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Olive Klug big bear photoshoot

Olive Klug photo by Bob Howard

Olive Klug photo by Bob Howard

Olive Klug Sisters Folk Festival 2023 photo by Bob Howard

09/30/2023

Social Media Sensation, Olive Klug - Coming of Age / Sisters Folk Festival

By BOB HOWARD // Day 2 Highlight - Olive Klug - Sisters Folk Festival 2023

Olive Klug, raised in Portland, graduated from Wilsonville High, has emerged as key player in a new wave of contemporary folk singers. Sisters welcomed them enthusiastically.  They are an independent singer/songwriter with a rare vocal gift. Olive (they/them) is known for their beautiful tone and vividly honest storytelling. Their music is rooted in the "Golden Age of American Folk Music," with a uniquely modern lyrical sensibility of their generation. Their songwriting is inspired icons that have come before them, including Joni Mitchel, Joan Baez and Taylor Swift. 

At a young age they embraced theater and dance and was inspired to write songs. Their songs embody the confidence and power of her performances. In today's set, they played the first song they wrote, "Spirit in Disguise," that they played at Artichoke Music 10 years ago at an open mic when they were 15. 

Just before arriving at Sisters, Olive released their debut full-length album on August 11, 2023. Don't You Dare Make me Jaded that tells their coming-of-age story in a world that insists on disillusionment. They say that,"It's about the perseverance of hope, celebration of joy, maintenance of childlike wonder, and acceptance of life's nuanced changes."  Olive's "Coming of Age" has been widely embraced. 

They channel Joni Mitchell in their official video of "Song About America" singing about a journey across America "with California in my rear view, I stopped into a drive-thru, I'll admit I'm just a sucker for convenient & fast, I swear Kansas lasts forever, billboard calling me a sinner, all my thoughts were screaming at me..."

We asked how they bring deeply divided world together?  They said through folk music. Through honest lyrics that confront what it means to be coming of age.  They said, "In their generation, country music and folk music are coming together naming the music of Zach Bryan and Noah Kahan, they admire with whom they have toured.  They are young artists that each represent different genres who are open to differences that are experienced by their generation.

Olive is reaching millions through their music. "Genuine and vulnerable, Olive Klug's music touches the hearts of many and is a place of solace in a world full of confusing relationships, understanding one's identity, and the grappling with adulthood." Lucy Jones, The Mud Mag

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