We were lucky to catch up with Meghanne Storey recently and have shared our conversation below.
Meghanne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
Singing and songwriting is in my DNA. I can’t not do it. Its my outlet, my safety, my zone, my self expression, my way of communicating. I never believed it would be a source of income for me. My parents always wanted me to have a day job because rockstar wasn’t realistic…but aI ALWAYS wanted to do this. As soon as I knew what it was i wanted it.
However, as a young woman (15-23) I worked in a downtown Seattle Dennys by the freeway and my wrists collapsed. I went to school for years and tried to retrain myself and i ended up disabled. So, music was the only option i had left. Its like the universe said noooo you need to go this way. So here i am. 3yrs in and i have never been happier. The music business is hard but the music itself is solace. It balances itself out. I am so glad I made the decided and jumped. Best decision I ever made.
It was hard. I had to come out of comfort zone. But im so glad i did it.
Meghanne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
The story my mom and older siblings tell is that I could sing before I could talk. I have always sang. I memorized the entire soundtrack to Jesus Christ Superstar when I was three years old. I started learning piano as soon as I was tall enough to reach the keys and sit on the bench. My mom used to always listen to classical music and I wanted to sing and I used to complain that there were no words to sing to and she told me to write some; so I did. To all of them; Swan Lake, Peter and the Wolf, The Nutcracker, and many many more.
When I was 7 I was accepted into the Seattle Girls’ Choir and I sang with them for 7 years, I learned a lot there, about vocal dynamics, enunciation, breathing exercises, blended vocal patterns versus bold vocal patterns, and music theory. So much music theory.
When I was 14 I became homeless. I was a foster failure due to undiagnosed ADHD. No one was able to keep me longer than 3 days except the various group homes I stayed in and that was only for two weeks at a time; the result being that I became well acquainted with sleeping outside in doorways, under bridges, in parks, under the freeways and pretty much anywhere else I could find and I sang everywhere I went.
One day I chose to sing in the alley way by the Orion Center, which was located on 9th and Virginia back then, and one of the counselors heard me and called me inside. I was afraid, initially, because I thought I was in trouble again for making too much noise, but he actually wanted me to make more noise. He began running scales with me to see what I knew and how he could help me develop my vocals. I spent 18 months working with him, He got me into a program called Everyone Has a Song and I was able to go into the studio and write a song and record it and mix it and then we did a video and a channel 9 (PBS) special about the program. After that, I sang at fundraisers, I sang the nation anthem a couple of times for different sports teams and such. Then I chased a boy and fell off the face of the earth. I was emancipated at 16 and I began working at a busy Downtown Seattle Denny’s.
Working at Denny’s was a lot of fun for me. There was a practice space above the business next door and I got to meet all kinds of musicians on the local scene in the 90s, They all came to my Denny’s for food after shows and during practices and stuff like that. It was pretty cool. But, I worked really hard at that Denny’s and my wrist joints ultimately fell apart. I had to have 8 surgeries to stop and try to correct some of the damage done. My response was not to give up…I couldn’t wait tables anymore so I tried to retrain myself and go into another field. I studied Criminal Justice (Forensic Psych) and Nursing and Special Education and Naturopathic Medicine. Eventually, I had to accept that no matter what field I wanted to go into I would need my hands and mine just didn’t work well enough to go back to work without causing more damage in the long run.
At the age of 42 I met I this guy with a cool amp and, eventually we became friends; about a year later. He played guitar and so, after a lot of hesitation on my part, we finally jammed together and then we went out and started booking shows together. He helped me overcome some serious stage fright.
The only door I had not tried was music and it was the only door left open. So I chose to walk through it, I have always written songs as a way of coping with life. Songs to help me decipher the world around me, songs that allowed me to express emotions I felt needed to be held back and hidden. Things I needed to say ect…I have boxes full of notebooks that I have written in throughout my life. I am three years into being on the Tacoma scene and I am so glad I made the leap. It was a long time coming. I found my people in the music scene. The guy I initially played music with didn’t work out as a band member, unfortunately, but I learned a lot and I was able to put a full band together and we freaking rock.🎶
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I want to sing to all the people for sure but, more importantly, I want kids to play music and have the exposure to instruments. With the dwindling access to music education in public schools there are many potential musicians out there who will never get the chance to know they are musicians because they have never been exposed to it
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
If there is anything I have learned about myself in this life it is that I am resilient. I will fail and fail and fail and fail but i have to keep trying or I will never succeed. No one ever got anywhere by not leaving their house. I have learned that the way to make it happen for yourself is to just do it.
I was homeless as a teenager and an 8th grade drop out. I got my GED at 15 and I began school at Seattle Central at 16. School was a lot back then and I didn’t know how to do it so I dropped out and worked for Denny’s until my hands fell apart. So, I back to school again. This time it made a lot more sense to me and I was able to earn a bachelors degree, and then attend, participate and graduate from three different masters degree programs.
It really is about not giving up.
My goal, ultimately, is to leave the world a better place than how i found it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.themeghannestoreyproject.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meghannestoreymusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMeghanneStoreyProject
- Twitter: @Meghanne_Storey
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYIwGQ_z0PYoyn1T-ogdbzw
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/danomg-h
Image Credits
All Photo Credit goes to Melody Sitarzewski-Ybarra @DesignerMelOriginal on Instagram and Facebook