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

Rochelle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I wish I would have started my career sooner, but I also did not have the confidence or the vision to do so. I could have greatly benefited from an earlier start, but I also was most definitely not ready. I pushed a few really good career opportunities away in my early twenties because I didn’t know how to handle them and didn’t think I deserved them. Knowing what I know now, I would have been able to take advantage of those opportunities. But I suppose that everything happens in the timing that it’s supposed to, and that I needed to mature in order to be able to handle a creative career.

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

I am a singer/songwriter based in Nashville, TN. I work in a myriad of ways in the music industry, from a session singer, to co-writer, performing my own original songs to playing covers. When I work as a songwriter, both for myself or with others, that is my favorite work and what really lights me up.

What motivates me the most is the stories I get to tell and how I can draw out those stories in my co-writers. When I can paint a complete picture of an emotion or a story into a song, where the listener can feel that so vividly, I know I did a job well done. I especially like to write songs about topics that are taboo, and write them in such a way that they’re approachable, and the listener will have to listen closely to be able to get to the heart of the song.

I will be working on recording my own music in the coming year, so what I am most proud of currently are the songs I have co-written that will be released this year. I love working with an artist to help draw out their stories and what’s important to them. And when the artist and I can have a working relationship and I can bring good ideas to the table that they care about, that really makes me feel fulfilled.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

On my first long, solo tour I did several years back, I was coming up on the last weekend of shows on a three week run. I was playing for a hotel restaurant in a Mississippi River tourist town in southern Wisconsin. Play for the hotel bar and restaurant, get a free place to stay. It was the perfect fill in date.

The night before, I had had a rough gig. I play laid back, acoustic, singer/songwriter type music. I had booked a venue where the booker said, “your music is perfect for our venue!” But the bar was incredibly rowdy. People were so drunk they were yelling, shouting, screaming during my set. A woman even flashed me, and I was so shocked that I stopped in the middle of my song. My music was not perfect for their venue! Imagine Alison Krauss or Norah Jones playing while people screamed over them. Not the vibe. I played for three hours at this gig, and I was disheartened by the end. I then went to an Airbnb that was advertised as a “garden cottage” that was actually an old tool shed with no blankets, no pillows, no heat, just a rickety old bunkbed. I luckily had a blanket in my car, but I heard mice scratching at the floor all night while I was trying to sleep. I woke up at 5 am and just left because I wasn’t sleeping anyway. I would’ve been better off just sleeping in my car!

When I got to the hotel for the gig, I was informed that the town only let the venue have outdoor amplification 4 days a month, and they’d already filled their quota. I’d have to play completely unplugged. I stood on the porch and serenaded the folks eating and drinking. “No one can hear me,” I thought. What’s the point? But I played anyway, I had to earn my keep.

But towards the end of my set, people began to gather. The restaurant filled wine glasses and brought out blankets for people because it was starting to get chilly. It was a totally cozy, intimate evening. It was the kind of audience interaction that filled my cup. Afterwards, many Wisconsin folks offered to buy me a beer, and I hung out with them at the hotel bar for hours. Later, the owners said, “We had people asking us to open the windows of the restaurant so they could hear you. We’ve never had that before.”

So that day, I learned my lesson. Even when you think that no one is watching or listening, someone is. So perform for those people, that people that are there to hear you, and if they like what they hear, they may just stick around.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The most important pivot I made was one from solo writer to co-writer.

In my first years, I had some really bad cowriting experiences to where I wrote it off completely. I had no interest in repeating those experiences, even though cowriting is the Nashville thing to do. I’m not sure what changed my mind, but seven years after my first awful, icky cowrites, I decided to try again with a few friends of mine. And it was such a delight.

I realized that I could add something to someone else’s story, that they could add something to mine, that collaboration could be a beautiful thing. Cowriting is a practice of getting out of your own way and setting your ego aside. Some days, with the right people, it’s easy to do, and other days, my ego still does get in the way a bit. When I can help someone make a great song for their own project, I almost find it more fulfilling than writing my own song. And now I’ve got some cuts coming out on albums this year. It’s a great feeling to get to contribute.

Contact Info:

• Website: rochelleriser.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/rochelleriser
• Facebook: facebook.com/rochelleriser
• Other: Substack: rochelleriser.substack.com

Image Credits
Taylor Ann Bogner, Chaz Mazzota, Erik James, Mark Webster