INTERVIEW: The Extraordinary Year of Christine Bilé
10/17 @ The Foundry in West Stockbridge, MA
“Talking to people makes such a big difference, and they feel connected to you… With the community, it takes time to build, and there are challenges as well as wins.”
It’s a good year to be Christine Bilé. The singer and musician from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is having a remarkable 2026, touring Europe with Sofar Sounds and performing at a FIFA World Cup Fan Festival. Has the success sunk in yet for the effervescent Bilé? It’s a tireless grind to live as an emerging artist, touring, writing, and recording on repeat. Bilé divulges whether she has time to take a breath and look at how much she’s accomplished in just one year.
“I don’t think I’ve had the time to really sit and take it in,” Bilé admits. “It does hit me sometimes, like, ‘Wow, I really just had a European debut tour. I really just played at the FIFA Fan Festival.’ I haven’t fully had time to wrap my head around it, but I’m so proud of the places that I played and the accolades this year.”
Momentum is surging for Bilé, and she's looking ahead to her Happiness Lives Here EP release on October 17. That same day, a Happiness Lives Here release party show at The Foundry in West Stockbridge at 7:30 p.m. is a celebration of the year and what’s next.
“It’s going to be a fun show because I have a full band,” she says. Regarding the EP, she drops a one-line hint to describe it: “It’s all about finding love within ourselves and our communities.”
In a music industry awash with uniformity and a penchant for negativity, Bilé is an anomaly. While she dabbles in writing about the darker, more difficult aspects of relationships, love, and life — she isn’t afraid to make the audience cry as well as laugh — Bilé naturally exudes light. Her signature sense of style is bright and bold, just like her music, which she describes as emotive pop-folk with ties to rock and soul.
“I think all emotions have their time and their weight,” she explains. “Right now with how crazy the world is — my song ‘Lend a Hand’ talks about that — I’m pushing a lot for positivity. I would say balance is the best word because sometimes things are going to be sad, but at the end of the day, I feel like we all have the ability to create joy with it ourselves and with our community.”
There are few stages larger than the FIFA World Cup Fan Festival. For a crowd of an estimated 5,000 people that sang and danced along with her, Bilé played covers, original music, and her viral hit, “Matriarchy Battle Song.” The experience encapsulated what she loves most about performing.
“That was an honor because that’s another global stage,” she says. “When I got there, the sound engineer asked, ‘Did you bring your looping pedal?’ That meant that they researched me and knew what my music was about.”
Among highlights like the FIFA World Cup Fan Festival, it’s difficult for Bilé to choose the top three favorite moments of her exceptionally busy year. She selects her moments with care, and each one reflects a different aspect of what has made 2026 uniquely special but also mirrors the work that she has been dedicatedly doing for years.
Bilé’s first story begins in Berlin, Germany. Her European tour, which was largely crowdfunded, was a constant reminder of her connection to the people that support her. Even on tour, she found a new sense of community everywhere, with the strangers learning her music for the first time and her friendly fans offering her traveling tips.
Perhaps nowhere was this generous spirit more evident than at a quiet venue called Das Baumhaus.
“It was un-amplified; there were no speakers, no amp, no mic,” she recalls. “I got to sing in a room with almost 100 people and really look at these people in the eye while I sang, and I really could see them all light up when I looked at them. It's like, ‘Wow, someone's seeing me.’ Of course I'm being seen as well. That makes me feel good that other people feel seen and can resonate with the music.”
Her second favorite memory continues in the industrial, energetic city of Berlin, where art grows right out of the cracks in the pavement.
“My music video ‘Chasing the Stars’ did get a Berlin Music Video Award Badge of Honor,” she says. “Out of all these international submissions, my work was recognized by their jury. That made me feel really good.”
Bilé’s third favorite memory of the year takes her back home to her “stomping grounds” of Massachusetts. The Berkshires, renowned for their artistic scene, enabled her to work with the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Shakespeare and Company, and even open for the international touring blues band, Misty Blues.
“I got to perform at the Massachusetts State House for their Creative Sector Day,” she remembers. “I ended up being able to receive a citation for my music and my expressive voice and their best wishes with my music career from the Massachusetts State House and the State Senate. That's cool to be seen at this high level in the state.”
Bilé’s local roots run deep. A graduate of The College of Saint Rose, she became a fixture in the Capital Region music scene.
“I was very engaged with the music scene, and I still am,” she says. “I feel like the music scene in Albany is so welcoming, and they're very supportive. A lot of people have been supporting me and are even playing with me on my EP. If I ever want to feel good, I can just go to an open mic in Albany and be like, ‘Here’s my fam.’”
It starts with the artist building a connection with people. While some artists struggle to expand beyond their niche of fans, it seems to come easily for Bilé, who can find common ground with anyone, whether at a hometown open mic or across the world in Australia.
“I love to tell stories. Who doesn’t love a good story?” she says, revealing the secret to her international appeal with audiences. “I always try to get the crowd involved somehow. But sometimes the music, the rhythms already do that without me saying anything.”
The most essential piece to Bilé is not viewing the relationship between artists and the audience as transactional: refusing to simply say, “Here’s my music,” but finding a way to engage together in a shared creative space.
“Part of getting people to come out to see your show is being present with them, saying hi to new people, and meeting business owners,” she continues. “Talking to people makes such a big difference, and they feel connected to you… With the community, it takes time to build, and there are challenges as well as wins.”
Bilé considers one of the final questions carefully. Does referring to an artist as a ‘breakthrough’ discount the years, or decades, of hard work prior? Only Bilé knows just how much sacrifice and work has gone into this remarkable year of being her. From her perspective, the future is looking bright for Happiness Lives Here, and the wind is at her back. She’s already planning next year’s tour.
“I definitely think it’s a breakthrough year,” she reflects. “I think it’s a long time in the making. It just still feels like the beginning, like we’re not even done yet. I feel good where I’m at, but there’s always more to be done.”
For more on Christine Bilé, please visit https://www.christinebilemusic.com/
