'Whip My Hair' Cover Artist Katie Gavin Benefiting From Willow Smith Love

By Steve Baltin Posted Jan 10th 2011 11:05AM

Willow Smith Loves 'Whip My Hair' Cover, Singer Katie Gavin Reacts

YouTube is littered with cover versions of Willow Smith's 'Whip My Hair.' But few have attracted attention like 18-year-old Illinois native Katie Gavin, whose acoustic, bluesy take on the pop hit has garnered more than 210,000 views.

Praise from MTV's Buzzworthy was far from the end for Gavin's cover. Last week, Smith chimed in her approval of Gavin's version, telling PopEater in a video interview, "Thank you, Katie Gavin, for doing an awesome version of my song."

For Gavin, that alone would be enough to have made the cover successful. "To hear Willow say that she likes the cover and she thought I was good -- and to hear my name leave her lips -- was such a crazy thing," Gavin tells PopEater. She found out about Smith's name-check via Twitter while at school. "To be acknowledged by her and for the song itself to get her seal of approval means so much to me. It's kind of the point where I can be truly satisfied with everything that's happened because I like her, and I like her song."

That would be enough, but it's not even close to the benefits Gavin has seen from her cover sensation. "This video is the reason I've had attention from people in New York and in LA, and I'm connecting with people that have started listening to my songs," says Gavin, who will play shows in New York on Friday, Jan. 14, and Monday, Jan. 17. "And I think that's actually the most rewarding out of all this -- that people started listening to me as an artist because they liked the cover. They went to my page, started listening to my original songs and have become fans of my music."

See Katie's 'Whip My Hair' cover:

Gavin also has versions of Robyn's 'Call Your Girlfriend' and Adele's 'Someone Like You.' She's considering M.I.A.'s new 'Bad Girls' next, while maintaining a balance between her own songs and well-known tunes. "I get excited about covers, but at the end of the day I'm still picking up my guitar every night and writing my own stuff," she says. "That's what I really love doing."

And those originals are part of the attention that's coming from LA and New York, as, Gavin admits, a lot of people have become interested in her music, including, perhaps, some industry insiders. "There have been people that have elicited some crazy dance moves and screaming fits between me and my mom," she says, laughing.

So, what would Gavin say to Smith if she had the chance to thank her in person? "Well, first of all I'd give her a huge hug. And how tall is she, she's like four feet? I'd pick her up for sure," Gavin says. "Then she would need to teach me how to whip my hair. I did the song live last night, and I explained that I needed to physically and emotionally prepare myself, so I put my guitar down and did some hair whipping just to warm myself up and get my swag on, but I still can't do it even in the same arena as Willow pulls it off."

See Willow's praise for Katie:

Watch More of Katie's Videos on YouTube

Tags: Katie Gavin, Whip My Hair, Willow Smith

Comments

(5)

Monday 10 January

By RUKidding

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Umm.....is it just me or is that WAY better than the original? That girl is so talented. I love her voice!

By Ted Bundy

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That was crap and next time she should put a paper bag over her face.

By fin

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sounds like a rip off of ANY Alana Davis song.

By sweetpunch

that was great!

Friday 11 February

By brockj661

That was way better than the daughter of will smith,who wouldnt get anywhere near the attention if she wasnt the daughter of will smith.This girl actually has some talent and a good voice!!!

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