Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eleese Meschery. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Eleese thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

During the pandemic, my husband and I hosted a few porch concerts for friends and family. We first held one for just our kids in our backyard and streamed it online. Further into the pandemic, we began hosting shows on our front porch and neighbors and friends gathered on our street. We chose local charities to raise money for. It was never much, but it felt like something we could do for our community. Many friends and neighbors thanked us months afterwards about how it had helped them during that time. We were all feeling isolated and alone so to come together for music while also contributing to others in need felt like were were making a difference, even in a small way.

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 live in Madison TN on the east side of Nashville with my husband, 3 boys, 2 dogs and a lizard. I was born in Nashville and grew up mostly in Florida and North Carolina. I moved out west to the Bay Area after college where I first began pursuing a career in the arts.

Currently, I have a band with my husband called Brand New Heartache, but I also teach music to young children which is my “day job”, but it’s a day job that I really love. My work with kids started after college when I got a job working with shy kids in elementary schools in San Francisco. It was an art and play therapy based program, and I felt fortunate to find something that called on my own creativity and helped kids to build self confidence and self discovery. A few years ago I was asked to be a teacher for Little Folkies, a folk music program primarily for kids ages 0-3. I fell in love with teaching babies, toddlers and preschoolers and also bringing together a community of parents with traditional and original folk music. I started teaching in the Bay Area but was excited to bring these classes to East Nashville as a franchise when we moved! Since I’ve been in Nashville, I have been doing pop-ups around town at Farmer’s Markets and different events. I also started teaching one-on-one classes for Melodia Studio, a local studio offering music classes for kids – also owned and operated by an independent musician.

I think something that helps me to connect with kids is that I try to meet them where they are. I’m truly inspired by encouraging kids to move to their own natural rhythm and joy in music. My classes and one=on-one sessions are highly interactive, using methods grounded in play-based therapy, as well as the communal idiom of traditional folk music. But it goes beyond the kids. I love that parents have a day and time to meet in my classes and sing together, and often new parents exchange info and get together outside of classes too!

The music that my husband and I have been working on with our project called Brand New Heartache is also about bringing people together. Our songs are generally about the ups and downs of being in a relationship, often highly personal, but also very relatable. It’s hard to find time to be creative, be a parent and partner, and an independent business person, but I care deeply about all of those aspect of my life so I do my best to manage my time (and my patience), learning and growing as much as I can. Every time I can connect with a child, parent or anyone who hears one of my songs, it makes it all worth it.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

There was a time when I was pursuing acting in film/tv very seriously. I had an agent in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. I was also recently married and was trying to start a family. I was driving or flying back and forth from LA for auditions almost weekly and then working nights as a server and bartender. It was an exciting but stressful time. While trying to have a baby, I suffered two miscarriages in a row. I was devastated. I went to an acupuncturist who focused on fertility, and they told me what I instinctively knew – my body was stressed and depleted. I knew I had to make a change. I scaled back on the acting and focused on self care for the next 6 months. It helped! Six months later we became pregnant and we were able to have our first son. I never went back to acting in the same way. I started taking voice and guitar lessons. On Mother’s Day after we had our second boy, my husband bought me my first guitar, and while I still do acting, I’m much more focused on music and teaching these days.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Recently another singer/songwriter friend and I decided that we would complete the book, “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity,” by Julia Cameron. This is a book for creatives that teaches techniques and exercises to help people feel confident in pursuing their artistic life. We had both found out about the book in our early twenties but never had made it through the entire thing. Each week we would meet on a zoom or phone call to discuss chapters and the different discoveries we had made. This was such an inspiring and empowering exercise and I cannot speak enough about how important it is in your creative journey to surround yourself with others who are on a similar path.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brandnewheartache.com, www.littlefolkies.com, www.melodiastudio.com
• Instagram: @emeschery @brandnewheartacheband
• Facebook: Eleese Longino Meschery, Brand New Heartache
• Youtube: Brand New Heartache Music

Image Credits
headshot: Tracy Allison, first shot in series of 8 @fullcirclecanine, last couple shot Tracy Allison