Colbie Caillat is set to play the Malibu Inn next Friday
SOMEWHERE IN KENTUCKY It isn’t easy for a Malibu girl to be plucked from that oasis of sun and sand, then forced onto the road, with stops in every city from here to wherever. Adjusting to life on tour is an acquired taste that Malibu’s own Colbie Caillat is still sampling.
“Every city kind of looks the same after a while. I don’t really get a chance to stay in any one place for too long; it’s just straight from the tour bus to the venue and back to the hotel to start the whole process over again,” said Caillat from a hotel room somewhere in Kentucky. “I’m so excited to be finally coming home. I’m going to spend my entire off day with my sister in Santa Monica.”
A lot has changed for Caillat over the past year. She has gone from being an overnight sensation on MySpace to being the creator of the No. 5 spot on the current Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.
“It is all pretty amazing, kind of unbelievable,” she said during a phone interview on Thursday.
The song “Bubbly” has gone from Internet fame to top 40 radio in seemingly overnight. It seems the infectious tune is everywhere these days, something that is hard to get used to for this young singer/songwriter.
Caillat’s album “Coco” (Universal) is currently No. 16 in the country, after peaking at No. 5 soon after its midsummer release.
“I’m definitely surprised by it all and how fast it is all going,” the 21-year-old said. “The fact that I’m never home is a totally different experience. I come home one day a month, if I’m lucky. It is really fun because I get to travel all over the country, but sometimes I just want to hang out at home and relax with family and friends.”
She’ll get her wish along the sunny shores of Malibu next week, as Caillat prepares to play the Malibu Inn on Oct. 26. It will be the first time she plays the local haunt, but not the first time she’s passed through the doors of the classic night spot.
“I’m excited about finally being able to play there. I’ve seen other acts there like Steel Pulse, but it will definitely be different taking the stage,” Caillat said.
Stardom seems to be setting in slow with this talented youngster. She still has the attitude of a California girl who is just happy to be playing her music and seeing the world. The conceit other breakthrough artists sometimes develop after hitting the big time seems to have bypassed this Malibu product.
“The (California) lifestyle is totally one of my inspirations. That’s the lifestyle that I grew up living. I like the laid-back style and the sunny weather of Malibu. It will always be home,” she added.
This wild ride Caillat is currently on began in February 2006, when friends urged her to post her music on Myspace. She started out with just a handful of friends and is now up to 243,164. She used to keep up with all of the messages her page reeled in, but she says that there are just too many to respond to these days. She still updates her page regularly and will always be indebted to MySpace for helping her get her career off the ground.
The most ironic thing she has experienced during this whole process is that record executives at her label were insistent that she didn’t change her music before releasing it.
“They said it should stay the same because people were already connecting with it. There wasn’t any pressure to change anything. There were some things that I wanted to change, but they said ‘no way.’ The demos that I posted (on MySpace) we did in just one day. I didn’t get a chance to change some things that I really wanted to tinker with. It is funny the way it all worked out,” she said.
Caillat is currently working on some new material. She just wrote a new song she played for her band the other day. Once she feels comfortable with it she will begin performing the song along with other new material on the road before heading back into the studio to work on a follow up to “Coco.”
“I just want to keep writing songs and recording albums... maybe write songs for people, it’s a lot less hectic,” Caillat said. “I’ve written with people, but not for them. I’d really like to do that.”
Caillat will be performing at the Malibu Inn on Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. For more information, contact the venue at (310) 456-6060. The show marks the first time Caillat performs anywhere on the Westside.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 20, 2007. Read the original PDF.