We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kari Lynch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Kari thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I think when you choose to pursue a career in the entertainment/creative arts industry, you also choose to take on risks throughout your career. You’re choosing a career path in which there is no guarantee that you’ll be successful, no promise that things are going to work the way you want them to and your ability to reach milestones in your career depends on many different factors that you have zero control over. You have to bank on yourself and believe in the art you are creating. You have to sincerely enjoy what you’re doing and you have to find a way to be ok with making mistakes, failing, being disappointed and then trying again.
In the very beginning of my career it was all about taking risks, trying and then trying again, throwing darts in the dark and hoping something sticks. As an independent artist, you’re in charge of every facet of your career. For me, waiting for someone else to come along and do it or “make it happen” for me wasn’t an option, so I had to learn my way through it, try something and if it didn’t work, try something else. Because of this process, I picked up a ton of useful skills that continue to benefit me now in all aspects of my career. I may not have set out to be a booking agent, a PR rep, a social media manager, an agent, a band manager, a production manager…etc., but I didn’t have that team of people to do it for me. I had to learn those skills and take care of those duties on my own if I wanted to maintain my career, continue to improve my art and build my base in an upward motion. Making the decision early on to just go after it with everything I had and if I needed something done, to learn how to do it the best I could and just do it, benefited me greatly and continues to benefit me.
When I was first beginning to make a name for myself as an artist/songwriter/musician, I was also finishing school and had bartending and serving jobs. At one point I knew if I truly wanted to be able to give my music career all of the time and energy required to make a living from it, I was going to have to do just that. I quit my other jobs and made playing shows and pursuing a career in the entertainment industry my full-time job. It was incredibly difficult and painstaking in the beginning; I’m not going to sugar coat it. I was truly so broke and tired ALL the time from working 12-14 hour days. I played a ton of shows (5-7 nights a week) for several years and spent all of the my free time outside of playing live shows, writing songs, booking shows, recording, fine-tuning my “product” and just practicing as much as I could. After the first few years of being a full-time musician at this speed, I was able to feel some ground beneath me. I was able to save enough money so I didn’t feel like I was constantly scraping the bottom of the barrel. I was playing better and better shows and venues all of the time and the freedom of not having another job tying me to one place, allowed me to travel and take my show on the road. This allowed me to start building my fanbase outside of my home city.
I can successfully say that I have been a full-time musician, songwriter and I’ve worked for myself for the last 12 years. Because of the additional skills I taught myself and learned along the way, I also now work with a production company and get to experience more growth on the business/logistics end of the entertainment industry. I work in this industry full-time on multiple sides of it and I genuinely enjoy the ever-changing work flow. I’m able to write often and work on other creative projects as well. I’m still pursuing many goals and have yet to reach some of them, but the thing about this industry and being a creative person is that you never really reach an end point. You never really feel content with the level you’ve reached because there’s always something new to discover and learn, another goal to reach on the horizon. While that feeling can be difficult to grapple with and it gets exhausting at times, I am the type of personality that, for the most part, thrives on that kind of pacing and enjoys setting new goals for myself and improving along the way, so it works for me.
I’m not saying this is the only way to reach your goals as a full-time musician/songwriter/artist…it’
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Kari Lynch. I am an Independent Artist, singer-songwriter, musician and writer originally from Michigan, now living in Nashville, TN. For the last 12+ years I’ve been a full-time musician and songwriter, releasing music and touring the country as a solo Artist and also with my Alt-Country/Rock project, The Kari Lynch Band. I’ve played thousands of shows and released several genre-melding singles and EPs, music videos, two full-length albums and had the pleasure of sharing many different stages with many prominent Artists including: Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini, Brothers Osborne, Don Felder (formally of the Eagles), Mat Kearney, Dierks Bentley, Alabama, Little Big Town, and many more.
For the last two years I have been in the studio recording and I am currently gearing up for the release of my latest solo Alt-Pop/Rock project, an EP coming out November 2022. The first two singles from this project, “Cigarettes” and “Monsters” were released in October 2021. My brand new single, “Gut Feeling” was just released on September 30, 2022.
I am also the lead singer of the accomplished Alt-Country/Rock band, the Kari Lynch Band. Our latest album The Other Side, which includes singles, “Highway Honey,” “Running Outta Love,” “The Other Side” and “Nashville” (recorded at Ocean Way Nashville Studios) was released in 2019.
In addition to my creative work, I’m the Executive Assistant at HB Concerts INC., which is a full turnkey operation inclusive of talent buying, full production, contractual and advance work, site planning and design, marketing, website design/build & maintenance, ticketing, sponsorship and consulting.
I have been singing, writing and writing songs/music since I was 7 years old and have always wanted to pursue this career. I think what sets me apart as an Artist and songwriter is my honesty and transparency in my music. It’s important to me that I do things I believe in, even if it’s not what’s popular. It’s worth it to me to live and work a little outside the box if it means that I am respecting myself and my art. I’ve been able to feel genuinely proud of myself, my growth and my art along the way and to me that’s worth it in the long run.
I am the same person on stage as I am off-stage and I think this has always allowed me to deeply connect with people. Honesty in my music and work has been important to me from day one. For me, songwriting is a way of figuring out life, attempting to make sense of it all and has been my main coping mechanism since I was a kid. It’s important to me that people feel sincerity in the songs I write and that they feel it from me as an Artist and a real person behind the music. I don’t hold back when I write and I’ve never been shy about allowing my vulnerabilities to be on display, even when it’s really difficult to do so. I try always to create an honest and safe-space with my music. Whether it’s a happy song, a sad song, an angry or melancholy song…it’s just important to me that people can feel that it comes from a real place so they are able to connect with it fully. That connection with people is the most important thing to me. It’s very real. It’s very powerful and it’s the reason I continue to do what I do. Knowing that something I wrote and created had a real effect on another human, maybe it helped them get through a hard time or figure something out about themselves or someone else, or even just made them feel an emotion or feel connected, is still the best thing to me about this career and about writing songs.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
When you are an independent contractor of any kind, there is always this constant sense of urgency and a feeling that if you aren’t working toward your goals 100% of the time, then you are falling behind or failing. I had to unlearn the meaning of what it means to “hustle” in the entertainment industry. I don’t care who you are, no one can go full speed 100% of the time and maintain their wellbeing. We all need breaks from work and mental breaks from the constant hustle and pressure we put on ourselves trying to “make it”. I had to learn this lesson the hard way. I crashed and burned several times. Ultimately, it took the forced slow down of 2020 for me to even come to terms with the fact that I was completely burnt out, my mental and physical health was suffering and I had veered away from some of the aspects of creating music that were really important to me. It was tough facing all of this, but completely necessary to reevaluate and reset. I had been working and touring non-stop for 10 years at that point and I was hustling and moving so much that I never even stopped to ask myself if I was still happy and feeling fulfilled by my work. Burnout is a real problem in this industry. It’s important to work hard and you won’t meet your goals or better your skills without putting in real work and time, but it’s equally as important to allow yourself to take breaks from the constant movement, take time to celebrate your hard work and accomplishments and get in the habit of taking time out to stop and honestly check in with yourself. You must be prepared to climb many mountains and put many, many long hours in, but you don’t have to kill yourself for success.
It took me a long time to learn this lesson and unlearn what the industry had made me believe about myself, my talent and about what it meant to hustle and be successful. I thought if I wasn’t constantly working, saying yes to everything, playing shows and always on to the next thing without ever stopping to celebrate achievements or even just take a moment to reassess, that it would mean I was falling behind. This industry will make you feel like you’re not good enough or trying hard enough or doing enough. But, if you’re constantly running on autopilot, you become a shell of yourself and your art and more importantly, your happiness and health will suffer for it. Humans are not machines. We’re not meant to just go and go without pumping the breaks once in awhile. I learned that it’s ok to take breaks and it’s good to pause and ask myself tough questions. Breaks allow clarity. I am more creative and I am a better Artist, writer and person when I set boundaries and don’t continually push myself past my breaking point to complete exhaustion just to meet expectations.
What do you find most rewarding about being creative?
I touched on this a little earlier, but truly the most rewarding aspect of being and artist and creative is the sense that I am connecting with other people, connected with this world in a special way and leaving something meaningful and worthwhile behind. I don’t know why at 6-7 years old music and writing was my immediate and natural reaction to understanding and coping with my life, but I’m very thankful for it. It’s difficult sometimes to put my insecurities, struggles, vulnerabilities, fears, hopes, failures and feelings out there for just anyone to consume however they choose, but it’s also an incredible feeling to connect with a perfect stranger over a shared experience. My greatest joy is when someone lets me know that I have somehow put perfectly into words and music what they are feeling or going through, or simply that they really enjoy and connect with something I wrote. When I write songs, initially they are only mine. My stories the way I lived them, witnessed them and felt them. They are mine until I put them out in the world, then they are ours. In a matter of minutes they can become a part of someone else’s story too. Something I wrote to get through or understand an experience in my own life, takes on this whole new life of it’s own and can become something totally different for another person or all of a sudden can just make someone feel less alone. That’s amazing to me and it’s what keeps me going and feeling like all of the time, energy, work and love that I put into what I do is worth it. And honestly, performing is a rush that I feel I’ll never be able to fully put into words. Being able to bring the songs I write into a real-time moment on stage with my bandmates and everyone in the crowd is a gift and a feeling that I genuinely am so appreciative of. I do not take it for granted that I get to do what I love to do in this life and I never will.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://karilynch.com
- Instagram: @KariLynchMusic
- Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/KariLynchBand - Twitter: @KariLynchMusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/c/KariLynch - Other: Solo Kari Lynch on Spotify: https://open.spotify.
com/artist/ 5n9zfVJM0VWIfvXRNh4QZQ?si= R7sZzC39QMe0Qt9oJ1N3Aw&nd=1 Solo Kari Lynch on Apple Music: https://music.apple. com/us/artist/kari-lynch/ 338422860 Kari Lynch Band on Spotify: https://open.spotify. com/artist/ 0GnIteJaqQaA3Vm5M7lZB0?si= yWLjiln3TPOpyX5Ch6qsMg Kari Lynch Band on Apple Music: https://music.apple. com/album/1461484917 You can find Kari Lynch Band’s website and instagram at the links/handle below: website: https:// karilynchband.com/home Instagram: @KariLynchBand
Image Credits
Eric Ellis, Taylor J. Photography, Katie Kessel, Laura Matthis