Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Appleton
Hi Amber , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I (Amber) have played live shows and written songs for more than half of my life, but that was in my hometown, Bakersfield, CA. I moved to ATX in August of 2022 a few months after meeting my now partner, Aaron in April of that year on a trip to visit my best friend. It’s pretty crazy having lived in Bakersfield nearly my whole life, but the music scene was a bit too small and it was the right time, so I made the leap. After being in the city about a year and getting a little more integrated into the music scene here, I decided to start a band. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted, but knew I was writing more indie rock stuff and thought that genre would be fun. I joined some music forums on Facebook and put out some feelers about starting a group. I really wanted to find some gals to play with, but at first the interest mostly came from guy musicians around town. I made a couple attempts to start projects that didn’t quite pan out until I decided to try one last ad. By this time, I had recruited Aaron into my plan as the drummer for my new project and set out to find the rest of what is now the CorMae family.
In late January of 2024, I got quite a few responses from some really cool girls. I was super excited because I had been wanting to work with femme musicians again since my old band, Delphinium (Bakersfield) broke up. I was set to meet up with two girls that happened to know each other already (Brianna and Katya) to play bass and lead guitar. The idea was I’d play rhythm guitar and sing lead. Brianna ended up really loving playing drums in her other group, Keepsake, which Katya also was in, so she decided not to meet up, but around that same time, Tessa messaged me. She already played lead in a couple bands and was trying to get her own project (TC Jester) off the ground, but she was up for the challenge! Around the same time, I got a message from Maria who sent me a couple vids of her pretty voice and was really excited to play rhythm in her first live group.
Soon after, Maria, Tessa, Katya, and I got together. They had all studied the demos I sent them and we played together. It went really well and our personalities meshed too, so soon after I integrated Aaron into the mix. We were asked about a month into practicing to play our first show by a random band, j’cuuzi, (who we all now obviously love) and jumped at the challenge to play our first show in April 2024. The show went so well! The next few months ended up stacked with shows, especially June where we wound up having about 6 shows.
In August of 2024, we recorded our first 6 songs with Jonas Wilson from Mr. Pink Records. Since October, we have released a song a month on all platforms and our full EP, including a bonus live track, will be released on 10-inch and everywhere online 4/18/25.
After recording, we got news from Katya that she was feeling the urge to focus on her art with Keepsake. We were sad to see her go, but still love her band and we go to each other’s shows. As you can imagine, it wasn’t easy to replace Katya, but I had already been in chats with Cait from Flags who I had spied at sxsw earlier in the year about taking over guitar for me full time. Cait had already agreed to start integrating into this new spot, but when the opportunity to play bass came up, she was giddy, so of course we offered that spot to the badass. Cait has been playing bass with us since September 2024 and we love her so.
After Cait got integrated, I was still feeling the need to be able to fully connect with the audience and step off guitar for our whole set. I bounced around ideas with the gals/guy and ultimately decided to see if this girl, Camille, would be interested. Camille plays rhythm and is the lead singer for Paper Sister, another awesome local group. She had come up to me during a show and told me she liked our music, so I figured, wouldn’t hurt to ask. So I did. And guess what? Camille is now our 6th member and has been a part of the band since late December of 2024.
Our band writes songs about first-world problems, life, love, and frustrations. As you can imagine, our newer material is leaning more into the frustrations. We are super excited to share a couple of new tunes live during our March shows – 3/7 at 21st St. Coop, 3/9 at Hotel Vegas, 3/11 at Hotel Vegas, 3/14 at Full Circle Bar, and 3/28 at New Guild Coop. We are celebrating our EP release 4/19 at 13th Floor. We are seeing local and state tours on the horizon in the next year or so.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, haha. It’s not super easy to break into the music scene and be noticed by all the venues and bookers. There are so many great groups here and there is a show on every corner every day, so competition is stiff. It’s also hard to split attendance with fans who love more than one band, and also to deal with Austin’s sometimes unpredictably extreme weather. It’s also quite difficult because there is just…so much out there on streaming platforms, on social media. We are still figuring out all the pieces to the puzzle, but are enjoying the ride along the way.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Our band writes songs about first-world problems and issues. Our mission is to create an environment that is inclusive for our fans and that they remember later, without necessarily pulling out too many gimmicks (although those are also fun). We want people to be a part of a movement, to hold each other up, cuss at the sky together, love each other, and stand together in solidarity. Tell the truth. Be their truth. That’s the big picture. We love our shows where we are able to really connect on an individual level. I think that sets us apart a little from some of the other acts out there.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I know we must seem very kewl, lol, but we are all just a bunch of silly goosies at heart.
Pricing:
- We have merch up on Bandcamp. Our latest 7” is $20.
- Our newest tee shirt is $25
- Please stream our music for FREE
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cormae_band
- Bandcamp: http://cormae.bandcamp.com/
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4D5AqxIGoCoCHMB0IfAkWx
Image Credits
Miriam Rice
Rafael Umscheid
Steve Hughes
