We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Linda Purrs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Linda below.
Alright, Linda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
When I was younger, in my 30’s I had a desire to learn how to play the guitar. I wish I had taken lessons to learn properly, but I just learned some basic chords to some songs. From that, the oddest thing happened. I started writing songs. I didn’t desire to write songs, they just came to me. The music and the words came to me at the same time. I almost didn’t know what to do with it.
Then my docile life in Nipomo-Mesa, California (behind Pismo Beach, CA) turned to an amazing life in motorsports the next 26 years with my two boys in tow. We traveled extensively in the East Coast and Canada with extra travels to South America and Europe. No time to concentrate on my music.
At least I wrote down all the words of the songs and miraculously remembered all the music to them when I was able to pull my songs together after a move from the West Coast of Oregon, where I owned the Coos Bay Speedway for 18 years, to Nashville, the ultimate Music City!
Since my music is homegrown, I actually feel a freedom in songs I write. The freedom of not trying to conform to whatever was current on the radio.
When in Nashville, the first thing I did was record all my songs acapella in January 2020. Then I was going to brave one of the many songwriting venues in the area, but March 2020 Covid happened. Being sequestered at that time was actually a good thing. I studied the music industry.
I joined NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) and did everything you could do: submit songs, monthly meetings via Zoom. I also watched many YouTube videos on the music industry and Podcasts. This was all a good thing to get a feel of what was happening out there.
I started using Fiverr.com to get music tracks to my songs. Then I started making music videos and got sheet music made via Fiverr.com. Then, since I grew-up in Southern California I never heard country music…. Pop and Motown was my thing. So, I also watched many YouTube documentaries on mostly country singers, others also, but mostly country, because I felt my songs were of a country genre.
My country knowledge was a blank slate, so I started before the Carters with the music in the Appalachian mountains. Then Jimmie Rodgers, the Father of Country music, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Kitty Wells, Ma Bell, Ernest Tubb, etc, etc….I watched the Ken Burns Documentary on Country music (16 hours), 5 times and bought the companion book to the documentary.
I kept coming back to Hank Williams, who became my songwriter inspiration. I have even spent 5 days in Alabama and went everywhere that Hank would have gone and I have even done a Hank Williams documentary. I have studied all I can about him.
So that would be my report if someone asked: “What did you do during Covid.”
As we started living outside our Covid bubble again, I found out Hank Williams’ daughter lived in the same town I live in, Gallatin, TN. I got to meet her 3 times and read and had her sign her autobiography “Ain’t Nothing As Sweet As My Baby”. That generated a need to get a guitar player, because my skills were not advanced enough to play my songs myself. The day after meeting Jett Williams, at a local gym, some people were sitting in a hot tub and I was standing about 4 ft away and just put out to the universe “I wish I could find a guitar player”…. and a gent I knew J.J. Despo said, “I can play for you”…. I didn’t even knew he could play guitar! We have been together ever since doing my Raw Country music.
It has been full speed ahead in the Nashville music life ever since, not doing the conventional songwriting rounds that Nashville offers, but by putting on a show twice a month over 2 1/2 years and inviting local talent to join my stage.
I have played around in Nashville, twice at the Bluebird Cafe (a popular songwriter’ right of passage’) and this year my song is up for a popular Nashville Award show, The Josie Music Awards!! It is so exciting to get nominated for one of my songs. There were 86,000 submissions. Out of that 10,000 are set aside to look at for the Songwriter Achievement Award. Out of those 10,000 songs they picked 188 and one of those picked was me!! They hand out multiple awards at the Nov 1 JMA Songwriter Festival at the Belle Air Mansion in Nashville. Nov 2 is the Award show at the Opry.
I went to the event last year and really admire the talented people they acknowledge that the CMA’s and Grammy’s just don’t do. So, to find out I was nominated this year is just amazing for my Nashville songwriting musical journey!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Music is Life ! And I am living mine in Nashville Tennessee! Having written many songs, to be surrounded by so much music in Nashville is just amazing. And it is not just country music out here: punk, metal, Gospel, Pop, so many wonderful artists. I get down to Lower Broadway all the time and there are over 200 bands playing up and down Broadway and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum…. songwriter Heaven !
Moving to Nashville has thrust me into the middle of the Dream. To stand on the stage where Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Elvis, EmmyLou Harris and countless others stood gives you a sense of Awe !!
I moved to Nashville in July 2012 and got my songs together during Covid 2020. I have studied, learned, participated in the music industry. The last 2 1/2 years I put on own 3 hrs show twice a month and share my stage with fantastic musical artists in Nashville and beyond.
It has been the perfect thing for me to do and out of the 80,000 songwriters in Nashville, I have derived some name fame for my show called: “Hay! Hay! Linda Purrs” at Our Spot in Gallatin, TN (55 minutes NE of Nashville) and get to showcase my songs.
I think I have done something unique in getting my songs out and each show is livestreamed on my FB Live and Tik Tok and uploaded to my Hay! Hay! Linda Purrs YouTube channel.
My genre is “Raw Country” with spunky songs about rodeos, love songs, and he done me wrong songs.
This year I am being acknowledged for my songwriting by being nominated by 2 organizations for my songs:
1. ISSA (International Singer Songwriter Association) out of Atlanta, GA, I am nominated for my Album, “Cowgirls Get the Blues”.
2. An with the highly respected Josie Music Awards in Nashville, out of 10,000 songwriter submissions I was one of the 188 people they picked to be Nominated for the Songwriter Achievement Award that will be held Nov 1 at the Belle Air Mansion in Nashville.
I encourage you to go to my Linda Purrs YouTube to see my music videos. I also do House Concerts (no charge, I play for tips) where I do my songs and Hank Williams’ songs (he is my songwriter inspiration).
I fly FREE on Southwest Airlines, so if you can pick me up at an airport, I can come do a House Concert for you !!!!
Just message me on Facebook or send me an email at: [email protected]
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Most people have dreams or hobbies that excite them! Many people do not get to do them, or as life moves on, practically forget about them. For me to be writing Country songs in Nashville gets your creative juices flowing.
It is very fulfilling, when singing a song and the audience is singing along with you. It puts a smile on your face, sharing your art. Meeting people in the music industry is just awe-inspiring! And with the internet, you can write songs or whatever your passion is, living anywhere the USA. The internet connects you.
I only got to put my songs out there later in life. I would like to encourage people who think life has passed you by… NO IT HASN’T. Get back to what you love, follow your star.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Being a songwriter, I really wish I took guitar and vocal lessons. I know it would have helped me immensely. So I encourage anyone loving music to take some lessons… maybe the piano. I have gotten 2 nice keyboards from the Goodwill, one for $5 and one for $7.99. If you can’t afford lessons, which I would think is best, even for say one year, they teach instruments on YouTube.
I would have loved to know more about the guitar and wish I had played early in my life so it would not be so hard to learn later in life.
I also wish I could have been about more music people, like minded people, learn things from them. LIstening to them, jamming with them. That didn’t happen for me, but I am making up for lost time living in Nashville now! There is music EVERYWHERE and I love it!!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://songwriterpurrs.wixsite.com/lindapurrs
- Instagram: linda_purrs_songwriter
- Facebook: Linda Purrs
- Youtube: 1. My music videos https://www.youtube.com/@LindaPurrs/playlists 2. My shows I have done: https://www.youtube.com/@HayHayLindaPurrs/playlists
- Other: TikTok : TicTok.com/@Linda Purrs
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/LindaPurrsSpotify
