We were lucky to catch up with Kat Reinhert recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kat, thanks for joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

10000% happy. I can’t image life without being a creative.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a musical artist, educator and author – and I got into all of this because music chose me. When I was younger I actually dreamt of being an animator for Disney – but I didn’t have a portfolio to show to schools and I was from a really small rural town in Wisconsin before the dawn of the internet – so there was no way to really know what was out there.

As an artist, I mostly write, perform and record my own original music. I’ll sometimes write for other people, and I’ll also sing backgrounds for others as well – but by and large, my creative output is largely solo based.

As an educator, I currently live in NYC and work in Boston where I’m a Full Professor of Songwriting at Berklee College of Music. I’m also a contemporary voice specialist. So, between those two things, I help people write songs as well as help them sing them in a way that feels authentic. I also co-founded a company dedicated to empowering music educators to engage with songwriting called Songwriting for M.E. alongside Sarah Gulish.

As an author, I’ve written many journal articles and book chapters, have been an editor on a book and am the co-author of both Songwriting for Music Educators and an upcoming book on Releasing Music.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Value their work and time and pay them accordingly. Honestly, that may seem like something really obvious, but too many organizations, venues, streaming services…etc – they just don’t value the time and work that goes into being a creative artist. People don’t want to pay for music. Why? They’ll pay almost $10 for a cup of coffee every day that will last them under an hour – but so many scoff at paying $10 a month to have access to all their favorite music whenever they want it. Or a $10 cover to have a meaningful experience at a venue. We can do better to recognize and appreciate the art that shapes our world. This could look like venues re-imagining their business as a non-profit and getting donors to pay the artists set feed, to not expecting artists to be machines and put out content like it just falls off a tree. It looks like artists standing up for themselves and not taking less than they know they’re worth. Both sides need to work on the issue and come up with holistic solutions that support everyone’s interests. I think it can be done – but there’s a lot of change that needs to happen.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Where do I start? I’m an avid reader. Probably average at least a book a week – which I know is a lot for a lot of people. Top three? Music, Lyrics & Life by Mike Errico, The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.katreinhert.com
• Instagram: @katreinhert
• Facebook: @katreinhertmusic
• Linkedin: @katreinhert
• Twitter: @katreinhert
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCyOzDMNAoZdWNR_r1I35gw

Image Credits
Aleks Victoria Photography ( for all the professional photos) The rest are just from my phone.