We recently connected with Annie Leeth and have shared our conversation below.

Annie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Yes! I have been lucky enough to be able to work full-time creatively for the last few years. I started working after graduation as a studio engineer and session violinist at Chase Park Transduction, as well as a live sound engineer at a few venues around Athens. I had been building up small jobs over the course of my last year at college, so what started as a job or two slowly accumulated until it was enough for me to truly call myself a freelancer. From there, I worked as a house assistant engineer to Ben Allen at Maze Studios in Atlanta for a little over two years, during which I got to really hone in my engineering and production skills. I left Atlanta to return to Chase Park feeling prepared and confident that I knew how to run a killer session. The timing of returning to freelance also worked out well because it allowed me to start touring in Faye Webster’s band as her keyboardist and violinist!

The growth process has been exhausting at times, but I’m so grateful for where it has left me today. If you’re taking on multiple projects, staying on top of them and remaining communicative to everyone is key. On top of that, being open to new opportunities and people is what I believe has pushed me forward as a musician and person. Everyone has something to teach you or an interesting story worth listening to!

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 am a music producer, violinist, keyboardist, and artist!

I went to the University of Georgia for Music Performance and Composition, during which I also started the Music Business Certificate program which led to an internship at Chase Park Transduction. I started being asked to play violin on some of the albums that were being recorded there, as well as learned a ton about production. In the summer of 2018, I went to the Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio to fill in some of the gaps that had been present in my understanding of engineering, and started booking sessions at Chase Park. I worked there for all of my senior year before moving to Atlanta to be the house assistant engineer and studio manager at Maze Studios. I moved back to Athens this past December to be an engineer as well as the studio manager at Chase Park Transduction. My main work currently is providing string sections to songs, both remotely and in studio, as well as studio engineering, production and touring.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I moved to Atlanta, I was pretty dead-set on just engineering. I wanted to engineer as much as possible to make up for lost time, as I had just been in the field for a couple of years. However, I realized as time went on that I really missed the variety that freelance life gave me. I was missing the balance of performer and engineer that had been building previously, and I realized that I love waking up and potentially having something completely different on my plate than the day before. As much as I am extremely thankful for the opportunity and time that I was given in Atlanta, I knew that I had been happy in the situation I was in before and finally decided to listen to myself.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I realize that NFT’s are a huge conversation generally so I’m only going to speak on my personal experience with them: as someone who’s still trying to build their portfolio, I find NFT’s to be pretty frustrating at times. Though I realize that there are real monetary opportunities for creators, there have been times where I’ve been part of a team that was unable to show their work (a music video, recording, etc.) because the final product was being sold as an NFT. How do you broadcast your accomplishments and build your portfolio if the final product can’t exist publicly? I was taught that, as a new person in the industry, one of the main ways to grow is by taking on projects and showcasing them. It’s almost as if you’re taking away the smallest thing they have left, “exposure”.

Contact Info:

• Website: annieleeth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annie.leeth/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annie.leeth
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-leeth-018329ba

Image Credits
Stephen Payne, Andrew Huang