised that Katie has been given this much time to prove herself commercially. It sounds like she had many bites at the apple.
Trigger, I find it hard to believe that you’re describing someone who released her debut album in 2007 as an up and coming country artist. I know we want to hear more female talent on country radio, but we don’t need to be so desperate to fill a quota that we have to look to a second tier, me too artist who hasn’t made it in the music business after 8 years.
Katie tried to appeal to the young female demographic in 2007-2011, when Taylor Swift had sucked all the oxygen out of that room. The title of her 2010 release, “Confessions of a Nice Girl”, was so Taylor-esque that she came across as a clone. So I’m not at all surprised that she became one of the also-rans in the America’s Sweetheart pageant. In this case I think the market was efficient and consumers made the rational choice by not rewarding someone who didn’t bring much of anything new to the table. Sorry Katie, sometimes the truth hurts.
June 18, 2015 @ 12:45 am
Why should there be a time limitation on attaining commercial success? Traditionally, country singers used to reach their commercial peak in their mid-30s, often taking more than a decade under the same record label to get to that point. By contrast, Katie Armiger is being drummed out of the industry at the age of just 23.
Ultimately, this is a symptom of the music industry, much like most other industries, increasingly focusing on immediate profit rather than the long-term perspective.
June 18, 2015 @ 7:40 am
Willie Nelson didn’t break through with Red Headed Stranger until he was 42.
June 18, 2015 @ 8:06 am
I know Katie’s back story, but 23-years-old is very young. Most country careers used to not even start until that age or after. The Queen of Country Music Kitty Wells didn’t start playing country until she had two kids. I do think Armiger is up-and-coming. I do think she is an artist in development. Saying that she had her fair share of cracks doesn’t take into consideration the slanted system young female artists are working under these days. I understand there’s been a lot of effort put out, and from a mainstream perspective, that effort has failed. But basically taking away someone’s freedom of speech is the lowest of the low, no matter how bad some might consider her music, or what contract she signed. You cut an artist’s lips of, and you find yourself on the fighting side of me, and crossing the very principles this website was founded on.
June 18, 2015 @ 9:57 am
I agree that Armiger is still essentially an up-and-comer after eight years. You’re really not until either one of two things happen: 1) you get your breakout hit or 2) you achieve the sort of cult following that may not result in airplay but effectively shifts albums off of acclaim and word-of-mouth alone.
Armiger’s most recent album is also her only Billboard 200 entry, so a case can be made about her upward trajectory. Still, her career is consistent with the definition of an up-and-comer to this day.
That said, many labels don’t think like that now. They’re about instant gratification, and Cold River reflected this with the direction of Armiger’s several most recent singles. “Better In A Black Dress” was an egregious attempt to play to the trend that Kacey Musgraves has spoken of where the few prominent female artists in the early 00s were expected to be “badass” in their imaging, and “Playing With Fire” continued that. Then “One Night Between Friends” seemed like another trend-chasing song in the vein of Kelsea Ballerini “country”-pop.
I know Armiger is up-and-coming, and I agree this whole matter is heartaching, though I’m trying to see the issue from both sides. Because even being up-and-coming and only 23 years old, the fact remains she has been on a label for eight years and probably hasn’t produced the results they were hoping. I wish labels were focused more on the long-term development perspective myself, but that is more of a rarity now I believe.
June 18, 2015 @ 11:11 pm
Ok, I see what you’re saying. And in spite of her lackluster commercial performance, the timing of her separation with her label is slightly surprising. With Taylor Swift’s departure from country leaving a “blank space” for young female artists in Nashville, and Carrie Underwood taking a maternity break, I think it would have made sense for the label to let Katie’s new record run for a while before making a decision.
Nevertheless I think Katie would have been a long shot to fill Taylor’s role in Nashville even if the label had released her record, and Borchetta’s young duo Maddie and Tae probably has a better shot at capturing the teen market. I don’t really see another good fit in the genre for Katie. She can’t compete with Miranda in the “badass” category, she doesn’t fit the suburban Christian mom demographic as well as Carrie, and she wouldn’t appeal to traditionalists either. So I think it was likely that her career would have come to this crossroads in a year or two, if it had not happened now.
June 18, 2015 @ 5:40 am
Haha, Noah, my wife will interested to hear a Kelleigh Bannen reference. She’s been searching for a while for some song that Bannen performed on Hart of Dixie, and I don’t think it was ever released. I know nothing about label machinations, but it seems odd that you would get your artist on a network TV show and then never release the music.
June 19, 2015 @ 11:14 pm
I think she’s looking for the song “Sorry on the Rocks” which is a song with smart lyrics that Kelleigh wrote herself. It’s on Spotify but was apparently only marketed to secondary radio markets. On youtube videos you can hear songs Kelleigh’s written and they’re great. “Green” is about a woman being jealous at a wedding and “wearing green” and “Church Clothes” is about a couple on the edge of divorce but how you can’t tell from the outside when they’re in their church clothes. Apparently her label people or whoever thought she needed an uptempo song to break out on radio and have her releasing horrible pop songs that she didn’t write like famous, You are what you love, and recently Smoke When I drink, but radio has completely ignored the rock/pop songs and her new edgy persona. I really hope she gets to put out an album with her own songs though!
June 18, 2015 @ 10:32 am
I might be wrong on this, but isnt Katie Armiger’s father really well connected on Music Row? I thought I read a story when she first was breaking through where she basically admitted her father had a lot of connected friends which allowed her to have a record deal so young.
Obviously she is far from the only artist to have friends in high places, countless artists have been given bigger breaks, but it probably explains how the hell she can keep cranking out videos and singles that gain zero traction in either the mainstream or indie market.
June 18, 2015 @ 5:05 pm
Interesting
June 18, 2015 @ 12:28 am
And people, do not ever, Ever, EVER give anyone that much control over the shit that is YOUR identity! I don’t care if they offer a cazillion dollars in monopoly money, tell you it’s “standard protocol”, or whatever. The label should have NO access to your facebook, twitter, domain name, etc beyond auxiliary rights that YOU set and that YOU can take away. If they say they require that – tell them to go fuck themselves. It’s a guarantee they intend to screw you later – don’t fall for it. You need to already have that shit established years before you even learn to play a C7th chord, and never let go of it.
June 18, 2015 @ 12:57 am
Comments like this make me wish that the “like” button existed right now.
Bottom line: never let the professional invade the personal.
June 18, 2015 @ 6:30 am
Her label had better be careful…those accounts are her identity. If I were her, I would be going back through all of the FB posts and tweets that were posted on her behalf and ensure that they truly represented her. Identity theft is a pretty serious crime.
June 18, 2015 @ 8:10 am
This could be just as much a technical issue as a control issue. They could have had access to her social network properties from promotional purposes, which is a very common practice between labels and artists. Then they go in, change passwords, and next thing you know the artist is locked out. If they are verified accounts with the blue check (which they were), then there’s certain protections in place from the networks to ensure it is the actual individual being represented by the social feed. I agree that artists should make sure they stay in control of their Twitter/Facebook/Instagram, but Katie probably didn’t wake up yesterday expecting her label to print lies in the media, the media to run with them, and get locked out by the label she’s been with for going on a decade.
June 18, 2015 @ 11:59 pm
…and always wake up expecting your label to print lies in the media, the media to run with them, and to get locked out by the label you’ve been with for over a decade…
June 18, 2015 @ 12:37 am
“Cold River Records has two artists””Katie Armiger and Neal McCoy.”
As oppressive as big labels are, small labels can be worse in some ways. The small roster gives the executives an ability to exert more direct professional control over each individual artist, and when the business’s finances get tough, any given artist is statistically highly likely to be on the chopping block.
June 18, 2015 @ 5:13 am
My wife’s family owns a sound and stage business and recently ran sound for Katie Armiger at a gig here in Minnesota. Her brand of Country isnt my style, far, FAR too pop-Country, but she sang pretty well and was really nice. Hope this all works out for her.
June 18, 2015 @ 6:37 am
I’ve seen label websites that aren’t very pretty, in fact I’ve seen label websites that are downright ugly, but I don’t think I’ve come across a label with no website at all, at least not this millennium. Red flag right there.
June 18, 2015 @ 8:12 am
exactly. Their website is a Facebook page with 400 likes. I’ve actually seen that from some indie labels before, where they prefer to put the effort out on the artists websites instead of their own. But to have 10 employees and not even have a functioning website?
June 18, 2015 @ 7:44 am
Trigger see if you can reach out to her and have her write a letter on her behalf. You have enough of a following to be another form of social media. This isn’t ten years ago with only MySpace. It’s another outlet and has to be taken seriously.
June 18, 2015 @ 8:14 am
Yes, I’m willing to post anything and everything on Katie’s behalf, but I think we all have to understand this is a legal situation, and she’s got to make sure she says the right things or it will come back to bite her. This might take some time.
June 18, 2015 @ 7:49 am
Even in Nashville, the unknowns gotta have drama too.
June 18, 2015 @ 8:01 am
Between this, the work on Mikel Knight’s labor practices and the continuing story on Jon Hensley (which has, IMO been respectful and informative), SCM is really coming into its own as a source for actual real-deal journalism rather than plain old music blogging. Respect, Trigger.
June 18, 2015 @ 10:05 am
I really appreciate the words Seth.
I just want to say, these are not the type of stories I want to be covering. I am willing to cover them, and even more willing to cover them if nobody else is willing to. But covering all of these in-depth news stories is not a change in direction for Saving Country Music. This is simply the situation we’re in right now where one after another, we’re seeing stories of tragedy, of deception and injustice, and to a degree and frequency that I have never seen before since starting this website. The last few weeks have been absolutely insane, and that was before this Katie Armiger story, before Randy Howard got killed, and there’s two more crazy stories I’m working on as we speak. And that doesn’t count all the follow up I feel needs to be done on things such as the Mikel Knight story and others, and I just don’t have the time because someone else got killed under strange circumstances, or some other strange event happened.
The primary focus of this site has always been sharing music, but every morning I’m waking up, asking myself what is the most important story that needs to be covered, and I feel obligated to fans, family, and friends of some of these artists to cover stories such as this. I’m hoping we come out of this pattern of one tragic story after another because it is really starting to take a toll on my emotional equilibrium. But at the moment all I can do is keep my head down, and do the best I can to tell the most important story at that moment.
June 18, 2015 @ 3:04 pm
I’m sure you’d rather be reviewing records and writing about new bands, but I’m guessing a lot of reporters would rather not write about whatever new war is popping off. Actual nuts and bolts reporting on the behind the scenes stuff is greatly appreciated and something that’s really been lacking going all the way back to No Depression. As much as you probably don’t want to write about this sort of thing, I really appreciate the time and attention you pay to it because it fills in the bigger picture.
June 18, 2015 @ 3:07 pm
Thanks Seth.
June 18, 2015 @ 3:43 pm
Trigger,
I’d love to hear opinion on that Daryle Singletary song I wrote you about. That is, if you’ve had a chance to listen to it.
Heck, you could even be the first to review it.
June 18, 2015 @ 4:09 pm
Here’s a great Daryl Singletary song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX0pQ0QdUg8
June 18, 2015 @ 5:52 pm
Yes Eric; that is a great one. It was hit first big hit, back in ’95 if I remember correctly.
The song I’m speaking about is one that the world isn’t really aware of yet. Daryle was on the ‘Intimate Evening with Eddie Stubbs’ radio show back in 2013. While on the show, they played the demo recording of what’s supposed to be the title track and/or next single off Daryle’s upcoming album. Apparently, the album has been in the works for over 2 years now.
The title of the song is something along the lines of, “Might Be Too Late to Save The World (But Maybe We Can Still Save Country Music)”.
It’s a masterpiece in my opinion.
June 18, 2015 @ 5:39 pm
Yes, sorry Clint. Been absolutely flooded with emails and other tasks. I will get to it ASAP.
June 18, 2015 @ 6:24 pm
I think you are talking about “There’s Still A Little Country Left”. Here’s a live performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eea3-HbEMKw
Wow, this truly is a masterpiece. Beautiful, evocative lyrics that depict the richness and resilience of rural and small town culture, along with gorgeous music and a voice that’s still going strong after two decades.
Unfortunately, there is very little chance that “country” radio will play anything like this.
June 18, 2015 @ 6:31 pm
No, Eric.
I’m talking about the song that I said I was talking about.
If Trigger likes the song I’m talking about, as much as I like it, he’ll probably do a write-up on it.
I can tell you where you can hear it if you’re interested.
June 18, 2015 @ 10:14 am
I agree. Too many media outlets throw out whatever fact starved story they get just to get traffic. Then never bother to follow up or retract errors. This site gets the story, digs for the facts, is honest about what he doesn’t know and follows up with additional information and corrections, if needed, long after others have moved on.
June 18, 2015 @ 10:02 am
She needs a good lawyer to untangle this mess for her, and I think she has a pretty strong case. Whoever takes the case, though, shouldn’t expect to be paid for a while.
June 18, 2015 @ 10:08 am
Yeah, I’ve been following Kelleigh Bannen closely myself, mostly out of curiosity (I haven’t liked her overall direction with her past few singles) as to what will happen to her.
I do find it bizarre that she was just at the CMA Music Fest without any complementing announcement of a new single or anything. She even performed a slew of cuts that are supposedly on a forthcoming release including “Broken Record Hearted”, “Beer Down”, “1000 Days of Summer” and “Somebody’s Hometown”. But she also apparently was on hiatus from social media for a month between March and mid-April, as well as between early May and early June, and that’s usually indicative of behind-the-scenes changes in strategy.
I still remember first serendipitously coming across her four-track sampler on SoundCloud back in 2012, and I thought while what I heard wasn’t exactly pure country, I liked her mainstream approach well enough. “Rose Colored Glasses” was nice as was “I Wore Green”. Then when she released her debut single “Sorry on the Rocks”, and I liked that too. Sadly, “Famous” was a trainwreck, and it seems like they have no clue what to do with her since that desperate bid for mainstream attention failed.
June 18, 2015 @ 4:44 pm
I would like to see her break through I have two of her cd’s and both of them are good.
June 18, 2015 @ 6:07 pm
I’m surprised this is such a story because nobody gave a shit about Katie Armiger before. Hopefully this drama somehow leads to more exposure and success for her actual music because I have always thought that she is underrated and should be given a real shot.
June 18, 2015 @ 6:20 pm
I think any time someone’s freedom of speech is being impinged on (regardless of any contract stipulations), it’s imperative we all step up and make sure the voice is heard. I’m glad to see so many outlets see this as an important story.
June 19, 2015 @ 7:06 am
Jesse Keith Whitley posted a Facebook message today on her behalf that she definitely isn’t quitting. Check it out.
June 19, 2015 @ 12:46 pm
Taking such close and abusive control of an artist is something degenerate Mike Curb would do.