We recently connected with Goodsonny and have shared our conversation below.

Goodsonny, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew from a very very young age. For as long as I can remember I was dreaming of acting in the biggest movie of the year, singing on stage to thousands of people, having people greet me on the street to tell me my music helped them. As I’ve gotten older I’ve narrowed it down to pretty much just wanting to create in general — regardless of the outcome — which has helped me tremendously. I’ve always wanted to have a deep connection with the people around me and the best way I know how to do that is music.

Goodsonny, 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 have always had music and song writing inside my brain, in my core. Even before I could talk I was singing along to songs on the radio (even if it was just babbling). My parents got me a kids drum set and an electric guitar when I was about 3-5 years old. I never truly tried to learn the instruments though until I was about 12. I bought a real drum set and that’s where my love for music blossomed. I began drumming and then when I was 15 I got my first acoustic guitar and began teaching myself to play. I wrote my first real song when I was 17 as a wedding gift for two of my friends. And in a wild turn of events they asked me to sing it at their wedding! It was my first real performance — and I fell in love.

I’m most proud of the growth I’ve had over the last 5 years. I released my first EP which I have now removed from stores. Not that I didn’t appreciate that music but as I said I have grown. And I’m so excited to be sharing my new sound with everyone! In the last 5 years I’ve also figured out so much about myself. I’ve been able to feel firm in my gender identity like I’ve never felt before. I proudly use They/Them pronouns and hope that it helps listeners feel more included! As a non binary trans person in a southern state pursuing non country music, sometimes you can feel a little on the outside or that you’ve got to push extra hard to get where some others may glide to gracefully, while you trip and fall and hear “no” over and over again. I want to let readers know you’re not alone, and I’m always here to help in any way I possibly can!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When making your art with other creatives, no matter the avenue, but I’m speaking more to music as that’s what I have a background in — you can’t be scared to voice your needs, wants, and ideas. While it is amazing that other creatives will take time from their own busy schedules to help you, it doesn’t mean you’re completely at their mercy. You still need to have some kind of ownership of the art. Speak your mind and push for what you desire to see as the outcome. Don’t worry if things move slowly, and if they aren’t maybe exactly what you imagine as that’s the reason you’re working with another creative! For their insight, input, and ideas. It should be a balance between everyone. A great set of words I heard recently was “don’t judge me for my bad ideas. Judge me from my good ones”. Try to keep that in mind while creating for yourself and anyone you’re working with.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In a perfect world the weight of this question would be on the industry. But in order for that to be true, we’d have to completely remake society as we know it and while that would be ideal, it’s not realistic at this exact moment. So as a society, the people could buy merch from artists, share their drops, their music, their work on socials, BUY THEIR MUSIC! Artist make merely fractions of Pennie’s per stream. While numbers matter in the industry as we know it now, the artists are struggling to feed themselves, to gas up their vans to come perform for you, to keep their phone service on so they can communicate with you. Support them in whatever way can work for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/goodsonnymusic
• Instagram: @goodsonnymusic
• Twitter: @goodsonnymusic
• Tiktok: @goodsonnymusic

Image Credits
The black and white photos and the one of myself and wife not showing our faces are photographed by Ebby L Photography