Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marion Shaina. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Marion, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally when I was in middle school. I became obsessed with Taylor Swift. Through listening to her music and watching a crazy amount of her early career interviews, I began to realize that this was something a normal person could pursue if they wanted it badly enough. You didn’t have to be born into a famous family or a family of musicians to follow that path. I’ve been writing songs for as long as I can remember, but come 8th grade I begged my father for a guitar and began teaching myself in my bedroom every single night with the two music books I had. When my dad realized I wasn’t going to quit this time (I had picked it up and quit in the 3rd or 4th grade), he signed me up for music lessons. When I entered high school I decided that I was going to end up in Nashville Tennessee and when I turned 17 I decided that pursuing music was going to be the most important thing in my life. It took me until the age of 21 to admit to myself that I wanted to be an artist, not just a songwriter, but that last push of honesty allowed me to finally advance at a greater speed and go after my dreams in a much more authentic fashion. I’m not making a full-time income off of my music just yet, but I know that day is coming!

Marion, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Songwriting has always been my favorite form of self expression. My goal through my writing and my performances is, and always has been, connection. I love connecting with people and the world around me. I love making music that puts experiences into words that others, and even myself, have struggled to put together until that song. I don’t know that music is necessarily about problem solving for me as much as it is about emotion and storytelling. Music is articulation in a world that can feel incredibly stifling to our voices. However, the moments in my career that bring me the most pride usually come after I step off of a stage. Whenever someone from an audience approaches me and tells me that they felt what I was saying, that they needed to hear that particular song on that particular night, that they felt a sense of resonation in my words that they had been missing up until that point, those are the moments that bring me pride. The song is the bridge and meeting across that bridge is the connection. I hope I never stop having those experiences.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn the idea that it’s all about “who you know.” Firstly, let me start off by saying that that statement is true, but I think we go about it in the wrong way. When people tell other people that it’s all about “who you know” they’re usually telling you that you don’t know the right people and that you probably won’t meet them. That isn’t true. The right people are all around you all the time. You never know who knows who and who you might be connected to. You just have to look at the world with a friendlier view. People want to help other people, they want to support you and your dream, and they want to hear what you have to say — if you want the same. Often times the energy we put out into the world is the same energy that gets returned to us. You have to be kind, you have to be open, and most importantly you have to try. Telling people it’s all about who they know often feeds into this mentality that they have to sneak or weasel their way in somewhere. More often than not, you’ll find an open door if you have the courage to put on a smile and knock every time you see a closed one.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Art should be treated like a necessity because it is one. Oftentimes art is treated as a luxury. I think that there should be more fellowships, more free educational resources aimed at teaching self sufficiency where possible, and fewer businesses (and colleges) that thrive off of charging a premium and putting young creatives into debt for wanting to refine their craft. I don’t think these issues are unique to creative fields necessarily, but I do think that they are felt more within them. These days, many people feel that artists should create and service for free because art is often a labor of love and therefore would exist anyway. If you can spend thousands of dollars on a concert ticket for a big name, you can spend $10 on a concert ticket for a small name. Support new art, support small art, because big names wouldn’t be big names if they hadn’t started as small names.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.marionshaina.com
• Instagram: @marionshaina
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marionshainamusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRA6S7scWirc9ilGZBJY9Yw

Image Credits
1. Harazim Photography 2. Elevated Music 3. Eden Lauren Photography 4. Victoriana Studios