We recently connected with Emily Kidd and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, appreciate you joining 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?

It is a wild life, that’s for sure! At this level, in Nashville, you are so beholden to the venues and booking agents and sometimes you don’t know when or where your next gig is going to be coming from, but so many of us have discussed this and why we do it…we can’t explain it but we just have to. It’s just a part of who we are, being on stage is so painful sometimes, especially in Nashville where many people don’t appreciate the music we love anymore but it is something inside us and we can’t help but love it

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?

When I was in college living in Boston, I was reintroduced to traditional country music by way of an EmmyLou Harris record and at the time I truly felt that I had discovered something that was new and untouched, especially surrounded by so many jazz musicians where I was studying. I had already been writing songs, but they were more like poetry and did not have a ton of structure, and I honestly didn’t have it in my mind that I wanted to be a performer. I was self conscious and felt that my talents would be better as an artist manager, supporting others’ dream and not on the stage. I had a friend who convinced me that my voice and songwriting was worth exploring and that Nashville was a place that I should try my hand.

Moving here changed my life, I have written so many songs that poured out of me and have been able to perform those songs and songs written by other great songwriters on stage to audiences that smiled and sang along and supported me along the way. I’m so proud of the confidence I have found standing on stage and using my voice, and the musicians that have joined my band at various parts of my career so far are some of the most talent people on earth. It’s only getting better the older I get

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to learn that the voice in your head is not always right, sometimes it will give you all the excuses that something is not worth doing and you have to fight it. Being a woman especially, sometimes we’re conditioned to think if we don’t look a certain way or think a certain way that no one will be interested in what we have to say but that could not be further from the truth. As cheesy as it sounds, the things that you think make you too different to fit the mold are the things that resonate with the audience the most.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

As far as the music industry goes, any kind of merch or tickets that you can buy from the artists you love and want to support is crucial! These streaming services seem to be an essential part of the music industry now, but they take advantage of every aspect of an artists creativity and workload. It is expensive to make music that sounds good. Outside of just writing your songs, you have to pay players, sound engineers, studios, producers, mixing and mastering engineers all to release digitally to Spotify where we make a fraction of a cent per stream. If you’re in Nashville, always tip the bands. If your favorite artists put out a new shirt or record, buy it! The financial support we can get at this level means everything, it’s hard out here for artists!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/emilykiddmusic

Image Credits
Photo with blue guitar goes to Duende Vision