We were lucky to catch up with Leigh Powell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leigh, thanks for joining us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?

From the time I was six to 19-years-old, I was traveling across the south to perform as a country singer. When I was sixteen, I was writing my own songs, recording my self-titled album, and opening for Jason Aldean, Aaron Tippin, and Danielle Peck. I was fortunate enough to have parents who would travel with me to play shows. When I graduated high school I made the decision to attend college for Music Education, and so for the past 12 years after getting my Bachelors, I have taught public school music and theatre in a Title 1 school district–the same school system where I where I grew up, at my alma mater. Still, there was a piece of me that just wanted… more. As a performing arts teacher, I had always loved performing and creating productions with my students, but there was that little tug at my heart that I wanted more from my career, and I believe it was caused from the joy I felt performing as a young teen.

I didn’t pursue music back then as an artist for two reasons — being from a small town means being surrounded with small ideas and in this case, I never knew what I could achieve because I didn’t know what I was capable of. I had several people in my inner circle who were convincing me to “find a fallback” or a job that was more secure. Being young and naïve, I unfortunately listened to them. The other reason I did not pursue music was because I was involved with the wrong person who “wanted to help me get famous.” Letting the dream go of being a professional musician meant that I didn’t have to continue a working relationship with someone who wanted to take advantage of my talent. It is because of this that I felt wronged and had a sour outlook on the music industry.

I believe it was when my mother passed away in 2022 that I really decided to dive back in to the country music industry, this time in media. Even in getting out of full-time singing country music, country music was something that I yearned for–always wanting to attend more concerts, always wanting to know the latest news about the country stars, always wanting to be in Nashville–and I created Coda Country as a way to channel all of that want into a way to highlight country artists and celebrate their stories. One of my goals now as I begin harnessing my career path in the country music media industry is to ensure that I do not make other artists feel the way that my former bandmate made me feel–to ensure that they receive the recognition and credit they deserve.

As a public school performing arts teacher for my school district for the past 12 years, I have diligently worked with students on developing their musical crafts as performers, composers, and creators to prepare them for lifelong music-making and harvesting a love for all musical styles and genres. I believe music education in the school setting paired with my experience as a musician as a young girl have been the perfect stepping stones to prepare me for a career long term in the music industry.

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.

For the past two years, I have worked diligently to create my own artist promotion social presence, Coda Country, gaining real-time experience in marketing online with social media. Being an avid lover of Country Music, I began building a community of artists whom I believe in and started sharing their stories on a podcast I created. Here’s the kicker—along with all of the work I’ve done with Coda, I’m also currently a full-time choral director, drama teacher, and guitar instructor at a public high school in Georgia. Shortly after starting Coda, I decided (after already having three degrees in Education and two children) I went back to pursue a degree in Entertainment Business.
I think one of the unique things about Coda Country is in the name itself. I used the term “coda” as a musician trained in standard music notation to give the nod to my musical background, but also “country” to represent just what it is–loving country music with a country girl like me. I grew up in a small town in south Georgia and began singing myself when I was very young. I picked up my first guitar at age eleven and I was the “Brunette Taylor Swift” at the time when she released her debut album.

With Coda Country, I conduct interviews to highlight rising country artists in a podcast called “Coda Country Chats” and publicize these artists and country music news on our social media sites. Interviewing these artists is something that has begun to flow naturally for me because I have a working understanding of what they experience as musicians, being one myself. One of the most rewarding parts of Coda Country is being able to relate to the artists and to share their stories. My passion project-turned-into-future career path is something that really started from the decision just to put myself out there and to put myself in situations where I could make something happen.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think this applies to many creatives–the COVID-19 quarantine really impacted many different entities of life. At the time of the world shutdown, I was pregnant with my second child, studying to get a doctorate in education, teaching virtually at home, hosting zoom “happy hours” with my friends all over the states, and I continually kept asking myself, “what am I doing with my life?” It was not until I started writing my dissertation that I was just like, “you know, I really don’t think I love education like that.” I love my students, I love performing and watching them perform and preparing them for that… but education as a whole is not what I am compelled to do.” So, I quit my doctoral program. It was a pinnacle moment for me; it was a breath of fresh air. All of the stress of completing the coursework just melted away when I told my professor that I was done. I had worked extremely hard to push myself to get there but all of that time during the program I would stop and ask, “for what? Why am I doing this? Is this ultimately going to make me happy?” This realization in quarantine–about what makes me happy–changed my outlook on how to live my life. Not with the agenda from others or societal norms, not to better myself for someone else, but to live for me.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I get the question a lot, “what is it? What is it that you do with Coda Country?” I don’t think those people quite understand–even my close circle of loved ones–know what it means to be a creative and to advocate for other artists through media. I try to explain it like that–being an advocate for country music artists, providing a sounding board for artists who want to share their experience with the industry and also to those who seek guidance and kindness for their craft, as well as being a mega fan of the artists who work so hard to be seen. With me creating the space to highlight amazing country music, I give the opportunity for other fans like me to find new artists to love and a safe space to enjoy the genre.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/codacountry
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codacountry/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/codacountry
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leigh-powell-920158112/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@codacountry

Image Credits

Becky Wilson Photography