We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Meghan Cave a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Meghan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
I hope my legacy will be songs I’ve written that people can relate to. My favorite aspect of music is hearing song lyrics and thinking to yourself “I’m not the only person who has felt this way!” There is such power in sharing our challenges and even more in sharing how we’ve overcome our hardships, providing hope for others.
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 day job is in education. My background is in collegiate and pre-collegiate work for underserved populations. Outside of my regular work I am a songwriter, musician and poet. I play all around Colorado and sometimes outside of the state as a solo artist, as part of my duo: Meg & The Old Man and with my full band: Meghan Clarisse & Her Cavemen. This year we released an album (Songs From The Sofa) which is available on all streaming services and physical CDs are available upon request. Additionally, we released a separate single (Breaker Breaker) that is a tribute to my grandfather. In June of 2023 I released a poetry book. My duo and my band played many gigs this year, highlights include playing at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, AZ and headlining Cider Days in Lakewood, CO this year. I also volunteer with Musicians On Call which is a program that brings music to the bedsides of patients at Childrens Hospital Colorado.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
From as early as I can remember I was drawn to music. I played piano as a small child, guitar as a teenager and was always making up songs. I wanted to perform but after adolesense I became very self conscious and worried so much about how others might judge me. I continued to play music on and off by myself at home but it wasn’t until after I got sober at 29 years old that I decided to get serious about it. Getting sober had nothing to do with music but it ended up being crucial to developing the self esteem and confidence I would need to perform. A breast cancer diagnosis later in my 30’s catapulted me even farther into pursuing my dreams. I suddenly realized that we have a very finite amount of time here on earth and no one else is going to make our dreams come true for us. We’ve got to get out there and get after what we want.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of songwriting and performing is connecting with others. Songwriting has been so therapeutic for me and I’ve written songs about feelings during alcoholism, depression, difficult break ups, the loss of my dog and being fearful after being diagnosed with breast cancer. I love playing a song for someone and seeing it resonate with them. And, there’s nothing like seeing someone start to sing a long with something I wrote! Music is healing for all of us.
The other big reward of performing is the opportunity to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is being fully present in the moment. Mindfulness allows people to be free without anxiety or worry about the past or future. This is how I feel when I’m performing. I’m 100% in the moment and nothing else matters or exists. I give everything I have on stage and it’s like nothing else.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MegcMusic.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/MeghanClarisseCave
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/MeghanClarisse
- Linkedin: www.LinkedIn.com/MeghanCave
- Twitter: www.Twitter.com/MeghanClarisse
- Youtube: @MeghanClarisse