Katie Curley Big Colored Lights: A Holiday EP with Heart and Grit

Let’s cut the ribbon on the holiday cheer and rip open the wrapping paper. Because Katie Curley is here to remind us that Christmas isn’t all mistletoe and sleigh bells. In a city where the idea of country feels about as foreign as snow in July, Curley’s holiday EP Big Colored Lights (dropping November 15, 2024) peels back the tinsel to reveal something raw, real, and unapologetically introspective. It’s Christmas, but not like you’ve heard it before.

In Brooklyn’s Cowboy Technical Services studio, Curley teamed up with producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel. The wizard behind sounds for legends like Sarah Borges and Bottle Rockets. Together, they’ve distilled Curley’s unique country-meets-therapy style into a seven-track EP. One that skips the clichés and heads straight for the heart. And don’t think this is your grandma’s holiday playlist. Curley is the type to spike the eggnog with bourbon and tell you the brutal, beautiful truth about family drama. About childhood scars, and the ghosts of Christmases past.

Katie Curley Big Colored Lights Heads Straight For The Heart

Take Christmastime Therapy, the EP’s gritty opening number that cuts deeper than a sarcastic toast over the holiday ham. Curley doesn’t shy away from putting it all on the table with lyrics like, Thanks to you and Daddy / I’ve got a lifetime supply / Of heart-breaking stories. It’s a shot of straight honesty, made richer by Rod Hohl’s harmony and Rob Clores’ piano. An arrangement so honest it practically dares you to confront your own family’s dysfunction over the Christmas roast. And when Closing in on December rolls in, it’s pedal steel legend Mark Spencer (of Son Volt fame) who makes it soar. Harmonies by Mary Lee Kortes and Ambel push this track over the top. Is what Curley calls almost too much, it’s so good. She’s not wrong.

Curley’s own journey to this point wasn’t a stroll down Nashville’s Broadway. Born under California’s Mojave Desert skies and raised in Washington State’s rugged countryside, her first love was classical harp, of all things. But a heart-wrenching breakup and a chance encounter with Finding Her Voice: The Saga of Women in Country Music at the Seattle Public Library set her on a new path. She found her musical voice in the grit and guts of country, bringing her harp background and a truckload of perspective into the genre.

Katie Curley – A Wizard Behind Big Colored Lights

Each track on Big Colored Lights is a postcard from Curley’s past. Stamped with bittersweet memories and edged in holiday lights. The title track, Big Colored Lights, takes us back to her grandfather’s holiday setups in the Washington woods, a scene painted with warmth and a touch of melancholy. Then there’s Shotgun Wedding in Bethlehem, where Curley spins the nativity story like you’ve never heard it before. A brilliant blend of gospel harmonies, Drina Seay’s angelic backing vocals, and a tongue-in-cheek nod to the holiday’s most famous couple. She wraps it all up with New Year’s Too, a finale that feels like a New Year’s Eve toast with a hint of goodbye, featuring powerhouse vocalist Lizzie Edwards and Clores’ haunting organ. Curley calls this track her standout single, and it’s hard to argue. This is the one you’ll keep playing well after the Christmas lights come down.

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And as if that weren’t enough, the EP also marks a turning point for Curley herself. Her parents are trading in the rainy woods of Washington State for sunny Spain. Which means this year, those hometown holidays are now just memories. And this record is her way of bottling them up for the future.

Katie Curley Big Colored Lights On Studio And School

When she’s not in the studio, Curley’s an elementary school teacher. “I go into work with the explicit intention of helping the kids I teach keep their little lights shining,” she says. “Which means I have to try to keep mine from being snuffed out too.” It’s no wonder she can spin Christmas tunes into something that’s part holiday cheer, part therapy session.

So, let’s skip the saccharine holiday jingles and raise a glass (or a shot glass) to Curley’s Big Colored Lights, dropping November 15, 2024. It’s the Christmas album you didn’t know you needed, one with enough grit to go toe-to-toe with your own family drama and enough heart to keep you coming back, year after year.