We were lucky to catch up with Haley Joyner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Haley, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Thank you so much for having me ! I feel that I’ve always had a love and passion for music/the arts but there was a specific moment in my adolescence that solidified in my mind that this was the career for me. I remember back in 2017, I had one of my first performances as a singer. At the time I was attending the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, receiving vocal lessons with my former vocal coach and mentor Sherry Wilson Butler. On this specific day was the Clef Club’s winter showcase, which gave all of the students a chance to showcase their talents and to show the progress that they’ve made in their lessons. I would be performing the song ” Summmertime” by George Gershwin. I was extremely nervous… nervous about the reaction of the crowd, my family seeing me perform for the first time, the possibility of me forgetting a lyric or singing something out of tune. So many thoughts were running through my mind …until I hit the stage! As soon as I stepped into the spotlight I felt like a completely different person. All of the nerves, overthinking and self-doubt left my body. I performed my piece, and the crowd gave me a standing ovation! My family and my vocal coach were so proud of me. I got so many compliments from the audience. I was filled with an overwhelming feeling of joy and satisfaction, and that is when I knew that I wanted to continue pursuing my singing/performing career!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. Ever since I was the age of 4, i’ve loved music. I particularly enjoyed old-school songs that my parents would play. I admired/ still admire artists such as Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and countless other old-school icons. What gravitated me to these specific artists were the uniqueness in their voices, the emotion and obvious effort that they put into each and everyone of their songs, and the use of instrumentation in each of their songs. These were qualities that I either found similar to myself or that I aspired to incorporate into my own artistry. I attended Franklin Learning Center high school as a Vocal Performance Major and Musical Theatre minor. I’ve attended the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts from 2017-2022 where I received vocal lessons and some theory classes.My favorite genres of music are Jazz, Neo-Soul, R&B and Classical, but I appreciate and am open to learning all genres as well as music in different languages. I am now in my sophomore year in college at the University of the Arts as a Vocal Performance Major and Music Business, Entrepreneurship & Tech. Minor. I’ve also rebranded myself as an artist, changing my artist name from my birth name Haley Joyner to the name Junee’ (which is my middle name!) The creative work that I provide is vocals (both main and background), poetry, and currently I am working towards providing arranging/creative musical direction, recording and live sound production, and vocal coaching/lessons. I believe that what sets me apart from others is my ability to be my most authentic and unapologetic self not only in my career path but also my everyday life… being unapologetically me in whatever space I step in and in my interactions with everyone that I meet. This is something about myself that I am greatly proud of and also something that I encourage my potential clients, followers and fans to do as well… be the most unapologetic and authentic versions of themselves as they can, regardless of the negative opinions of those around them.

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

A lesson that I’ve had to unlearn as an artist is that “good things come to those who wait”. This is a lesson that I do find a bit of truth in but have learned it is not the best way to go about getting the things that you want in life. I have been told this by various friends and family members. At first I did take this advice and tried waiting for the things that I wanted in life to eventually come to me, but very soon after I realized that by waiting I was getting very little to no results. So then I decided to really work at the things that I wanted in my life, career, relationships, etc. and that’s when I started to see significant results and progression in the goals that I wanted to accomplish. So for the most part I do believe that “good things come to those who wait” is a lesson that should be unlearned, but I also believe that that lesson could be applied after putting in the hard work and dedication in whatever goal you’re aiming towards, because I do feel as though patience is also a big part in your journey to success.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

To me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to positive influence/impact the lives of others! There have been many instances where people who have seen me perform in person or on social media have reached out to me and not only told me how much they love what I do , but they’ve also told me that by watching me and my journey, it has encouraged them to pursue their dream careers. When I hear those things it almost brings me to tears of joy because one of my main goal in life is to help others conquer their fears and to pursue their dreams no matter how hard their upbringing or circumstances are. Being able to use my creativity and my craft to become the change that I want to see in the world and those around me means so much to me!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/junee.songs
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/junee.songs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/junee.junee.336?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JuneeSongz
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQlW5ZjuYMqtxcSLF5r6IeQ

Image Credits
Kiara Love, Jerome McGritt, Hailey Jackson