We were lucky to catch up with Abigayle Kompst recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Abigayle, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I wish I could remember who exactly gave me the piece of advice that changed my career as a creative forever. I was sitting in a college lecture hall listening to a panel of songwriters when one of them said “in order to be the noun, you have to do the verb”. I was a sophomore at the time… still figuring out what it really meant to be a songwriter. Shortly after this inspiring panel, I began writing over 100 songs a year. Not only was this revolutionary for my songwriting muscles and overall craft, but for the first time I really felt like a songwriter. And people really saw me as one too.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m an indie-folk singer/songwriter based in Nashville. Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, I grew up doing community theater, playing classical guitar, and singing in choirs. In 2018, I moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University where I fell in love with co-writing, the music business, and creating my own artist project. Four-years and a global pandemic later, I graduated with a degree in songwriting. My songs have brought to songwriting festivals and contests all over the country. I’ve even been lucky enough to win a few. My goal with music is to bring cooler and cooler opportunities to my treasured friends and collaborators. We have so much fun writing and recording on each others projects, booking DIY tours and more. I just want to continue to make opportunities for people to do what they love at a professional level.
I just put out my second EP. It’s called “Recovering Optimist”. Co-produced by myself and Chris Donlin. I’m really excited about what we came up with! There are also two music videos out now! One is a very diy stop motion by yours truly, The other was shot by my older brother Oliver. He’s a talented cinematographer. And his friend Jon Lee imagined, scripted, and directed the video.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Join email lists! Go to shows! Watch music videos! Share the music that you love with people you love! Buy merch when you can! Music and art is something that you can’t put a price on so doing anything you can do to recognize the value that music brings to our lives is so important.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I don’t know if this shows resilience or just blind faith haha but this past September I had the opportunity to go on tour with my trio. We packed my Honda Civic full with a drum kit, two guitars, an amp, merch, personal bags and three people, for a 7 show/8 day tour up the east coast. We played a mix of bar gigs and listening rooms. All the shows were booked by myself or by a friend in the area. Jake Fine was instrumental in creating some really awesome DC area shows!! Met some great bands there– Holiday Video Star, Daphne Eckman, Still Fine. The Shirt Factory in Lititz, PA was another great place to play! So many nice people. You could hear a pin drop while we played to a room of strangers.
So I guess this isn’t really a story of resilience because all the little hicups you have to “push through” on the road become so unimportant when you get to share original music with people who really appreciate it. My friend and fellow songwriter John Hewitt tours a lot, a lot and shared some advice with me before I left on this adventure. He said “once you’re on the road, don’t worry about anything”… don’t worry about who is going to show up, or the car, or if the air bnb is going to be okay. Somehow I was able to embody this advice and I’ve never had an easier time rolling with punches. I felt so present and joyful. Now I’m back in Nashville and keep getting toll fees in the mail so I’m a little less joyful haha but I’m hoping that stops soon.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.abigaylekompst.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abigaylekompst
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbigayleRoseKompst/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJvhSiLHzQ-7ZAl8-Q83ZGw
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/AbigayleKompst https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3kuV3VC3tI&feature=youtu.be https://youtu.be/n9r8pTNEP_4?si=BlYqsjagv5xoo9xB
Image Credits
Christina Coleman James Krauland Mitchell Multimedia