We were lucky to catch up with Cian Pedersen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

As an artist for a long time I had to have a regular job on the side. For me I knew that there wasn’t anything else I’d rather do because being up on stage never felt like work. I get paid to do what I love. That being said I remember the advice another artist gave me where they said “if there’s anything/any job you can think of where you would feel just as passionate and would love doing you should do that” I didn’t take that as a bad view. You have to be okay with the roller coaster of a journey this way of life brings. It’s unstable a lot of the time. I know there’s nothing else that would come close to feeling of stepping on stage.

Cian , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I came up to Nashville in 2016 from Katy, Texas to pursue writing for other people. I was playing acoustic gigs full time back home at a few restaurants and dive bars when I realized if I didn’t make the jump then I didn’t know if I ever would. What I think sets me apart up here is I gravitate more towards the red dirt Texas style of Country music. I also have a love for the production side of things. For my first single “Rest of Texas” it had this Rock vibe that we were leaning into but I also got to bring in a fiddle on the track. I feel that I found a unique feeling of country where I can blend all three genres of Western, Country, and Rock all into one.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first starting out putting out music I barely got a 1,000 steams on Spotify alone. And I mean that it took 2-3 years for one of my songs to hit 1,000 plays. I had to take a step back and really get into writing and learning what it meant to write for other people. In 2021 me and my good buddy and fellow writer Trent Glaser sat down and wrote Rest of Texas and I finally felt like I found a song that was me as an artist. I dropped it in January 2022 and it’s now sitting at over 300,000 streams with my second single trailing behind it. This for me is literally proof of never giving up. Even if it doesn’t go anywhere now and dies back down I hit a mark that I personally didn’t know I would ever hit.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It all comes down to feeling for me. It’s never been the money or attention. The best reward is the feeling and I can only explain it as close to flying in a sense whenever I step into a room with other writers and we start getting down a song that we’re all pumped about (I mean like someone will throw out a line and some of us act like we just ran a 100 yard touch down) and the minute me and the band hit the first chord on stage. It’s this feeling of being invincible and seen at the same time. There’s no easy way to explain it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/cpedersenmusic?fbclid=PAAabd-HyQbvJIEbnRngswN42izAEqydrE3sOPf7TKn_rieJ-97xmpiZAroOE
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/cpedersenmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGDN5YCOSz1TwWx1yyIcftg
• Other: http://cianpedersenmerch.com/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/55iTDt1OrQMIHMNKHUPAaQ

Image Credits
Tory Grace Garrett Hayes