Light Up the Lawn: Katy Guillen & The Drive

Katy Guillen & The Drive’s sophomore album Make That Sound has been making big waves in the indie music scene since its release last fall. Glide Magazine describes it as “a relentless rock vibe, combining Wet Leg’s modern edge and Courtney Barnett’s knack for guitar-based hooks,” and Rainbow Rodeo declared, “It’s raw, it's tight, and it's utterly compelling.” The last half of 2025 saw the band touring relentlessly on the new record with dates across the Midwest and Northeast, as well as a tour down the West Coast supporting British guitar legend Robin Trower. This year the band will take the new album to more cities across the country, including a tour through Alaska.

Established in 2019, Katy Guillen & The Drive is an independent Indie Roots Rock band from Kansas City, founded by partners Katy Guillen (Vocals, Guitar) and Stephanie Williams (Drums). Katy Guillen & The Drive prides itself on fostering empowered spaces for women in music both onstage and off, and performances showcase the group’s signature all-female powerhouse formation, technical prowess, and electrifying chemistry. This core value heavily influenced the band’s most recent full-length effort Make That Sound. Guillen admits, “Having never worked with a woman in the studio, that’s something we wanted to change on this record. We wanted more female energy, ideas, and power to influence this album.” With this goal in mind, the band was eventually led to Producer Megan McCormick (Allison Russell, Amythyst Kiah). As a result of their fast friendship and facile chemistry in the early stages of collaborating, the duo embraced this newfound creative connection and ran with it. Within a matter of a few days, the three collaborated on everything from songwriting and arrangements to live tracking and overdubs, resulting in a liberated, emboldened, and nuanced new record. Guillen speaks to the inspiration behind the songs and process, “In creating this album I felt particularly inspired by the countless strong and important women in my life, the love that I’ve grown with my partner, and the strength I’ve gained from digging inward through challenging times.” Make That Sound is a celebration of self-empowerment, liberation, vulnerability, honesty, and love. In addition to McCormick, the band was fortunate to work with engineers Brandon Bell (Brandi Carlile, Joni Mitchell) and Annie Petrik on tracking and mixing, as well as mastering engineer Kim Rosen (Bonnie Raitt, Allison Russell). The band partnered with Nashville-based indie label and artist collective Are & Be Recordings for the October 2025 release.

Make That Sound is the follow up record to the band’s 2022 debut album Another One Gained, produced by Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Heartless Bastards), which “hit the sweet spot with a mix of spiky garage rock and soulful country torch songs,” lauded Uncut Magazine. Under The Radar Magazine declared the duo “evoke(d) a timeless indie rock sound” and displayed “effortless instrumental chemistry that gives both members a chance to shine.” The subsequent 2023 deluxe edition, Another One Gained Deluxe, featured three new songs and a highly anticipated Spanish version of a fan-favorite, ‘Batallas,’ which spotlighted special guest Latin Grammy winner Mireya Ramos (Flor De Toloache) on violin and backing vocals.