We recently connected with Carrie Marshall and have shared our conversation below.

Carrie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

We all face various obstacles in our journey, from frustrating setbacks to life altering changes. My two biggest obstacles were divorce and then 5 years later (in 2020) some crazy health issues, that I nicknamed “The Triple C”: Concussion, Covid (which we all dealt with!) and then a breast Cancer diagnosis…all within months of each other!

Because of my head injury, I had to cancel all my performances in January of 2020, right before the release of a new album. I couldn’t tolerate bright lights or sounds, so I couldn’t even sing or play my instrument without triggering my symptoms. Of course Covid followed soon after, which affected all of us! (But even four years later, I still deal with mild brain injury complications, though it is manageable.) In September of 2020, I was diagnosed with Triple Positive Breast Cancer and had to undergo surgery, chemo, radiation and hormone therapy.

Before the cancer diagnosis I was fighting hard (and was very frustrated) against my health limitations and how they were slowing me down. Once I got the call from my doctor about cancer, something changed inside. I knew I wasn’t in control of certain circumstances and I learned to “surrender” in a sense – to trust that God had my back and to embrace the darkness that was about to come, accepting my life right where it was and not holding on to where I wished it would be. Being the artist/songwriter that I am, a friend had shared this phrase with me…”He knows the way that I take and after he has tried me, I will come forth as gold…” and that became my mantra – to look for the gold in the darkness. A sort of emotional treasure hunt, if you will!

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

I am a jazz and blues influenced singer and songwriter, as well as actress. I’ve been involved with music my entire life and have performed on all sorts of stages, venues, you name it! I recorded 2 albums, scored a movie and wrote the title song (Changeover, which is still on Amazon Prime) and even was nominated for best musical score with the Love International Film Festival and the Idyllwild Film Festival. Music is my first love, but I have been grateful to be a part of several indie film projects and several commercials. In fact, I did win Best Supporting Actress at the Love International Film Festival in 2017! I was so surprised, honestly, because I was really hoping to win for best score, lol.! I was shocked when they called out my name as the winner of Best Supporting Actress!

I didn’t step out full time and create my own LLC, Carrie Marshall Music, until 2015 when I was going through my divorce. It felt very scary at the time, being a single mom with three teenagers and I definitely felt the burden to generate enough income to support myself and my kids! I created a vocal studio and walked away from a lot of performing for a few years to build up my teaching studio.

Since that time I’ve recorded two more albums and several single releases, have built up a client base of voice/songwriting students and have put together a jazz show that I’m touring in the Carolinas, called “Twist of Jazz”. I take pop songs throughout the decades and give them a jazz twist, but I also weave into the show my story of “finding gold” in the darkness. The show is uplifting, encouraging and fun! And every show I do, I have audience members who share with me their stories of resilience. There are a lot of people out there who’ve endured hard things and have come through it stronger, wiser and kinder. There is a sort of bond for those who’ve gone through various difficulties and an appreciation for life and for the simple things. I feel like this show embodies that and there is an invisible bond for those of us who’ve endured hardships. I am currently working towards taking this show to other areas of the country besides the southeast!

Another one of my nuggets of gold and extension of my teaching studio has been mentoring young singer/songwriters in the music business. During Covid and my cancer treatments, because I couldn’t teach I started a Songwriters’ Circle on Zoom, which I could do from the couch! It was inspiring and creative during that crazy time and all of us ended up writing so much creative content during the pandemic! From that Circle birthed more mentorship opportunities with songwriters. Some of these students have gone on to be accepted for songwriting at Belmont and Berklee college of music, start their own band, win songwriting awards, and I have one student who’s currently at Grammy Camp in L.A. being mentored by some of the biggest in the business! I help clients through every part of the process, from songwriting process, vocal techniques, music creation, production and stepping out to making a living as a performing artist. When students are ready, I also connect them to producers in Nashville or other regions. We’ve made two trips to Nashville now and I even have Nashville producers coming to my city (Raleigh) to record students. It’s been incredibly gratifying to watch these young artists flourish!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative artist is connecting with others…Art is an expression of our humanity. It connects us in powerful ways. When we as performing artists embrace that truth, the concert becomes about so much more than entertainment – yes, concerts should be entertaining! But they also bind us together in unique and powerful ways and build community. It is magic to experience!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I hesitate to call anyone “non-creative” – I think we all have the potential for great creativity! However, I have certainly experienced those who’ve stifled their own creativity in order to follow a more traditional career path for whatever reason: desiring a more predictable path, expectations of others, fear of failure, the desire to have a stable income, etc. There is no shame if that is what someone decides to do, but it is easy for those on a traditional career path to try to hamper those of us who take a different route. The artistic life is not a linear path from point A to point B…you may be able to clearly see the goals in front of you. But getting to those goals will be a very circuitous route! And you might do everything “right” and still end up in left field somewhere!! And if we do, we figure out how to make that left field a beautiful place to be, and that is all a part of the artistic life.

The career artists I’ve known thrive on the unknowns, think outside of the box, and find solutions to seemingly insurmountable obstacles while moving forward on their own terms. They are brave and they are risk takers. They are willing to express themselves, sometimes at the expense of being understood and accepted by others (even though we all desire for our art to be accepted by others!) They are resilient and expressive, oftentimes moving others without even realizing they are doing so. That is inspiring to me! But this sort of life is not 9-5. there is sacrifice involved and those in non-creative careers don’t always understand that…we don’t live for the weekend. We aren’t always free to just hang out, go on vacations, etc. Our careers aren’t just a career – they’re an extension of who we are.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.carriemarshall.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carrie_marshall_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carriemarshallmusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-marshall-music/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@carriemarshallmusic

Image Credits

Lunahzon Photography
Patricia Roseman Photography