We were lucky to catch up with Macelyn Batten recently and have shared our conversation below.

Macelyn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Before February 2024, I had never played or sang in front of anyone other than my immediate family. I had always had a deep love and appreciation for all types of music, which I think stems from my experience in dance, however I never thought that I could be capable of performing music of my own. A friend of mine owns a brewery where, at the time, they were having a weekly open mic. After much persuasion on his part, I finally decided to stop by. A sang “Tin Man” by Miranda Lambert, a song that still resonates with me to this day. A short while after I left the mic, the musician running the open mic walked over and introduced himself. We started talking about our experiences in music and he encouraged me to start playing and singing with him. What started as a few simply gigs later turned into huge, full band shows… and now into me playing my own shows around town with my own band. It’s crazy how that one experience, the “risk” so to speak, has lead me to some of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Macelyn Batten and I’m from a small, rural town in southeastern North Carolina. My older brother, Thomas, and I were raised by my parents, Chris and Mary Kate, on a row crop farm on the outskirts of town. It was in those years that I started to find my love of music and a deep social network– shoutout to my Grandmother Marilyn for playing Patsy Cline, George Jones and Alan Jackson nonstop, they’re still some of my favorites. I earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at North Carolina State University and later went on to recieve my Doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine from Campbell University. As luck/fate/whatever you feel would have it, I ended up in Charleston for my surgical residency training. It wasn’t until I took some time off for research/career development that I started to pick my guitar back up. Free time, coupled with a very traumatic divorce, ultimately led me to start playing and writing my own music more. In February of 2024, I finally decided to start singing out in public more, and it’s been all gas and no breaks since!
I like to think of my musical style as traditional country, honky-tonk with a little folk mixed in. I draw most of my influences from artists old and new– Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Townes Van Zandt, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, George Jones on up to Bob Dylan, Keith Whitley, Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson and Ella Langley. My band and I work hard to bring our crowds an energetic, boot-stompin’, straight up honky-tonkin’ expereince.
I am so thankful for the experiences I’ve had and the people/musicians I’ve met and worked with over the last year, and I can’t wait to see what the next chapter of this crazy ride will bring!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

In the last year, I’ve really tried to dedicate at least 1-2 days of my week towards writing more. I fully believe that writing a good song is like working out– it’s a muscle that you have to exercise often in order to get the rewards you’re hoping for from it. Sure, sometimes there are songs that just “fall out of you” in 20 minutes. And then sometimes there are songs that take months to peice together. Both can be incredibly rewarding and exciting in their own journeys. For me, the process of songwriting and the experiences gained from sharing those original songs with others are the most rewarding parts of being a musician. There’s nothing like having someone come up to you after a show with tears in their eyes telling you how much the related to an original song. The connections through music are some of the best!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media has always been a tough one for me. I’ll admit that I’m not the most tech-savvy person out there. I’m doing good just to operate Instagram. But with the world we live in now, social media is critical to increasing your following as an musician. I think a big part of social media, and why some people have more success than others with it, is due to being authentic with your content and sharing. It’s so easy to only put what you want people to see into the world, but in the end, people just want to relate with someone who’s REAL. So my biggest advice for anyone starting out with a goal of sharing their art and building their community is– be authentic. The fans/followers that you want will naturally be attracted to the person you truly are.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @macelynbatten
• Facebook: @MacelynBattenMusic
• Youtube: @macelynbatten

Image Credits

@snapshotsandsoirees
@stuplaysdrums