Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Abigail Rose. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Abigail, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
I started professionally pursuing a career as a songwriter and performing artist when I was around 13 years old. I have very supportive parents but they always made it clear I was the one steering the ship. I admire my younger self’s confidence and tenacity but I sometime’s wonder what it would have been like if I let making music stay a hobby a little while longer. I think growing up in a city like Nashville made that tricky because this is the town artists and songwriters come to, to turn their art into a career. I also think without me even knowing it I was buying into this idea the industry likes to plant in your mind that you can only be successful if you’re young (specifically related to female artists). I hope this goes without saying but that is not true. Thank God I feel like that is becoming less and less a focal point.
At the end of the day I am very grateful for my journey that has led me to where I am now but if I were to give advice to young aspiring musicians, or really anyone in a creative field, I would say give yourself time to grow and put all your energy into becoming your most authentic creative self before anything else.
Abigail, 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?
I am a songwriter and performing artist who is finally releasing the music I have been dreaming about sharing since I was a little kid. Music that fully represents my authentic voice.
I feel in love with songwriting when I was very young. My parents tell me I was making up my own songs around 2 years old. Around 5 I was lining up my dolls and teddy bears to perform shows for them. When I was 10 I asked for a guitar after seeing a video of a Sheryl Crow concert. I was in awe of her writing, performing & musicianship. By the time I was 13 I was out playing every open mic night I could. Growing up in Nashville absolutely impacted how I got into the music industry. I remember BMI (a performing rights organization responsible for helping songwriters get paid their royalties) played a big role in helping me build community in this town, connecting me with some of my first co-writers.
For many years I was in the constant pursuit of ‘my sound’. Which I guess if you’re doing it right, you never really stop being in pursuit of art that feels authentic to yourself. There was a lot of trial and error. I was writing and performing as much as possible, working with tons of different songwriters and producers. I am very proud I never settled. I was always trying to dig deeper and be more honest in my writing. I’m proud I kept going. There were times when I was frustrated by the process and doubted myself but I kept going.
Around 2022 is when everything started clicking into place creatively (for context that’s around 15 years after I picked up the guitar for the first time). My producer, Mike Lohmeier and I started working together. We had been in a relationship for 7 years but before then never tried making music together. One day that all changed. I had played him a song I wrote called Edges and he said he immediately heard production ideas. On a random morning around a week later he asked me if I wanted to pack up all our music equipment, drive to the desert and see what happened. I said absolutely as I was already packing my bag. Our only goal was to make something we loved listening to and had fun making. I hope that is something any possible listener can feel… this music was born from a place of so much love and joy. I quickly realized I was uncovering songs I had always been searching for. Songs I felt like my younger self knew I would one day create and the hope of these possible songs always kept me going. This set us off on a year long journey making music together.
We were living in LA at the time and our process became leaving the city to go somewhere out in nature to create. Sometimes we’d go back to the desert or to the mountains or to a ranch in Northern California in an area called Surprise Valley. The nature I was surrounded by heavily influenced my music, as well as creating with someone I deeply trust.
The main thing I hope any listener of my music knows is how proud I am to share these songs and how grateful I am for any time you spend listening. If you ever get a chance to come experience them live at one of my shows I would be honored. This music was meant for the stage and the only thing that brings me more joy than creating music is sharing it live in concert.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I highly recommend The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. It is a 12 week course book that I heavily attribute to helping me unlock the creativity that was always inside me. I completed it back in 2022 and still do the ‘morning pages’ every morning (well almost every morning).
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
There’s nothing more rewarding than getting to do what I love, which is creating & sharing music. Is it a privilege to pursue what I feel like I was put on this earth to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.abigailrosemusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theabigailrose
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbigailRoseMusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AbigailRoseMusic
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/abigailrose?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
- Other: Spotify-https://open.spotify.com/artist/2CraSvnAIaUnmEaNEVBwYd?si=jpNJApKdTeuA1A2pCstUsA
TikTok-https://www.tiktok.com/@theabigailrose
Image Credits
Abby Johnson
Mike Lohmeier
Addison Mills
Brooke Jennings
Jacquline Justice