We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kalie Shorr. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kalie below.

Kalie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I was born and raised in Portland, Maine and started my career very early, playing gigs around town anywhere they’d let me have a microphone. My first “big break” happened when I was a sophomore in high school and had a viral video on YouTube. I got flown out to LA and Nashville to open for the Backstreet Boys and meet with half a dozen record record labels. I was ecstatic, and it made me feel like Hannah Montana. I’ve know I wanted to pursue music since I was 6 or 7, but that was the validation I needed to know that I really did have a shot at making it. I decided to skip college and dive right into the music industry. I wanted to move to Los Angeles, but at the advice of some of my mentors, ended up moving to Nashville instead. I did (and do) truly love Nashville, but it also broke my heart in many ways over the 9 years I lived there. There was rampant sexism in the country music industry, women were simply not getting played on the radio, and I had to overcome my gender everywhere I went. I started testing the boundaries of Nashville pretty early- speaking out on political issues, swearing in my songs, and singing about very real things like addiction, abusive relationships, and my mental health history. After living in Nashville for 5 years, I started to spend more and more time in LA. I loved it so much… I felt like the options were limitless and the things that made me stand out negatively in Nashville were not only accepted, but celebrated. It took me a pandemic and a long-term breakup to finally make the move in 2022. Generally, I don’t believe in regrets or “what ifs”, but it’s impossible to not look back and wonder what my career would’ve looked like if I’d gone straight to LA. There’s simply no way of knowing. But hinking about who I was at 18, moving so far from home with no real plan other than singing until people listened, I don’t know if being even further away in an even bigger city would’ve been what was best. I think everything happened (mostly) on the timeline it was supposed to. Every “could’ve been” might have also been a bullet dodged. I could be someone completely different if I hadn’t spent 10 years cutting my teeth in Nashville, and I genuinely like the woman I am now more than I ever have… and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.

Kalie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a singer-songwriter and creative multi-hyphenate based between Nashville and LA. I got my start in music, which has always been my first love and the through-line of everything I do. I grew up in Maine, writing songs in spiral notebooks and teaching myself how to play Taylor Swift songs until I moved to Nashville at 18 to chase it down for real. I cut my teeth playing songwriter rounds and honky tonks, eventually performing at the Grand Ole Opry over 20 times, and releasing an album (Open Book) that got named one of The New York Times’ Best Albums of the Year. I’ve since evolved into more of a 90s-inspired alt-pop/rock space — think somewhere between Sheryl Crow and Charli XCX — and my new EP My Type comes out August 1.
What ties all my work together is storytelling. Whether it’s through a breakup song or a viral video about the woes of modern dating, I’m always trying to articulate the things we all feel but don’t always say out loud. I’m also really proud of how I’ve built a career that makes space for the full spectrum of who I am — a little loud, a little heartbroken, a little funny, and fully in control of my narrative. I want anyone watching to know that I care deeply about doing things with honesty and intentionality. My brand is bold, emotionally intelligent, sometimes petty, and always rooted in real connection.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding part of being an artist is taking something painful, confusing, or chaotic and turning it into something beautiful or useful. I’ve always processed life through writing, so the fact that those songs can then go out into the world and make other people feel seen is incredible, every time. I don’t think there’s anything more powerful than someone saying “that song said what I couldn’t put into words.”

It’s also incredibly rewarding to build a community around that vulnerability. I write really personally (sometimes even brutally) and instead of that pushing people away, it’s created a space where fans feel safe to show up as their full, messy selves too. That’s the goal. I’m not interested in being untouchably cool or perfect. I want to be real, and I want the art to hold space for the kind of people who need it most.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my audience on social media by being relentlessly myself (sometimes to a fault). I’ve always used the internet as a place to process things in real time, whether that’s a breakup, a lyric idea, or a totally unhinged joke. I started on YouTube doing covers, then slowly grew on Instagram through touring and fan connection, but things really shifted when I started being more personal and leaning into my sense of humor. Instead of just promoting music, I treated social media as an extension of my personality, which made everything feel more organic and less like an ad.

The series that really changed things for me was called Unfamous, where I made darkly funny and brutally honest videos about being in the middle tier of fame. It resonated with a lot of people, especially creatives, and it helped me grow my following while reminding myself not to take the industry too seriously. I think people connect with content that’s self-aware, vulnerable, and specific, especially now that the algorithm favors raw over polished.

My biggest advice is: stop trying to be perfect. You’ll never out-aesthetic someone with a professional video team or millions in marketing, but you can be more honest, more relatable, and more emotionally sharp. Don’t be afraid to share the messy inbetween moments. That’s where the magic usually is.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kalieshorr.komi.io
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kalieshorr
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/kalieshorr
• Twitter: https://x.com/kalieshorr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/kalieshorr