VH1's "You Oughta Know" franchise has been highlighting artists on the rise and serving as a "who's hot" barometer since 2005. This year, for the first time ever, they brought artists from the current roster and artists from past years together for a festival-style concert at New York's legendary Roseland Ballroom. VH1's resident music expert Jim Shearer hosted the event with other celebrity music lovers introducing their favorite artists. The concert featured performances by each artist as well as breathtaking collaborations and cover songs. The show, which will give an inside look into the personal lives of the artist as well as showcase their performance, premieres Thursday November 21 at 9 p.m. ET.
Music Times chatted with a few of the "You Oughta Know" artists on the red carpet before the show. Check out what they had to say, and make sure to watch them on November 21.
YOK ARTIST: Delta Rae
MEMBERS: Brittany Holljes, Elizabeth Hopkins, Grant Emerson, Mike McKee, Eric Holljes, Ian Holljes
BIO: Not your typical dynamic, Delta Rae features four lead singers and three siblings, hailing from North Carolina. Formed in 2009, the band released a self-titled EP in 2010 after a year of touring. They signed to Sire Records in 2012 and released their debut album, Carry Fire, that year. Their music is a blend of blues, rock, soul and folk with pop sensibility, which they describe as "Mumford and Sons meets Fleetwood Mac."
Speaking of Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham recently teamed up with the band for their single "If I Loved You." Up next for the sextet is the release of their upcoming EP Chasing Twisters, due out November 19.
MT: So this is not your first time on "You Oughta Know."
Brittany: We are "You Oughta Know" alums.
MT: What's it like being back?
Brittany: It's super fun. It's our first time really interacting with other "You Oughta Know" artists so that aspect is exciting and kind of puts in perspective... like everyone is doing such amazing stuff right now. VH1 really knows how to pick 'em. So it's fun to be around bands who are at the beginning of their career and whom we really admire.
MT: What do you think you've learned since you first started coming up and realized that you were going to be a band that was going to make it?
Brittany: Whew. I think one of the main things we've learned is how to never really be home because we are on tour so much. But that's a blast. First of all, we never set out to be like a local band. We always wanted to be known and to travel. We make music because we want people to hear the music and we just want to have as wide an audience as possible.
I think we've learned really the power of things like VH1's "You Oughta Know" family to make you a known commodity in the music world. People come up to us all the time and say, "I saw you on VH1, and now I'm here tonight at your show" or "and now I'm a huge fan." I think we learned about the magnitude of these opportunities. But also, that the world only picks up from there. You thought you were working hard as a baby band trying to get heard above the fray. But every rung of the latter requires and equal amount of work if not more.
MT: So this being, "You Oughta Know" What bands or artists you do you think we ought to know about who aren't here tonight?
Brittany: I would say that everybody needs to know about Jillette Johnson and The Wild Feathers. Those are absolute favorites of ours.
Watch their video for "If I Loved You" featuring Lindsey Buckingham here, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!
