‘There’s magic in the air here’: Western Mass songwriter and former ‘American Idol’ contestant Katherine Winston releases debut album, ‘Something Special, Nothing Fancy’

If you watched season 14 of “American Idol,” you would have seen singer-songwriter Katherine Winston, a western Massachusetts native, advance to the top-24 round with performances that included “Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones and “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac.

Though Winston didn’t make it to the final round of competition, her music career is still going strong – and she’s got a new album to prove it.

“Something Special, Nothing Fancy,” Winston’s debut full-length album, was released in late June. The 14-track album, comprised entirely of original material, blends country, folk and indie-pop sounds, drawing inspiration from Brandi Carlile, Stevie Nicks and Dolly Parton.

The title takes its name from a line in the song “Loving You,” the idea of which is: “It’s not the fine things in life. It’s not the fancy things in life. It’s the everyday ordinary that makes things special,” Winston said.

Winston, who grew up in Lenox and now lives in Lee, got her musical start as a teenager in the Berkshires, playing at local restaurants, coffee shop, and the like. She appreciates that she was able to grow up in an arts-heavy environment, surrounded by theater and music, with a very supportive community.

“When I started playing at 13 years old, out and about, it was never something that people looked at and thought, ‘Oh, this is strange.’ It was always met with open arms, and people wanted to help out, wanted to take me under their wings,” she said. “I was very lucky, very fortunate.”

As a middle school student, legendary saxophonist Charles Neville visited her school’s jazz band to share his experiences and teach the students about improvisation.

“Having that opportunity was so cool because it gave me so much to work towards – all these experiences that he had and was able to do through his band,” Winston said. “It totally inspired me.”

The Pioneer Valley also played a role in the early stages of her career; a local promoter booked early gigs for her in towns like South Hadley, Ludlow and Chicopee. From there, she said in an email, “I gained a bit of a following out there and the community was super supportive of me as a young and upcoming musician and especially supportive during my ‘American Idol’ journey. So although I never lived there, I definitely felt a connection to the area.”

In 2015, she got the opportunity of a lifetime: She auditioned for “American Idol,” where she advanced to the semifinals. In the process, she met a who’s-who of music stars, including Aretha Franklin, Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Adam Lambert.

“I had never seen that side of the industry before, so I learned so much and was able to take away so much from that experience,” she said. “But it was scary. It was fun. It was crazy. Every day, I just remember calling my mom and being like, ‘I can’t believe I’m still here.’ But it was a really cool experience.”

She was eliminated after making it to the top 24, but the experience left her with lifelong lessons (and friends).

“It’s a very tough business,” she said. “You have to be resilient. You have to have tough skin, and if you really want to do it, it has to be that you just love it that much, because it absolutely is hard. It absolutely comes with a ton of rejection. But if you really love it, you just have to say yes to every opportunity that you can.”

After she left the show, Winston returned to Massachusetts for a short time to play a few shows and thank the community for their support. She was able to go back to Los Angeles for the season 14 finale, however, and initially only expected to be there for about a week, but “I just found myself having these little opportunities,” she said.

She planned to stay the summer, then came home to Massachusetts again for a short time, after which she returned to California, wanting to follow through on connections she’d made during her “Idol” experience.

She ended up staying in Los Angeles for several years.

“I learned a lot about the industry and business side of things,” she said, but “ultimately, I knew I wanted to come back to the East Coast. It’s where I feel most at home and where I feel most inspired to create.”

Now, back in Massachusetts, Winston is celebrating the release of “Something Special, Nothing Fancy” with an album release tour. Some of her favorite tracks on it include the single “The Lottery” (“My sister actually called me and said, ‘If that’s not a single, I’m going to be so sad!’”); “Wild Flowers,” inspired by her nontraditional path to her career (she left traditional high school at the age of 15 to pursue music and didn’t go to college); and “Magic,” written about the experience of coming back to the Berkshires to visit while living in Los Angeles and feeling more comfortable in Massachusetts.

“I truly feel like there’s magic in the air here,” she said. “I think that I’m so much more creative here.”

Since the album was released last month, she said, “I have had people reaching out to me, telling me specific things about each song, or that this one song reminds them of this personal experience for them. Ultimately, I’ve always said that the number-one reason I love doing music is because it connects me to people, and this album has already done that for me, where I’ve been able to connect with people online and in person in a way that I never would be able to communicate through just conversation.”

“I’m just so grateful that music can do that,” she added, “and especially that my album has been able to do that. It’s been really, really cool.”

For more information about Katherine Winston, her music, and her upcoming tour dates, visit katherinewinston.com.

Carolyn Brown can be reached at [email protected].