We recently connected with Kathy Zimmer and have shared our conversation below.
Kathy, appreciate you joining us 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?
An adage I always reference is, “When you take a leap of faith, the universe rewards you.” I grew up in farm country, rural Nebraska in a large musical family. There aren’t really any professional musicians in rural Nebraska… there are music educators, and there are a lot of volunteer musicians, but I’m sure when I told people there that I wanted to make a living as a musician, they didn’t put much stock in the idea. But who could blame them, when there’s no reference around for such a thing? I don’t know why I thought it would be possible, as I had no reference around either! But somehow I thought I could do it. I went to undergrad for music performance (not anything else tangential to music, PERFORMANCE!) and then went on to grad school at a music conservatory. I did have to move, first to Cleveland for the master’s degree, and then to NYC because it promised possibilities, and I’d say those were my initial leaps of faith. After I was able to do that, I knew somehow I’d always land on my feet–I’d proven it to myself. Once in NYC, though I had a variety of temp office jobs and etc., I never let myself forget why I’d taken those initial leaps of faith to begin with, and I was determined to make a living solely off of music. Long story short, I perform and program music in a variety of genres for several churches in Manhattan, I maintain a studio of private music students, and I have a band for which I am the singer/songwriter/guitarist. I’m not done taking leaps of faith, because I believe in them–if you really believe you have what it takes to do a certain job that you really want to do, then trust, and take the plunge!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I always knew that I wanted to make music, and in trying to become the best musician I could be, I was led in the right direction for myself. My desire to figure out how to use my voice to sing repertoire I wanted to sing gave me the curiosity to learn as much as I could about singing. A performer’s primary goal really should be to communicate successfully, so in learning about the voice and then learning how to communicate (both through performing and just relating to people in general), I was able to teach–to impart technique and ideas to lots of different personalities who respond to different approaches. I think having an earnest desire to communicate is also what draws people to me as a musician/performer… I try to write songs from an authentic place, I sing honestly and desire to relate with a listener. We’re all only human, after all, and we all have the same desires, needs, wants… so I just try to speak to that. People recognize me as a unique artist because I speak authentically from MY truth, in order to relate with someone else’s. I try to speak to people on a basic heart & soul level… one can be cerebral too in art, but if we’re not speaking to hearts & souls, it feels empty!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is always to speak to souls using art. I read an interview once with Jeff Buckley (musician) who said that people forget that they’re souls, they get caught up in the tangible and logical realm of things and forget that they exist on a deeper level too. Once an artist is able to engage with someone on that deeper level, then healing can happen, or soothing, or inspiring, or… any number of things. I’m just always trying to reach people there, whether through performing or teaching, and figure out a way to make a living doing that!
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Society just needs to recognize the worth of art and artists, and compensate them accordingly. A member of society acts differently, carries themselves differently when they’re in a beautiful environment, whether that environment is filled with music that elevates, or visual art that inspires, or what have you. I always think about the old Penn Station in NYC with this, the one that was torn down in the early 60s (if you don’t know about this, google it!) It was a gorgeous space designed to last for hundreds of years but was torn down for a more modern building after only a couple decades of existence. As commuters traveled through this original space on their way to work or back home or etc., one felt like they were special, to be worth having such beautiful surroundings just to be transported from point A to point B. But people in charge who had money didn’t recognize the worth of the space, and in tearing it down and replacing it with a far inferior structure, art was lost and travelling through Penn Station has taken a toll on commuters ever since! Art makes life a lot better, if people allow it. And the people who make the best art should be paid in the same way that we pay, say, professional athletes. Just because the effect of the arts is intangible doesn’t mean it’s not a real thing, it’s just a little harder to measure.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://kathyzimmermusic.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/katzimbomb
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/cosmofolk
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-zimmer-610974273/
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/@katzimboom
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kathyzimmer
- Other: https://found.ee/k4qhN
Image Credits
Holly Turner, Rogelio Penaverde, Adrian Buckmaster