Falling for Kory Hilpmann’s New Single “Raining Autumn”
Labeled as one of our artists on the rise, Kory Hilpmann ushers in the Fall season with his new single “Raining Autumn”. The single released today on Friday, October 25th on all music platforms at midnight and will be personally be uploaded to SoundCloud and Bandcamp by Kory himself. As Kory described, “Raining Autumn” is an “ode to Autumn” to set the tone for the upcoming colder season, as it is meant to emulate the overall feeling of a typical Autumn day.
Musically, the song is very relaxing and laid-back, which perfectly encompasses the mood that one may feel from a rainy Autumn day. The track begins with the sounds of the world; cars driving through the streets, a dog barking, and some bird noises, setting the scene and bringing the listener to the moment that Kory sings about. The instrumentation throughout the track is very simple, with just an acoustic guitar and light percussion that stays very consistent and subtle to make room for the vocals. Overall, the melody is very mellow, consisting of long held out phrases and a common hook that can easily get stuck in one’s head. Kory’s vocals stay soft and smooth to relax listeners and take them to a moment of tranquility, as one can picture the falling leaves and light rain running down their windowsill. To close the song, the track takes the listener back to that rainy day by reincorporating the natural sounds and noises that were in the introduction. Overall, the production and musical elements of it work perfectly together to emulate the mood and setting of a rainy Autumn day.
The song carries consistent imagery throughout the lyrics that depict colorful leaves falling to the ground and birds flying through the sky. When Kory sings, “soaring high with the leaves falling by my side” it helps the listener produce an image of watching the leaves being carried by the wind, which further immerses them in the tranquil mood that comes with the Fall season. Kory also sings about how he wishes he was a bird or a raindrop, so that he can “fall with the leaves,” and unite himself with the season. The main hook “falling free or just free falling / it’s raining Autumn once again” ties the whole song together as it brings it back to the main idea of a typical Autumn day.
We highly recommend you take a listen to “Raining Autumn” once it releases on all music platforms, and take a look at the rest of Kory Hilpmann’s discography if you have not already. We were also very fortunate to have a phone interview with Kory Hilpmann regarding his new single and who he is as a musician. He was kind enough to give some firsthand insight on his artistry and describe the trajectory of his career from this point:
Why did you write this song? What is it about?
“K: Honestly, “Raining Autumn” is just an ode to Autumn. I wrote it sometime, a year or two ago, just strumming on my guitar looking at the leaves falling. It was a typical Fall day, half cloudy, half sunny, rain in between, and the leaves. The kind of vibe that you’re feeling right now at the end of October. I was just strumming chords and started singing about Fall. I am a huge fan of mood music, so I just wanted to write a song for Autumn to kind of put you in the mood when you’re listening to it. ”
If you didn’t become a musician, what would you be doing right now?
“K: I probably would not have studied music in college and I probably would be working more full-time with my dad’s company. He’s a construction contractor, so instead of part-time I would be full-time in that or I would have studied something different. ”
What drew you into the music industry?
“K: Well, I think it was just music itself. It wasn’t because I thought ‘I’ll learn an instrument to join the music industry.” I think music for me started as more of a social thing because my friends from church actually wanted to start a band, so it just became something that we could do together and practice every Sunday after church. We just brought people together, we played for people, and we all got more into it and learned more about our instruments and became more serious about it. I personally just wanted to keep getting better and learning everything I could about music. At that point, we were kind of just teaching ourselves and learning from each other and I think that’s what became really important to me.
I think music in general, is meant to bring people together and be a communal thing where you can just pick up an instrument in somebody’s living room and just say “hey let’s jam!” and being able to share it with people at live venues too, it’s just a way of bringing people together. I think that’s always been my foundation for music and for wanting to learn more. That’s why I pursued it in college, because I really got into writing and composing. ”
What is your creative process like?
“K: For me, I think the music has always been my first go-to because I will just sit down at a piano or grab my guitar and literally just start playing whatever first comes into my mind. It’s not even a melody, it’s more of a mood. Everyone feels a certain way at certain times of certain days, whatever’s going on in your life. I think I just sit down, and play my mood, and if I like it, I end up pursuing it further and realing honing in on a melody and chords and keep developing it from there. So for me it’s always the music and then I tend to add the words later once I get a feel for what my emotions were trying to tell me. ”
Who inspires you?
“K: Well I’m always a huge Ben Folds fan. He made piano cool for me when I was growing up, so I think he’s my biggest songwriter and pianist inspiration. I also like a lot of folk music, like acoustic bands like The Avett Brothers -I listened to them a lot in high school- and Bright Eyes. Folk Rock bands are always kind of the home for me. I just like good songs that have good music and honest lyrics. I like when songs have a good balance of poetry in the lyrics and creative music. ”
What was your favorite song off of your first album?
“K: It’s interesting because I felt like it changed. Going into it I felt like I had a favorite, and then recording it, I felt like I had a different favorite, and then again with the end product. You don’t expect the song to turn out the way you do until you actually hear it at the end. And I think it still changes but I have to say my all time favorite has to be “NTMTA”. For me, it was fun to write, it’s always fun to play, and the words are very personal and honest and open and that’s usually what I strive for in my songs. I think it’s just a fun song to really emulate my sound. ”
Did you get any cool exposure from Whispers After Dark?
“K: The Artist Spotlight on WHUD 100.7 from Peekskill, NY. They had a local artist spotlight once a week and I submitted the whole album. They choose the songs themselves actually so they ended up picking my first track off of Whispers After Dark , which was “Lost In Your Eyes”. ”
If you could be a fruit, which one would you be and why?
“K: I’d say I would be a tomato because not everyone thinks or knows tomatoes are a fruit. I’m flexible, I can be a fruit or a vegetable. I’m also unpredictable, you never know what’s gonna happen. And I’m still sweet on the inside. ”
If you can give one message to your fans, what would it be?
“K: Just share your music. Share music with you friends and family, go support live music. I feel like in America especially, it’s not as sought out and appreciated as much as it used to be. Music is really important and it is sad to see it dying out. I think the world is lost without music and the world becomes a little emotionless. We’re all just hollow shells of human beings without music and the arts to express ourselves and appreciate each other. ”
Who should be listening to this music?
“K: Aside from my own likes and inspirations, I do get a lot of people that say I have that “Billy Joel” vibe because of the harmonica and piano. Ben Folds, in my style of playing and play on words. I have also gotten The Head and the Heart when it’s just me on acoustic guitar, so any kind of those styles. I like to mix it up and I usually play most of my shows half piano, half guitar just because I like to change my style of music.”
