Official Website of JillandKate

Today we are celebrating the one year anniversary of our album release, Heart of Stone. If you never got the album, in honor of the one year anniversary, we are giving it away for FREE on Noisetrade. Who can believe it’s been a year? We can hardly wrap our heads around it.

So.much.has.happened.

There have been so many exciting things…we’ve gotten to meet a lot of you….loyal, kind, amazing fans all around the world.  The last year has been incredible in large part because we’ve gotten to meet many of you face to face..and not just know your twitter handles. We’ve met you before & after Kelly shows, we’ve come to your living rooms and backyards, we’ve sweated out a 5k together, we’ve flown across the pond to sing in your pubs & on the streets, we’ve Skype chatted, we’ve talked on the phone…so many amazing memories.

We made a music video.

We started our own jewelry line, #jillandkatejewels.

We recorded our first LIVE album.

We’ve gotten to hear first hand what the album has meant to you. Which songs are your favorites. Which songs comforted you in dark times and which songs made you laugh and dance to shake off an ex. The scope and reach of the album has been greater than we initially thought it could be.

We made it to #39 on the iTunes Pop charts.

As we look back among all of these happy memories as the one year anniversary mark hits we also feel a deep sadness. A year ago today Will Gray (our manager) showed up at our door with flowers and pastries to celebrate the release. He had flown in earlier in the week to be with us throughout all of our release week activities…and now he’s gone.

How could it be that just 12 months ago everything was fine? Will was here. Making us laugh. Dreaming with us. Planning our world -j&k-take-over…haha…(yes it will happen.) Eating cupcakes and twizzlers. It just doesn’t seem possible that he’s not here anymore.

Our show at the Coffee Bean was the last time we saw him before he got sick. We saw him 3 more times after that in the 10 months he was battling his cancer.

We know he is always with us. He imparted so much good information to us. He really didn’t just manage us…he loved us and mentored us. He instilled great ethics and values. He gave us a foundation. A foundation that we thought he would continue building on for our whole lives & careers.

So we move on knowing how excited he’d be about all of the things coming up. We just wish he was here to be with us through it all…

It’s a bittersweet day. He wouldn’t want us to be sad. He would want us to work hard and love hard, to do good work. To be good friends…read what he wrote about friendship:

“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it’s the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when they discover that someone else believes in them, and is willing to trust them with their friendship.”

William Gray, circa 1996

So we move forward.

We’d love to hear any memories, stories or mementos of how Heart of Stone has impacted you over the last year if you feel like sharing

Thanks so much for making this such an incredible year. We put together a photo & video memory stream below of some of the things we did since last September. Hope you enjoy all the pics….

xo

j&k

PS. Almost all of these pictures & ALL of the video are all because Ryan Camp has traveled & worked with us pretty much every day of the last year…Will highly recommended him to us and we began working together during our release week last year. Thank you Ryan for your hard work, going on several adventures with us, for your ridiculous photo/video skills and for always putting up with our shenanigans.

Release Week

CLICK TO WATCH THE RELEASE WEEK WRAP UP VIDEO

Last Show With Kelly Clarkson & Co in London, England

CLICK TO WATCH OUR LAST BACKSTAGE VIDEO FROM LONDON

CLICK HERE TO WATCH US SING “WHEN IT DON’T COME EASY WITH KELLY AT OUR LAST SHOW

A Night For Hope Benefit Show

CLICK TO WATCH THE NIGHT FOR HOPE RECAP VIDEO

 Shows in London

CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR LONDON RECAP VIDEO

Visit to the Houses of Hope Africa in South Africa & Zimbabwe

CLICK HERE TO WATCH ONE OF OUR AFRICAN ADVENTURES VIDEOS

J&K 5K Weekend in Nashville, TN

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A RECAP OF OUR J&K5K WEEKEND

Recording Our LIVE Album

(the above pics are courtesy of Pockets of Film –thanks Emily!)

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO FROM OUR LIVE RECORDING

Shooting Our FIRST OFFICIAL Music Video

CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR MUSIC VIDEO

Songs & Stories Tour 

As many of you know on Friday, July 26th, we lost one of our best friends, Will Gray. He had been courageously fighting aggressive cancer for the past 10 months. It still doesn’t feel real or that he could actually be gone…but that seems to be normal territory when you’re grieving someone…especially someone so young…he was only 33.

While we are thankful that he is no longer suffering and having to deal with the horrendous nature of this disease, we are at the same time absolutely heartbroken at the loss and are trying to deal with the major hole we feel in his absence.

Writing has always been a way for us to process…to deal. So I, Kate, decided to blog, but I don’t think that one blog will be able to wrap up all the feelings that are inside me. So, I may blog about Will everyday from now until Christmas….seriously I may blog a hundred more times because his scope of impact, his encouragement and his love were just that profound and great.

When Jill and I met (all the way back in 2003) we met Will that very same day. He was an “artist-in-residence” at the music school that we were attending. From that day forward Will has been involved in our career. He coordinated every album, did consulting for us, and for the past 16 months had been unofficially-managing us. This time last year when we were working on the release of Heart of Stone we literally spent hours on the phone with him each day. Will had a knack for anticipating anything we could want or need and for executing it with the greatest of precision. Will was AMAZING.

During our release week he flew to Nashville to be with us through all the events. He showed up at our door early September 18th (release day) with flowers, donuts and a huge smile. We sat together and between interviews he would update us on where the album was on the iTunes chart and we all cheered and woop-wooped. He also designed the Skinny Jeans T-shirt as we were sitting there. These are some of my favorite memories. Seeing the album get to number 39 was such an incredible feeling…it felt like hard work paying off and that we were all in it together

Will loved us and believed in us. He really, really believed in us. And if I’m being honest, that is something that terrifies me the most now that he’s gone. Sometimes I have those days, those days where I think that there is no reason why I should be doing what I’m doing. That I’m not good enough. Or talented enough. Or thin enough. Will, from day one, always encouraged us. He told us that we had something to say. Something to share with the world. That we, in our own way, had a light to shine in darkness. He believed in me and in us…and that’s what scares me…when I am having those doubtful days, who will be there to believe in me like that? One particular time that we were having a rough time, Will & Angie sent us a care package with candles, candy and sweet notes telling us to keep pushing forward..to keep working hard.

We would not be where we are today had it not been for his loving guidance, brilliance and effort. He cared for us so deeply…more than in just a typical manager way. And now in his absence every and any question that comes up that is related to career, music or the industry we immediately think, “What would Will say?” Any new song we write we want to play for him.

I miss him.

In his last text conversation with me (less than a month before he died) he again did what he always did. He encouraged me. We had sent him a new song we’d recorded & he asked what our plan was with the release…(Will drilled into us how important having a plan was…)

So, what do I do in his absence now? I try to do what he did. I am going to try and work harder and love more. Will was the most inclusive person on the planet. He was everyone’s sounding board. He had incredible wisdom. We will miss him more than we could ever express.

Thanks for sending your love over these past few weeks. Thanks for your prayers and your emails and your tweets. Thanks for believing in us. We love you guys.

j&k

We can’t talk about our friend Will Gray enough. If you are sick of us talking about him–deal with it. When you have someone who is that dynamic of a thinker, who has that kind of a heart…you wouldn’t stop talking about him and his ideas either

So, this morning as I sit here and drink my coffee, he just sent me this text: “Just keep on rocking! Don’t be lame.”

He is referencing a story told here about not being lame.

So we are deeming this: Don’t’ Be Lame Friday (has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?)

We all have the tendency to be lame. To relax in our cubicle of comfort zones. I know I am. Guilty, party of one, your table is now available. We all do it. But if we think outside the box, maybe give more of ourselves and we could all benefit. We could do something awesome. We could do something that changes someones life. We could make someone smile. People need people. Reach out. Give something away. Hold someone’s hand when they need it. Go on that crazy adventure you’ve been pinning about planning for years. If you always go left, turn right this Friday. It’s DONT BE LAME FRIDAY. Go, do, be, LOVE. Who knows what could happen!!! Our friend Bob Goff calls this Love Does…

What are you going to do to not be lame on this Friday?

We are gonna give away some t-shirts. Why? Because we don’t wanna be lame. And who doesn’t love FREE stuff?

It also happens to be the softest t-shirt we have ever felt. It’s SO SOFT YOU WON’T WANNA TAKE IT OFF.

So, leave a comment & we will randomly pick a winner from the comments section.

#DBLF (Don’t Be Lame Fridays)

Love you guys.

-j&k-

Guys…this is exciting……
Our very dear, dear friend Will Gray’s film comes out TODAY. That’s right… his documentary will be available on Comcast, Verizon FIOS, and DirectTV…as well as for rent/purchase on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu & Xbox.

Rent it. Buy it. Download the soundtrack from iTunes. The film will make you cry and laugh and be inspired. It’s amazing. Below is a sneak peek of the film…Will’s cover of Patty Griffin’s “Top of the World” is unreal. We had the pleasure of being in the room when it was filmed and it stands as a lifetime best musical moment for each of us…it was AMAZING. Click the photo to watch the performance of “Top of the World.”

Thank you for all of your love and support for him. He is like family to us. So tell your friends, tweet about it, spread the word….

xoxo

j&k

I love my friend Will Gray :) Here is a pic from us years ago as he was coaching me in the studio. I continue to learn so much from him every day

-kate