We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jean Ann Garrish a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jean Ann, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?
I feel truly fortunate to be an artist. Although, I always feel slightly cringy when I use that word to describe myself. I think the word artist carries a pretension with it that I don’t fully resonate with. Perhaps, it feels a bit cocky calling myself that. So in my mind, I should only be described as one when it comes from someone else. But maybe I just feel like a fraud calling myself an artist, because I don’t make a living from my art (not yet). So, I prefer to call myself a storyteller. And I don’t have to wonder what it would be like to have a regular job because I have one of those as well. I have a full time job and use my ‘me’ time to create, though the goal has always been to be a full time creative.
Being a creative/storyteller feels like a gift to me. I have an outlet to express myself. I get to take my experiences (good and bad), be curious and ask big questions. I have the opportunity to use my feelings, or the events of the world, and create something that will hopefully connect with another human. To make someone feel seen, and a little less alone. I honestly can’t think of a better way to live my life.
Jean Ann, 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 was born and raised in the shadow of NYC, on Long Island, NY, so I pretty much know every lyric to every Billy Joel song. As a kid, I could be found dancing and singing in my basement, and putting on shows with the neighbor’s kids in our backyards. But when I was 10 years old, my parents took me to Lincoln Center. Watching Patti LuPone on that stage, acting, dancing and singing her face off? That was it, I was hooked, and I knew what I wanted to do. In high school, I took my voice out of the basement and started singing publicly. After college, I started auditioning, but when the few stories I was hired to tell no longer spoke to me, I decided I should start telling them myself. In 2012, my niece Nicole passed, and I knew I couldn’t hold back any longer. Time waits for no one. So, I dove into my work and haven’t looked back.
Since then, I’ve written, produced, directed and performed in the comedic web series “Composing Life”. I also wrote its soundtrack with my band Red Wine + Whiskey. I’ve released 2 solo EPs, “Rise Up and Other Musical Thoughts for these Times” and “Perpetually Broken”; as well as a few singles. My latest release, “Choose Me” was an experiment, where I tried to write a song and let go of the audience’s expectations, or their response, and write only what I wanted to hear and sing. I wanted to be free from the influence of any musical trend, and focus solely on what fed me, thus choosing myself above anything else. I documented that journey and released episodes each week on my social media platforms up until the single’s release. I’m not sure if I truly succeeded but it did result in two versions of the same song, one more of a pop uptempo and the other, a stripped down acoustic vibe .
My latest experiment, and I like to call them experiments because I never know if I can achieve what I hope, or what it will look like when it’s “finished” or what it will do out in the world, is in its infancy phase. However, this experiment does involve an audience. I’m asking people, if they feel called to do so, to share their feelings or stories with me and if I resonate with them enough to believe I can do their story justice, I’ll write a song inspired by them. I really want to connect with more people, so I’m not only writing about my struggles or broken heart. I think it would be helpful to get out of my own head for a while, and who knows what effect it will have. I’m honestly not sure if I’ll be able to do it but I feel excited to try. I’m calling the project “Songs are our Stories”. So, if anyone would like to share their story, they can DM me or email me at: songsareourstories@gmail.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
When I first began this journey, I just wanted to perform. It didn’t matter what it was, really. But the older I get (and without revealing my current age, I can tell you, I’m not considered ‘young’ anymore, especially in this business) I see and feel just how terribly women over the age of 35 are treated in this society. As if a certain number is a societal death sentence. I feel more love and more confidence, more worth and more joy than I did in my twenties. And I 100% feel I have more to offer the world and to my relationships than I did back then as well. So I think my work is now reflecting these things. Yes, I’m writing them for myself, but if I can reach anyone, particularly women, and let them know they are not alone in feeling cast aside, unwanted and unseen, I hope I can. I want to be an expander for other women to know that your life is not over when you blow out 40 candles. You can change directions and start again, if that’s what you desire. You have so much worth, so please keep going and don’t listen to what anyone else thinks.. And if by some miracle, I can contribute to the changing of some minds in this culture, all the struggle, disappointments and heartache will have been worth it.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
After I performed “Choose Me” for the first time in front of a live audience, an older (no, let’s say, more wise) woman came up to me and thanked me. She said she had felt those feelings and the song really touched her. Also hearing from other people that a song I’d written resonated with them as they were dealing with a break up and helped them feel through it. That is why I want to do this. It’s the connection that art forges. I know just how important music and stories, whether stage or screen, have helped me in my life, and if I can give back to an audience in any small way, that is the magic. That is a gift. How lucky am I to get to do this?
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jeananngarrish.net
- Instagram: @jeananngarrish
- Twitter: @jeananngarrish
- Youtube: @jeananngarrish
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6uHiRhUwtZ3zJGXDUyAh1l?si=HvBTPQ-bRzi5uZP4-nT-lw Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/jean-ann-garrish/1169652563 New project email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Michael Kushner