We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Garrison Bailey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Garrison, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

A risk I have taken was deciding to stop waiting for permission to write, record and produce my own albums. Society reminds us, especially women that we must wait for someone else to do it for us. be it change our own tire, paint our own house or lay down wood floors for example. The roles of women in society have always been of the “I am just a girl, so I am expected to birth babies, serve my husband and not make waves.” Screw that I say! I knew from a very young age that I would do great things. I grew up with people around me constantly telling me that I was not good enough, I should accept mediocrity, I was not talented etc. I bought into that mindset for a long time but the fire inside me to create music and entertaining content burned very brightly. One day in 2022, I said fuck it, I am going to purchase a home recording studio and see what I can come up with. That was the most fun I have ever had in my whole life. I wrote, recorded, produced and released my record Secret Superwoman and that year I had an awesome album release party, and the album was nominated for a San Diego Music Award for best R&B, Soul or Funk Album. I had given up what the expectation was for me to remain docile and quiet. I had given up caring if someone did not like me or they didn’t like my music. I had given up caring if I offended someone by doing things on my own and my way. Once I let go of everyone else’s expectations, I thrived, emotionally, professionally and musically. I have since written and produced 10 albums and two have been nominated for a San Diego Music award two years in a row. My advice-Do YOU!

Garrison, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My father was absent for most of my life. He was an alcoholic and a gifted musician The gift that he left me was his talent. My mother was a drug user, and I always felt that she was very jealous of me. She was never supportive of my musical ability or my singing. She hated the fact that I was gay and let me know this daily. When I was 12 years old the boy across the street had a drum set. I let him kiss me for 12 seconds and he let me play his drums for 10 minutes while his mom was at the store. I was hooked. When I told my mom that I wanted to play drums she said no because it would make me gay. I was 12. I did not come out fully until I was 36 years old. She allowed me to play the saxophone, so I played that all through school and on into my adult years in the United Pentecostal Church. Again, I was denied the ability to play drums in the church because I was told it is vulgar for a woman to play drums because her legs had to be spread. How is that for sick minds? I played anyway. I would sneak into the church and use wooden spoons from the kitchen. The Spanish church finally let me start playing for them during their services. I moved to Sedona AZ in 1998 and met the most amazing musicians. They welcomed me into their community, and I would go to the Laughing Coyote Bar every Thursday night for Open Mic. A man named Grateful Fred ran it and he was also the drummer. He would tell me to get up there and whatever anyone played, learn to follow along. So, I learned to play drums at open mic, and it was trial by fire. To this day, I can sit with any group and usually find the correct beat or rhythm because of my training with Fred. I was obsessed with playing drums. I always had a drum set in my car and I was ready at the drop of a hat to play for anyone. I was learning to find my singing voice as well. I learned to play drums and sing at the same time because I found that people took me more seriously if I could do both at the same time. Eventually I was hired on as the drummer for The Sammy Davis Band in Sedona. With that band I really honed my drumming skills because I played along to a click track and that made my timing very tight. From there I started my own band called The Groove Kitties and we were a 3-piece band, and we were killing it in Sedona. I really honed my singing and drumming skills in that band. In the spirit of full disclosure regarding a hard subject, I was raped by the guitar player in that band and subsequently left Sedona and moved back home to San Diego. I immediately started in an all-female band called Haute Flash and what a fun band that was. The most talented women ever! Then I started in another Groove Kitties Band, but this one was all female as well. After being in this band for about a year, I was told that I would no longer be welcomed in the band if I did not take drum lessons because they were worried every night on stage what type of train wreck musically, I would cause. I was floored. I started to cry right there at the table because I was a bit crushed as this blindsided me. It was not done kindly; it was mean spirited, and it has affected me every day since. I left that band and stopped playing drums for a long time. Even today when I look at a drum set, I can hear those words, and it makes me doubt myself. Until I sit down at said drum set and fucking crush it! I currently play drums for a band in San Diego called The Resizter’s and they are the best. We do political activist gigs for liberal causes. I feel loved and supported in this band and the level of talent I am surrounded by not to mention the genuine affection we all have for each other is a beautiful thing.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being creative and being an artist is the results I get when I work on a project. Not the reactions from people but the results of the project. What I mean by that is when I first started, I would do my best with the knowledge that I had and I would live for people’s reactions to my talent, very ego centered. Once I stopped caring about human reactions so much, I realized that I was more moved by the finished project and proud of myself for what I had just accomplished. So before, I thrived on other people feeding my ego, now, I feed my own ego mixed with filling up my soul with the joy of completing an album or a cookbook or a memoir or a movie script with the soundtrack. Of course, I still enjoy positive feedback from people and of course I love the accolades, however, I am okay if none of those come through. Every time I finish a project my heart is full and I wait for the universe to inspire me for the next project, then I jump in full force. I am never crushed by being ignored or even criticism because I just think, “you have nothing to tell me until you’ve done it yourself.” I’ve been ignored most of my life regarding music and now I clap for my damn self.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The goal or mission driving my creative journey was with me the day I was born. It is not something that I sought out, it just always was since I can remember. The goal is to create. The mission is to follow through. The goal is to help people along the way. The mission is to find and keep my peace and creating does that for me. The goal is to make a little money with my art. The mission is to “be so good they can’t ignore you” Steve Martin. The goal is to always be thinking. The mission is to create something that inspires others.

Personally, I would love for my music to be picked up by popular artists. I do not need to go on tour or be on stage, I would rather someone famous buy my songs and they can perform them and just send me the check. I have a horror movie script and soundtrack that I wrote in 2015. I have that out to possibilities every day.
The mission and the goal in my life is to leave behind a little bit of sparkle and music that says “hey, Garrison Bailey was here, and she left her mark on the world!”

Contact Info:

• Instagram: garrisonbaileyofficial
• Facebook: Garrisonbailey
• Youtube: Garrisonbailey
• Other: https://garrisonbailey.bandcamp.com