We recently connected with Sarah Underwood and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
I’m wonderstruck at the fact that I get to write songs for a living. Little Sarah didn’t even know this was on option when she was growing up, and now here we are. So to say I’m happy is such an understatement; I would quickly follow that up with proud, honored, grateful, and humbled. Of course there are difficulties with this path, and I do often wonder what my life could be like if I had gotten a different degree and competed for a top job in a different industry with a much higher paycheck. It’s never been a question for me that I could do that, and do it well and be successful. But there’s the scale of worldly success versus inner fulfillment, right? And I think I’m far happier to be following my dreams (even though, don’t get me wrong, it is a ton of work and not for the faint of heart), than I would be going a different direction. For example, my family in Minnesota is a huge priority in my life, but to work in this field I have to live in Nashville and LA. On the one hand, it’s tough because I don’t get to see them as much. But on the other hand, anytime that I want to go home and visit, I can! Without having to give up vacation days or ask for time off. The flexibility of songwriting compared with that of a “regular job” is something I have very much enjoyed.
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?
I began writing songs in middle school. My friends and I got special permission to use the choir room during recess, and instead of going outside to play we would mess around on the piano, sorting out harmonies to songs we had written. I continued writing through high school, joined a pop-punk band that played all around the Twin Cities, and then applied for and was accepted into Belmont University’s songwriting program in Nashville. Now, 4 years out of college, I’m in studios writing with artists everyday, helping them find the right words to tell their stories. I think what sets me apart now is the vocabulary I draw from in sessions, and how intentional I am about the lyrics in the song. I think of the rhymes and lyrics as puzzle pieces that you fit together with the melody to create the bigger picture, the story and feeling you want to get across. I was proud to have had over 20 cuts last year in 2022, to be expanding my artists to those in London and Los Angeles as well as Nashville, and to be creating music full-time as a way of earning my living. I now have over 70 songs out that I helped write, and the best are even still to come. I can’t wait for everyone to hear what’s in the pipeline.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Oh yeah. So songwriters and artists don’t typically earn much right out the gate, so most of us have to get very creative with how we supplement our income in the early years. Whatever you choose has to be flexible enough to allow for your musical pursuit to take priority when needed, so a full-time 9-5 gig is typically not ideal. So my attempted revenue sources right out of college included working at a restaurant, babysitting, bartending weddings and funerals, becoming a certified Spanish interpreter and zooming in to interpret parent-teacher conferences, transcribing closed captions for videos, translating documents from Spanish to English, dog sitting, house sitting, and when push came to shove, literally selling my plasma. It wasn’t great, and understandably lots of people get run down by that and choose something else. But I stuck it out and I couldn’t be more grateful that I did.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
“The War of Art” and “The Alchemist.” The later is my favorite book of all time, and really opened my eyes to the idea that “following your dreams” isn’t some cheesy cliche, but actually a calling from inside ourselves that we’re all invited to pursue. And that it’s sort of our duty to ourselves and our world to do so. The book just made my deep desire to go down this path make sense to me, and inspired me to really go all in on it. And “The War of Art” explained how to go all in on it, how to build discipline and take criticism, and constantly be improving upon yourself and your work. I really should go back and re-read both of those now. They’re hugely instrumental in shaping my mindset and philosophy regarding my songwriting career.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sarahunderwoodcreative.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_undy/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2HIJn7aaJqMS5zg9lSWwOz?si=dbe26d4c2aad4e5c
Image Credits
Derrick Krehbiel, Molly Laird