With Matt Rose from The Matinée on guitar, Brandi Sidoryk from Sidney York on bass and Luke Cyca from Sidney York/Beekeeper on Drums!

Thank you to Cendrine and Examiner.com for listing me on their list of Best Independent Artists of 2011!  You can read the full article right HERE.

A big THANK YOU to Airdrie Echo for picking me at #4 on their list of:

Top 5 Entertainment Acts Of The Year!

Love you, my hometown!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

image credit

Merry Christmas everyone!

CD REVIEW: Pony Up by Katie Rox
Cendrine Marrouat, Canada Independent Artist Examiner
December 14th, 2011

Country music is a genre which I listen to quite rarely. The reason is that, more often than not, I find myself focusing on the rehashed tunes and the clichéd lyrics, and I end up complaining about the complete lack of creativity.

Just when I thought I would never be able to change my mind about that particular genre, Katie Rox came along. She had me at “Now or Never,” made me tap my feet during “I Won’t,” forced my mind to wander on “Airplane.” And when the heartfelt ballad titled “Not a Day” was over, I had to play “Pony Up” again — and again and again…

Rox has a natural talent. And that talent pervades her entire latest album. Her angelic voice, combined with a light but catchy guitar playing create a sense of honesty and simplicity, while revealing a lot of maturity. A maturity that is clearly apparent on songs like “Leave Me Here” (where Rox sings with Simple Plan’s Sébastien Lefebvre) and “Overdose.”

Here we go friends! The Top 3 from the poetry contest! It ward hard to choose, all of the poems were as awesome as Christmas itself.

TOP 3

Feels like an overdose of love
All those snowflakes up above
Settle back. Look! up in the sky
An airplane is just passing by
Joy like this is hard to find
I’m gonna leave everything behind
Waste no minute, not a day
Merry Christmas. It’s all I can say
- Christina Sauprigl

‘Tis the season for long distance
There’s not a day where I won’t think of you
The one who’s so hard to find
The air so crisp, the smell of pine
All that’s missing is your hand in mine
Just got on that airplane, don’t waste more time
It’s now or never, don’t leave me here
Stay, it’s Christmas!
- Gabriella Albino

(this is just a portion of a longer poem)
Kids begin the task
Of writing letters again
And it’s there where they ask
For that bright and white plane

Parents go crazy
Buying hard to find things
Like a big plush daisy
Or every color rings

And I won’t talk about
The overdose of candy
Or when there’s a light-out
and they spike eggnog with brandy
……..
- May Ortiz

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Rudolph suffered an overdose just the other day
Now with Rudolph dead and reindeer being hard to find
To pull the bearded man’s sleigh
Santa an ingenious man replaced him with an airplane
I won’t ever deal with reindeer again
with my new mach 4 sled
- Aysha O’Brien
(thanks for making me roll on the floor laughing over this one, Aysha)

I’m not going to overdose on Christmas this year
I’m going to take an airplane and I won’t forget you dear
With bells and halls and wreaths and wraths, Christmas won’t leave me here this year
Not a day will go by without a Christmas cheer
so ring it clear, let me hear
But I won’t overdose on Christmas this year
- Nick Donald

(a portion of a longer poem)
It’s Christmas time for family and friends
Festivity could company, hope it never ends
Hope, Love, Peace and Joy in all our hearts abound
It’s not hard to find, around me friends surround

Now or never, there is only this moment
I won’t give it up, a Christmas statement
I need Auld Lang Syne, God please peace on earth
A stately place, the eve of the holy birth

Sing Jeruselem and Come All Ye Faithful
I love this life although it’s sometimes stressful
What treasures about beneath the Christmas tree
Let’s all find peace, let the world dance so free
….
- Robert Hampton

I am doing a Christmas Contest for the next 24 hours!

Write a short (or long) Christmas poem that contains 4 or more SONG TITLES from Pony Up!  Submit your poem on the contact page for your chance to win ONE custom made Katie Rox Christmas Card and ONE signed photo!

I will select 3 winners who will EACH win the prize!  Winners will be announced Monday morning.  Deadline for entries is tomorrow, Dec 10th at 10am.  Hurry, you have 24 hours!

Aloha!!

So excited to announce some VERY exciting gift giving from The Pony Express! You have 5 days to sign up to my mailing list, and one day a week from December 5th until the end of December I will be giving a CHRISTMAS PRESENT straight to your inbox! So sign up now and you’ll already receive the gift of a free download of “Airplane” (just look above this text and you’ll see where) and let the gift giving begin!

If you are already signed up, you don’t need to do anything!  Just wait for the gifts to come to you .  The first one will be delivered Monday December 5th.

“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing out loud for all to hear.” – Buddy the Elf

XO Katie