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

Hi Lacie, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I’ve always known that I would be pursuing a professional path in the arts. At nine years old, I witnessed the genius of Burt Bacharach where I yelled out during the concert: “I’m gonna be you when I grow up!” Music chose me. That may sound silly. It’s true. It’s almost as if, at birth, music came down and settled in my soul. I love every genre of music because there is so much to learn from each. Music is culture and culture is music filled with beautiful rituals and rhythms making up all the styles we know and love. Growing up, we were on a rather tight budget. I feel fortunate that I was able to attend free concerts in the parks, rehearsals in concert halls, master classes from some of the best musicians in the world, and that old buildings would host writers rounds and bluegrass jams. If we weren’t going to see a live performance; we listened to music on the record player (tape player, cd’s, etc) and on television. How I loved watching Broadway performers, opera singers, dancers, and instrumentalists on PBS. Although my path has zigzagged and looks a bit messy, I’m forging my way through the professional realm of music as an educator, songwriter, and performer.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I began my musical training in classical violin. In just a few years, I was playing many other genres of music. From Bluegrass to Rock; acoustic fiddle to a 7 string fretted Viper (electric violin); I was playing it all. In 2008, I won the People’s Choice World Fiddle Championship. I’m still proud of the belt buckle I received. For 10 years, I was the fiddler in a house band for an Opry in Texas, and built orchestra programs. I’ve been a soloist for symphonies and symphonic bands and toured with hit songwriters.

I knew I wanted to pursue higher education within the field of music and I graduated with a BFA in Music Education and Violin Performance. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to tour England, Austria, Germany, and Ireland. Soon I found that had the desire to go back to school. Pursued a Masters in Psychology and a Masters in Ethnomusicology. I’ve always wanted to build my career in academia as well as in performing. I’m currently a professor of psychology and music at three colleges in the Nashville area.

As a fiddler, I’ve had the privilege of touring, performing with, and opening for many big names in the music industry. Songwriting and fiddling have always been my true passions, so I set out on a path to write amazing songs. Within 2022-2023, I’ve had four #1 hit within the World and Euro Indie Charts.

I’ve had the honor of speaking on hit songwriting, global access to music education, Irish music history, and the psychology of music at conventions such as NAMM and Music Cities Conventions.

From national tours, bridal showers, to Nashville Writers Rounds–I just love making music.

My deepest passion is writing songs, performing with others or solo. Hopefully I spark a memory or emotion in the listener. If my music can do that, then I feel I’ve done well.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Where I’m not particularly sure if non-creatives struggle to understand our journey’s or they don’t see the value supporting all artists-the big names, the ones starting out, the ones behind the scenes, and the troubadours. From afar, most people see the top tier of creatives–the one’s that sell out stadiums. The artists that are writing songs, playing in bands, recording parts for albums, touring, and working day in and day out aren’t all being seen. Some think “I’ll go see them when they really make it.” It’s crucial that artists grow a supportive group of organic followers from the very beginning. Today, social media draws majority of followers. Not everyone is on some form of social media. In-person support is vital because there is nothing like the word of mouth–even in a social media world. Support is key.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience. Bouncing back. At times, I don’t feel as resilient as I used to be. We all have this vision of our path to success being this upward climb; never falling down, tripping over rocks, or having to swim upstream. We all know that isn’t reality, yet we still expect an upward climb without obstacles. I look at each day as a fresh start. Some days I’m better at it than others. Every day I must bounce back from my own negative thoughts, words others say, and the ocean that desires to swallow me. I’m good at tripping over my own feet. I could have earned a masters degree in self-sabotage by now. At this moment, I’m going through a time of rebranding. This is taking a lot of new bridge building and strength from within. After having four #1 hit songs sung by other artists, I felt it time to get myself out there as an artist as well as a fiddler/songwriter. I catch myself comparing my story to others. Occasionally, I’ll think about Mozart and how he had this miraculous career for 30 years and died at such a young age. Where I don’t hold the brilliance of Mozart, I often feel the need to rush and be farther into my journey.

Where this isn’t an individual story that illustrates resilience, every day is a story of getting back out there and following my dreams with a solid plan.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.laciecarpentermusic.com
• Instagram: @lacie_blue_music
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fiddlerlacie
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwhcV7diCqbOXvZ7J-pW17A

Image Credits
Photographs by: Lacie Carpenter, Sylvia Carpenter, and Angela Talley.