We recently connected with Alyssa Walker and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Alyssa , thanks for joining us today. Are you happy a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
Being a full time musician definitely has its pros and cons. Nothing beats being able to do what you love for a living, and with gigging I get to pick my own hours and only work about 4-5 hours at a time. The adrenaline that comes from performing in front of a crowd is something I have become addicted to as I have continued to perform. However, I still have a lot of mixed feelings about continuing to do music full time. I was a music major in college for three years before deciding to switch to sociology with a minor in music. It was really hard for me because it felt like I was giving up on my dream, but I also felt that it would be more useful for me to get a degree in something other than music in case I didn’t want to do music full time. A few months ago, I started subbing in elementary school classrooms. As hard as subbing can be, I feel that I have developed a love for teaching and would love to become a teacher and do music as well. Having summers off as a teacher and only working until 3pm would allow me to still live my musical dream, but also give me structure that I have been lacking as a musician. I have the utmost respect for people who do music full time because you have to be very productive and time-efficient to be successful. I want to take the rest of this year to do music full time and see if I can maintain this lifestyle as a career, but I am leaning towards teaching because I really enjoy it and I feel like I am more productive with my music when I am busy in other parts of my life.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a singer-songwriter and guitar player who primarily plays pop, country, and rock. I started playing music when my grandmother bought me my first guitar at age 6. She taught me the basics and we would go sing and play guitar for my classes in elementary school. I had always written songs a little bit, but wasn’t serious about it until 8th grade, when I used songwriting as a way to cope with my crippling anxiety at the time. In high school I performed at my first open mic and have been performing professionally ever since! I always try to play popular songs as well as different genres throughout my set so there is something for everyone in the audience.
I have also recorded 12 original songs and have 3 music videos. I think what sets me apart from others is my willingness to be vulnerable and write songs that have deep meanings. I have written songs about anxiety, Covid, abusive relationships, heartbreak, and more. My goal is for others to relate to my songs, and hopefully help people realize they are not alone in the way they might be feeling.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding thing about being a musician is seeing how I can impact others, whether they are listening to my original music or enjoying my covers at a gig. I have had young girls come up to me at shows and tell me that I have inspired them to learn guitar or to start writing songs. Once for a class I was subbing for one of the students wrote me a note saying that hearing about how I get to fulfill my musical dream is so inspiring and makes her more motivated to be successful in school and find out what her own passion is. Knowing I have the power to make even one person’s day a little bit better through my music is so fulfilling and never gets old.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Growing up with anxiety/panic disorder, I was always really ashamed of it. I thought I was a freak and whenever I had sleepovers and friends would ask why I took medicine, I would always say it was allergies. I wasn’t until high school when one of my close friends talked so openly about her experience with anxiety and medication, that I realized that maybe mental illness was more common than I thought. I wrote my song “Anxiety” and was very nervous to release it, but when I did, I was overwhelmed by how well it was received. What I have learned is that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of and I hope that I helped other people realize that by releasing that song. I had always thought that I was the only one who was struggling and that other people would think I was crazy, so that is something I have definitely unlearned.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alyssawalkermusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alyssawalkermusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alyssawalkermusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/alyssawalkermusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/156ygOBbO11pf6X4XuOQKf
Image Credits
Ava Cantrell Donna Coleman