We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Kelley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Megan, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

The timing was just as it should have been. I started singing as a kid in various Texas opry houses, and I started dabbling in songwriting around the same time. But it was in 2016 that I guess I really started laying the foundation for a career in the music industry. That’s when I released music for the first time and started toplining for a buddy who would send me guitar tracks. I would say I really got serious about the craft of songwriting and about the industry in 2020, and it was another three years before I made the move to Nashville.

At that point in my life, I had an established career as an educator and I was playing gigs on the side to fund trips to Nashville for writing retreats and conferences. Every time I would visit Nashville, it got harder to leave and go back to Texas. Once I finally made the move and saw the shift in the songwriting experience, there was a brief moment where I wished I made that move sooner. But if I’m really honest with myself, I would not have changed the timeline at all. By that point, I had a solid network of friends and co-writers in the Nashville songwriting community, I had the life experience that I needed to have a perspective and something to say in the writing room, and I’d developed enough sense of self to be able to withstand all the times the word no is encountered in a career in music.

Would it be cool to say my songwriting journey in Nashville really began earlier? Sure, but the truth is, I’m not sure I’d still be in town if it were my younger self who made the move.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My introduction to singing and songwriting started with a love of music. It started with getting lost in the stories and melodies I heard on the radio and singing in the choir and local opry houses. The writing part started in the form of journaling and poetry, and eventually this evolved into lyric writing. Now, I perform acoustic sets at writers rounds, songwriter showcases, and cover gigs, and I co-write songs with artists or with other songwriters to pitch to publishers or artists who might be interested in the song.

Since joining the Nashville songwriting community, I’m proud to have cuts – songs recorded by artists that you can stream – with Emma James and McKenna Faith Winters, and upcoming cuts with more artists are expected later in 2025. There have been a lot of small moments throughout the journey that I’m proud of – songs that I’ve been part of writing have reached #1 on indie radio, and times such as when an artist like Saylor Brasseaux or Emma James reaches out to me to say they have an idea that they want me to write with them. One of the biggest honors I’ve received thus far in my career is being selected to participate in Texas Songwriter U along with seven other songwriters where we will be mentored by songwriters whose craft I admire – Jack Ingram, Liz Rose, and Lori McKenna.

With hundreds of songwriters in Nashville, there are a few things that set me apart. When writing with or for a particular artist, I consider their perspective on the topic we’re writing about – where are they in their life and how do they communicate? I take these considerations into account as I am helping craft lyrics that convey the message the artist wants to share through the song in a way that is authentic to them while keeping the song universal enough to relate to a broad audience.

I also believe it’s important to know when to lead and when to follow. The nature of creativity is so subjective, and part of creating music means not being afraid to contribute all ideas while also recognizing that your ideas are not the only ideas in the room. There are days when I fight for lines and melodies I believe in and there are days when my co-writers are on fire in the best way, and I’m going to follow their lead and learn from them.

One more thing that sets me apart as a Nashville songwriter is the fact that I do not limit myself to one genre. Yes, I write a lot of country songs, but to me, it’s important for a song to grow into itself. As the melodies and lyrics start to take shape, sometimes it’s the emotion of the lyrical content or the cadence of the words and melodies that steer the song toward a particular genre as we continue to craft the remainder of the song. Sometimes my co-writers and I will start writing what we think is a country song, but by the end of it, we’ve found ourselves with a pop or r&b song. That’s part of the magic of the creative journey that I really enjoy, and I think it’s what allows a songwriter to create a strong and unique song – by letting the song become what it needs to become.

As a performer, particularly at writers rounds and songwriter showcases, the audience will get a behind the scenes look into the stories that shaped the song. This might be a story or experience that inspired the song, or an interesting anecdote about how we chose a particular line in the song, or even a story about how the song went from the writing room to the recording studio to Apple music for you to stream. Sometimes the audience will get to hear the songwriter version of songs they can stream and other times I will debut brand new songs that no one has heard yet. If I’m playing a cover gig, the audience is guaranteed to hear some country hits from the 1980s – 2000s, along with some current tunes and even a handful of pop songs that are popular among my generation.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Absolutely – the Nashville Songwriters Association International or NSAI. I cannot remember how I first discovered them, but NSAI has become such a valuable resource throughout my journey. When I think about my understanding of the industry and the connections I’ve made within the Nashville songwriting community, so much of that stems from NSAI. For anyone new to songwriting, anyone looking to find their tribe and expand their network, grow their skills as a writer, learn more about the industry and the role of PROs and how royalties work, the impact of legislation on a songwriter’s income, commercial songwriting, and the dynamic between publishers, songwriters, and artists, NSAI is hands down the place to start.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

A thriving creative ecosystem comes from having an understanding of the ecosystem.

Creative careers can sometimes be treated like a hobby by those outside of the creative space. The reality is, it’s a business, like any other corporate business. The difference is that songwriters put in endless hours and years refining their craft and building their portfolio, but the vast majority of the time and work put into it is largely unpaid, and when we do get paid, it’s fractions of a penny to the hour and doesn’t hit our bank accounts until many months after the work is completed. In just about every other career, you get paid a wage or salary every couple of weeks for the work you did in the weeks prior. Can you imagine going to work and not receiving compensation for that work for 8 months after the fact? This is not meant to be a complaint; it’s simply to offer clarity on the importance of supporting the creative ecosystem.

Songs offer comfort, they offer celebration, they offer escape, they hold memories, and they offer hope. Without songwriters, we would lose all of this. Can you imagine a wedding without a first dance? Can you imagine a world without radio and concerts and music festivals? Can you imagine your favorite TV shows and movies without soundtracks?

So, back to the question, what can society do to support? Buy an artist’s merch. Purchase a song download rather than relying on a bundled streaming service. Request your favorite songs on your favorite XM and FM stations. Tip live musicians, especially in Nashville where they are almost always unpaid by the venue and are playing exclusively for tips. These income sources mean artists can afford to invest more money into recording, distributing, and promoting their music. This also means songwriters have a chance at earning income for the songs they’re creating for and with artists. And this means society will continue to have songs available for every moment of life in which they need and want them, even for those times when they didn’t know they needed or wanted them.

However you choose to support creatives, please know that we are so grateful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.megkelleymusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megankelleymusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeganKelleySingerSongwriter
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@megankelleymusic
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/megankelleymusic
• Other: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/written-by-megan-kelley/pl.u-DdANNlBTP0VXq

Image Credits

Alex Amato