Colorado-based sister duo Caitlin and Sidney Powell were raised in a mountain home in Colorado, with parents who encouraged singing around the dinner table, paired with an interest and seemingly effortless talent in learning new instruments, it was clear early on the two sisters were born to be musicians. Today, the pair is a force to be reckoned with in the world of music.
“I have a bit of an obsession when it comes to learning a new instrument,” says Sidney, the younger member of Facing West. “I can sit for hours watching videos of people playing various instruments, then I find myself searching for where to buy it. I just love the challenge of it all, and the success of writing a song with it.” To date, Caitlin and Sidney have mastered an impressive 16 instruments.
Using the Power of the Interwebz
Making a name for themselves via dynamic cover videos (the girls boast a collective social following of over 250,000, 3 million video views and almost 3 million streams on Spotify), Facing West continued discovering their style, eventually recording their own original material. They began making trips to Nashville, collaborating with producer and co-writer David Spencer who mentored the girls in the development of their sound. “Our songs are like an emotional diary,” says Sidney. “Most of our inspiration comes from something one of us is going through, a book we’ve read or a movie we’ve seen that we just connected with on an emotional level.”
Released in early 2017, “Lifeline” is an acoustic emotional exploration seeking to expose the need for everyone to find something to hold onto through life struggles.
They told us that, “Lifeline expresses the difficulty in only relying on yourself in difficult times…the necessity in finding purpose to hold on to in the midst of a storm, and the need to stay strong even when you feel far from secure.”
Being the musical wizards that these two are, they structured the production of the song to paralel the emotional ride of riding out those hard times. They said, “the song does not resolve on purpose as many people are in the midst of the battle, and need to know that the struggle is real and may take time but it is critical to remain focused on remaining strong.”
Amen to that.
(They’re endorsees of Kala Ukulele and apparently also casually epic at snowboarding?!? Love it.)
GGM: How has being a female artists affected your career?
“Generally people are surprised that we play instruments. WHAT! Why do people act surprised that women play instruments or know how to run DAWs. It’s not like you run a DAW or play an instrument with your … chromosomes ;)”
2018 is shaping up to be a huge year for these two. They just released Messed Up Masterpiece at the end of 2017, and it’s quickly gaining traction on YouTube & Spotify, but they also have four additional songs lined up to release in early 2018! They’ve been working with Double J out of London, UK to release a few inspirational cover songs, and they’re pursuing sync licensing opportunities as well.
Keep up with these chicks!
GGM: What’s your advice to anyone just getting started in music?
- “Get out there, get involved, upload content and get people to fall in love with your courage & passion
- Create fearlessly
- Learn all you can about recording music and expressing your own creative control
- Great things happen to those who work hard at things that they love
- Always be nice to the sound person”
“Create fearlessly”
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Facing West’s Girl Gang Picks
