A RIDE ON THE YOLA COASTER

NOBODY KNOWS WHAT TO EXPECT AT A YOLA SHOW. ESPECIALLY NOT HER.

Never before has country music enjoyed such a resurgence in the mainstream. Part of its recent squeeze back into the charts is thanks to an array of artists fusing their own unique sounds and styles into the genre – like Bristol singer-songwriter Yolanda Quartey, who takes a distincty twangy base and adds to it a full palate of tonal idiosyncrasies.

Better known simply as Yola, the genre-bending soul-soother had her big break come back in February with the release of her stunning debut album, Walk

ThroughFire. She’ll be taking it to the Byron Bay Bluesfest in 2020 – so, to kick the hype train into overdrive, we saught to give her a quick buzz.

For those of us who have never had the privilege of seeing you perform live, what can we expect to get out of your Bluesfest set?

I like to describe myself as genre-fluid [ laughs].

Because essentially, we have sounds of classic soul music, classic pop music, classic country music, and maybe a little bit of classic rock music in there. And those things; it’s not necessarily distinguishable which genre is prevailing in any one song. Some songs are a bit more straightforward, but there’s always a little bit of something else in there.

We have one song called “Faraway Look” which is perfect for that classic pop sound, but there’s also a tiny bit of soul in there. And then some of the more country-oriented songs like “It Ain’t Easier”, you might get a tinge of soul or pop in there as well. I’m always in the middle of a group of genres, and that’s definitely something I pride myself on.

I love being taken on a journey at a show, where you have no idea what’s coming next.

Yes! There are certainly times when you go to a show, and by the third song, you feel like you know everything you’re going to get. And you have to make a decision with yourself to commit to the predictability of the set. You have to come to terms with the fact that, “Now this is going to happen, and now this is going to happen.” I certainly operate within a range – it’s not like I’m going to come out and start rapping – but not necessarily such a narrow range as one genre.

It gives the crowd a chance to explore all the different things about yourself and your creativity. Because you think about your own record collection: it’s not like your record collection is just one genre, right? If you like country music, you might like blues music, folk, soul music, Americana… And so the idea is to exist within certain areas and explore the meeting points between those areas.

You recorded your album in Nashville, the bonafide home of country-rock. Was it important for you to make the trek over there give it some of that Southern authenticity?

Not really, because I’d been exposed to a lot of country music in the UK since around 2004. I didn’t feel the need to imitate the aesthetic behind the sound, because I didn’t relate to it – in the same way that Eminem didn’t necessarily grow up with hip-hop in a lifestyle fashion; there’s a difference between listening to an artist and then being in the environment where those sounds rose up.

The great thing about country music – and maybe the difference between it and other genres – is that as much as it can be about coming from rural areas in America, it’s also designed to be outreaching. Which is crazy when you think about it, because every time we think of country music, we think of it being very specific to an area – the Southern states and the Midwest. But really, it’s the storytelling that makes it. You think about Dolly – she sold records

everywhere! She’s not a niche, unknown artist, just known in one part of America – she’s international.

And the consequence of selling records everywhere is that everyone gets into your music.

And this is something that people are being surprised by, but it’s like, “Well, if you sell records in Japan, guess what’s going to happen in Japan!” And so I grew up on Dolly, and other artists in and around the country genre – I don’t think necessarily pure country, though, which is probably why I don’t make pure country. You think about Elton John and the Honkey Château record – there’s a lot of country sounding stuff on that record, and that really spoke to me, listening to a fellow Brit explore those sounds.

What’s your go-to guitar right now?

At the moment, I’m playing a Fender Paramount. I’ve been looking for something that would be a good workhorse for gigs, that could take a beating in travelling, sound really even, and I suppose have a little bit of EQ control depending on what I’m playing. And that guitar has done a great job of doing all of that for me. The Paramount gives you the opportunity to dial in which frequencies you want and control your volume as you’re playing, because it’s all so close to you. That’s one thing that I found is really, really handy for me, is that ability to tailor myself to each song depending on what I’m playing.