We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kelsey Lee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kelsey below.
Kelsey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you 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?
I haven’t always had the ability to earn a full time living from my creative work, but in the past few years, I have been able to play and teach music full time. It hasn’t been easy and there have been a lot of sacrifices and challenges, but it has been well worth it thus far. I started in grade school practicing the balance of performing and working a lifeguarding job. In college, I had two different jobs (lifeguarding and teaching music) while I was performing and focusing on my craft. After I graduated college, I went to teaching grade school during the day and performing at night pulling 16-18 hour days. I was still able to practice music, but I had to be smart and plan out my days so I could fit everything in I needed to. Teaching music helped with my patience, knowing everyone learns completely different, and loving when I see someone get something for the first time. Lifeguarding helped with being calm in chaotic situations. Being trained in first aid, CPR, AED, and oxygen made me feel like I could handle any situation I was put into which gave me a lot of confidence. Slowly but surely, I made the connections over time and put in the hard work for me to be able to do my music and teach private lessons full time with the confidence I have needed. It was almost like every single thing I was doing was a building block to the next step so I could be able to do what I’m doing now.
Working and performing as much as I can, I’ve missed birthdays, family/friend events and milestones, weddings, anniversaries, etc. People think the performing world is incredible and it’s all glitz and glam, but there are huge sacrifices that come with it… especially doing the job full time.
I don’t think I could have sped up the process of things very much because I think everything I was learning was a life lesson to get me to the point I am. I needed to be broken down, I needed to learn the hard lessons, I needed to be put into difficult positions and situations to be able to handle what I do now and be able to stand up to people and tell them no or something they might not want to hear. I’ve gotten so much better at balance that if I were to be great at what I’m doing the entire time, I wouldn’t have really learned anything. I wouldn’t have created a “tool chest” to my success to be able to help others. Everything happens in its own time, just like it should.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a full time Percussionist and Educator paving my own path in the business world. My job is performing with bands (Southern Sirens, Arianna & the Bourbon Britches, Brigid Kaelin Band, and Croghan’s Crossing) while also teaching drum/percussion lessons to any willing learner spreading as much love and light as possible. After graduating college with my Elementary Education degree and having a job lined up, the 9-5 life was attempted, but was not the dream in mind.
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, I picked up my first pair of sticks and mallets at the age of five and haven’t put them down. In kindergarten, I joined a school percussion group called the Fabulous Leopard Percussionists (now the Louisville Leopard Percussionists) directed by Diane Downs, until 6th grade. During that time, I performed at both the Kentucky and Indiana State Music Educators Association Conventions, the Atlanta International Band and Orchestra Convention, the Kentucky Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society Day of Percussion, and the 1999 International Association for Jazz Education Convention in New Orleans. Through her attendance at the Youth Performance Arts School (performing arts High School) and membership in the Percussion Ensemble directed by Todd Parker, I performed at the 2004 Percussive Arts Society International Convention and the 2007 Bands of America conference in Indianapolis.
After graduating college in 2012 from Indiana University with a Elementary Education degree, I went back to my roots serving as the Assistant Director for the Louisville Leopards, co-leading the beginner, advanced, lite, steel, and middle school groups, teaching over 100 children a week for an incredible 12 years.
I’ve had the opportunity to perform with world-renowned musicians like CJ Vanston, Michael Fitzpatrick, Victor Mendoza, Dani Markham, Hannah Ford Welton, Louie Bellson, Hanson, and Ndugu Chancler. I enjoy touring regularly and have shared the stage with many musicians, including Bruno Mars, Carlene Carter, and Gaelic Storm.
I am endorsed professionally by Toca Percussion and ATempo Company and uses their vast array of instruments in her performances around the world.
One more focus and mission I am on is that I struggle with mental health. I have clinical depression, high anxiety, and bipolar disorder – and meeting me, you probably wouldn’t have a single clue of what goes on in my brain. I like to shed a light on mental health and people reaching out for helping or talking about what’s going on inside of their head because they are probably not struggling alone like it truly feels like on the inside. My mission is to help children and young adults start to deal with this earlier than I did to be able to understand what’s chemically happening in their body and that they have no control over it. We live with it and have to figure out how to fight our demons daily. I’m here to tell people it’s possible to keep fighting daily and it’s worth it. I am
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I want young adults to know they are loved and that each and every person has a special “thing” about them. No one is the same and we don’t have the same talents. If we were all the same, it would be really boring! Each person is built differently for a reason and they are a different type of puzzle piece to your life. My message is to hang in there and to keep trying. No matter how hard you fail, it’s about how you handle yourself when you’re down and how you get back up. This leads me to also the most rewarding part of my job… helping people through music. All I want to do is help people and spread love and light in this world of darkness right now. Music is something that not everyone has to speak the same language, or have great talent.. you can learn something on a drum in 5 minutes and be able to use it to communicate feelings and heal in a certain type of way.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
The lesson I had to unlearn was that I’m not good enough and that I can’t be loved for the person I am. This has been one of the most difficult lessons to unlearn and I believe it came from early on with influential people in my life. This is something I work on daily – I’m not sure if it’s the depression, anxiety or what, but I know a lot of people struggle with these thoughts for many different reasons. My parents got divorced in middle school, I’ve been in abusive relationships, so there are many examples and reasons I could feel the way I am – but I’ve had to unlearn these lessons and thoughts working on it daily learning to build myself back up with love and positive support with the right people and the right kind of love.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kelseyleedrums.com
- Instagram: @KelseyLeeDrums
- Facebook: Kelsey Lee Drums
- Twitter: KelseyLeeDrums
- Youtube: youtube.com/KelseyLeeDrums
Image Credits
the names of the photographers are on the bottom of the photos