Robyn Ottolini
Artist Profile by Emily Ireland
Peterborough Musicfest is a staple in the Cottage Country region for live music all summer long, the lineup each year is packed with a handful of genres covering musical tastes for all ages. It has become a generational tradition to pick up your lawn chair and head to Del Crary Park in Peterborough to enjoy a free live concert every Wednesday and Saturday night.
This summer was no exception, the lineup that graced the stage this year was well curated and featured many well-known acts. After catching Ontario favourite Robyn Ottolini on stage August 19th, we knew right away that we had to catch up with her for an interview with the CCMA Award-winning, platinum-selling country music sensation!
Best known for her TikTok famous hit F-150 Robyn grew up listening and singing along to country music radio, and began piano lessons at the age of 8, and guitar at the age of 13, and she has been writing music ever since.
I asked Robyn how she thinks social media has influenced her as an artist and she replied, “I think it has affected my career in a big way, especially because I am from Uxbridge, from a small town, so I felt like no one would hear my music if it wasn’t for social media, so I am very grateful for it. I personally love social media – perhaps too much, I am one of those people who is addicted to it, but I love that it’s another creative outlet. I don’t think of social media too much as work, but I think of it as a fun way that I get to market my music in an even more personal way than say, having a photo shoot and putting it through a bunch of channels to get it out there. I can just throw whatever I want out there, and it’s me, and its authentic, and it feels like the most natural way to market music for me.”
Robyns online bio states “Robyn Ottolini makes music that will either piss you off or make you fall in love with her. Maybe a little of both. Whether she’s cursing or calling out a cheating ex, if it needs saying, Robyn is the one to say it.”
When you see her on stage Robyn exudes this larger-than-life energy, she is active, chatty, and gives her performance her full range. Her music is edgy, and relatable – the emotion and appeal in her music is recognised and celebrated by those in the audience, and the fan energy is definitely contagious.
Although Robyn is from Uxbridge, Ontario she admits that right now she kind of lives out of her suitcase, splitting time between Canada and her house in Nashville. When I asked her what her favourite part of performing at Peterborough Musicfest was, she said it was a very special event because it was the first time her grandparents had seen her perform since her recent success. She also said it was a very heartwarming audience filled with a hometown crowd of friends and neighbours who were able to make the trip to see her perform live.
Robyn is heading out on her first headlining tour which comes on the heals of her EP release ‘Growing Up To Do’ in October, 2023. The title ‘Growing Up To Do’ comes from the last lyric of the EP from a song called ‘The House I Grew Up In’ and Robyn says “This EP has all different types of songs – which I am really excited about, and it is kind of my journey through heartbreak, and then falling back in love with my friends while trying to get out there and date again and the heartbreak that happens with that; and questioning myself and my worth; and then realising that even though I moved out of the house I grew up in I still have a lot of growing up to do. When it comes to life, you never stop growing.” The ‘All My Friends Are Hot” tour, named after her last single will stop in 12 cities across the U.S. and Canada, including dates in Oshawa, Hamilton and Toronto.
When I asked her what her most memorable show had to be, Robyn said it was definitely when she opened up for Shania Twain at Boots & Hearts “Playing the main stage at a festival I have been going to forever was a big deal for me!” I followed up with a question about what her favourite part of performing festivals was, and she said “It’s just the energy of the crowd, fans are usually so fired up and just stoked to be there, I feel like festivals are kind of in a limbo where the real world doesn’t exist, so it’s like you’re just there to see country music and have a good time, it’s always a rowdy fun crowd that doesn’t have to go to work in the morning.”
To those looking to break into the industry Robyn offers this advice: “I’d say keep your head down. Work really hard. Be nice to people. Say yes as much as you think you should, as much as your mental health will allow, and be yourself – and also keep going, because once you stop it ends, so if you just keep going it’ll never end.”
For a complete list of tour dates visit www.robynottolini.com
Top Photo Credits: Conor Murphy/@murphyediting
