Since making their UK debut at C2C in 2023, Tigirlily Gold have had a whirlwind of a year.
After the success of single ‘Shoot Tequila’, they released their EP ‘Blonde’ last June alongside being on the road and working on new music. Last month they returned to the UK to play at C2C again, this time taking the step up from pop ups to performing on the Spotlight Stage in the O2 – a clear sign of how much UK fans have taken them to their hearts.
I spoke to Kendra and Krista whilst they were over here for C2C to chat about their experiences of the festival, latest single ‘I Tried A Ring On’, making their Grand Ole Opry debut, what the rest of 2024 looks like for them – and meeting the legend that is Dolly Parton…
Welcome back to the UK!
Both: Thank you!
Kendra: We’re glad to be back.
How have you found it being back over here?
Krista: Well we just flew in this morning…
Kendra: To London. We’ve been in the UK for a few days. We started out in Scotland, and last year we were only here for about 48 hours total. We barely made our gig, we were out right away, and so when we got booked for the festival this year we decided we wanted to spend some more time…
Krista: And enjoy it.
Kendra: …on the front end, on the back end. So we took a few days in Scotland to do some touristy things, and then we’re spending the day in London doing touristy things, and we’re also going to Paris after all of this. So it’s work and play this time.
What have the highlights so far been?
Krista: Well we went to Edinburgh…
Kendra: Which was very cute.
Krista: It was so beautiful. And I think tonight playing the O2 is going to be incredible. We got to play the Hydro [in Glasgow] last night and that was incredible too.
Kendra: I really think we’re gonna see the guard change at Buckingham Palace, and I think I can get the guards to break character [laughs]. It hasn’t been done before but I’m pretty sure I can do it [laughs].
And were there any standout moments from when you were here last year?
Kendra: I think we had no idea what to expect. Some of our artist friends had told us how amazing the fans were over here and we truly did believe them, but until we experienced it first hand… It was really the first time we had heard that many people sing ‘Shoot Tequila’ back to us was when we were in London. And to be, I think we were on the mall stage last year, I can’t remember what the name of the stage is, and then to be playing the O2 this year is just dreams come true. After the festival last year we had talked and we were like, “we wanna get back to the UK every single year”. That’s a priority for us. We love it over here, we love the people. They’ve wrapped their arms round us so kindly and we’re so grateful for that.
I know the last time I spoke to you both was when you were here for C2C last year. So what else has been going on since then?
Kendra: It’s been a crazy year.
Krista: Crazy. Basically toured all last year, ‘Shoot Tequila’ went top 40 at country radio, we released our ‘Blonde’ EP, made our Grand Ole Opry debut, played some awards shows back home. And we’re just so grateful to do all these things together that we’ve been wanting to check off our bucket list for so long.
Kendra: We got to meet Dolly Parton! [laughs]
So much to ask about but I’ll start with the ‘Blonde’ EP – how have you found the response to that?
Kendra: It’s been so much fun. The EP’s called ‘Blonde’ and it’s really just about embracing that fun, carefree, confident side of yourself but also being able to poke fun at yourself. We say it’s a Dolly Parton state of mind. You don’t have to be blonde to be blonde.
Krista: It’s girl group energy, for sure. We grew up on so many girl groups and there’s just something fun about an album where you can get ready to it, you can go out and have fun to it. You can still cry to it, you can go and cry in the club to it if you want to.
Kendra: And you can expect a continuation of that this year.
I also wanted to ask about ‘I Tried A Ring On’ which is your current single from the EP in the US, and I know you’ve just made a video for it as well – tell us about that…
Krista: Yeah, ‘I Tried A Ring On’ really comes from a place of frustration mostly. Yes it’s a heartbreak and a breakup song, but the end of the chorus says “I’m sure I’ll get over you being gone, I just feel stupid, I tried a ring on”. Which is so natural for people to picture their forever with somebody when they’re in a serious relationship. So I think it’s just whether you’ve been engaged, whether you were in a serious relationship, divorced, any of that, you tried a metaphorical ring on. And I’ve experienced that feeling and a lot of my friends have experienced that feeling, and it just sucks to go through. But I think there’s power in knowing that other people are also going through what you’re going through, and music can bring you all together. It’s good to know you’re not alone in that feeling.
What did you learn from the process of making the EP?
Kendra: Yeah, I think what we thought about a lot when we were creating the EP and picking the songs for it is we’re such a live focused band. And so all the songs, for the most part, have to translate to our live show in a great way. So obviously we have to love the song and believe in it first, and then it does have to translate to the live show for us. So moving forward, that’s something we’re always gonna be thinking about.
Krista: We love making a cohesive album and songs that don’t all sound the same but they go with the project, they go with the state of mind that it is.
Kendra: We like to have different vibes, different sounds, different concepts.
Was that something you found quite challenging in terms of deciding what songs to put on the EP?
Krista: Yeah, it’s hard to choose because we wrote so many songs for it. Like you have your favourites but then it comes down to what’s the best for the record. And some songs maybe we’ll get back to later in a future project.
Kendra: Maybe you’ll have two songs that you love but they’re just so similar that you kind of choose between one or the other, and so like Krista said that song is…
Krista: Maybe we’ll have vault tracks in the future [laughs]. Like Taylor Swift!
You’ve also mentioned making your Opry debut – how was that whole experience?
Kendra: It was a dream come true. We had been to the Opry, I think it was 10 years before we made our debut for the first time, and we sat way up high and just dreaming of maybe, maybe stepping onto that stage one day.
Krista: It was something that felt so far off, because we were so young, in high school, we hadn’t even moved to Nashville. But it just really was validation for us. It was an honour that all the work we put in has been recognised and we get to step into this circle that all of our heroes have played in.
Kendra: We’ve played it now several more times…
Krista: 10 times!
Yeah I was going to say, you’re like Opry veterans now…
Krista: [laughs] I wouldn’t say that!
Kendra: But we’re grateful that they’ve just opened their arms and welcomed us in. Because the Opry is a family, we’re a family band, and so we really feel that love there and that energy. And just to be a part of country music history is really, really cool.
How do you feel you’ve grown as live performers since the last time you were at C2C?
Krista: Yeah, I think we’ve definitely just got more comfortable as time’s gone on.
Kendra: And we really credit a lot of that – we toured before we moved to Nashville but we played on Broadway in Nashville three and a half years. We did four hour cover gigs. So just knowing when you walk inside a room, “hey, people are here, they just wanna have fun, this is for them. This isn’t for us.”
Krista: Give the audience your best and they’ll give it back to you. And yeah, we just get more comfortable over time. We don’t sweat the small stuff, we’re just there to do our best job and have fun. Because we enjoy performing the most. Out of everything in this career. I mean obviously we enjoy meeting people too but the performance, that’s what makes everything else worth it.
Kendra: When you’re on stage and you see people singing the songs, there’s nothing like it.
Krista: That’s why you do it.
Kendra: It’s just so electric.
Krista: Yeah, so if you can’t enjoy that what else are you gonna do?
Kendra: You gotta enjoy that!
I’ve also got to ask you both about getting to meet Dolly Parton…
Both: Yes!
Was that a proper ‘life goal unlocked’ moment?
Krista: Oh I blacked out [laughs].
Kendra: Completely unlocked. You know, Dolly has been a hero of ours for a long time. Just the ways she carries herself musically, and just in everything she does. She’s so witty and she’s just a trailblazer for us women in country music, just women in general. She’s a trailblazer.
Krista: And she’s such an icon. You think, “is she real, even?” [laughs] “Are we sure she’s not a made up amazing person?” But I can confirm she’s a real person.
Kendra: And she’s just as amazing as you think she’s gonna be. She really is. I don’t know if anyone would ever have a bad thing to say about her, ever. She was just so lovely.
Is there a song from your career you’re particularly proud of?
Kendra: I would say ‘I Tried A Ring On’ is a song we’re very, very proud of. It’s our current single and our new song at country radio. We wrote it a while back with two incredible other writers, Pete Good and Josh Jenkins. Krista already kind of touched on the story of the song but this song just means so much to us and we believe in it so much, and we’re just excited to see what it does. And really no matter what, at the end of the day we’re just really proud of that one.
What does the rest of the year look like for you at the moment?
Kendra: Yeah, so you can expect more music, more songs on the ‘Blonde’ project, it’s gonna turn into a full album which is exciting.
Krista: We haven’t really officially announced it but I’ve been saying in interviews, so it’s fine! [laughs]
Kendra: ‘I Tried A Ring On’ is part of that continuation, there’ll be more songs to come. Touring, a bunch. And we’re always surprised with what happens. We actually never know what’s gonna happen in a year.
Krista: Half the stuff that happened last year we found out about a week or two before [laughs] so next year when we talk at this time….
Kendra: When we figured out we were going to meet Dolly that happened about a week ahead of time.
Krista: Yeah, so when we know, we’ll let you know!
Kendra: Hopefully a headlining UK tour in the future…
I was going to ask if you had plans to come back after this visit…
Krista: Yeah, we don’t have any dates locked in yet but it’s definitely something that we wanna make a priority. And people over here treat us so well that we want to keep coming over here, and getting back to them.
