Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Their unique hair color is a close match, but Kota Wade is a rocker and Summer Schappell is a country singer.

Yet when Kota wrote a song called “A Force To Be Reckoned With” a couple of weeks after the Season 9 knockout round, she just knew Summer was the perfect person to help share the song’s message.

“I knew that I had to write this song to give the two of us a voice to spread our message of determination, telling the listeners that no matter how many times you get knocked down, to always get back up and keep fighting,” Kota says.

After all, Summer and Kota weren’t only teammates on Team Gwen, they were also roommates during the battle and knockout rounds and became close friends.

Both were eliminated during that knockout round — Summer when she was matched against Korin Bukowski, Kota when she squared off against eventual finalist Jeffery Austin.

Kota said she wrote the new single “as an encouraging inspirational song for anyone who has been told no or who is going through tough times.”

To bring the project to life, Kota and Summer called on a third Season 9 contestant, Tim Atlas.

He has “a great ear for music” in Kota’s words. So he wound up producing the song and making a cameo in the video, playing guitar and banjo.

The trio completed the song and video in a three-day “whirlwind of musical activity,” Kota says.

Oh, and fans of the Kota-Wade-led rock group called Bad Wolf need not worry. Kota isn’t going country.

“While I had a blast trying something in a new style, adding a bit of country and folk flare, I don’t see any more country music in my near future, though I may release some solo music here and there,” she says.

For the most part, she’s Bad Wolf focused. After all, she and her band mates have dubbed 2016 #YearOfTheWolf.

The band already released a video this year for a song called “Good Intentions” from its 2014 EP “Time is Falling.”

A new single called “Ashes” and an accompanying video will follow next month, according to Kota.

“More unreleased music is sitting in the wings as well, so we can’t wait to keep cranking out the songs and videos,” she says.