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

Stacey , appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I had been a singer performing live since the age of 18 as a part time job while going to college. After earning my degrees, I became a full-time Middle School teacher, while singing on the side. After I had my first child, I became a stay at home mom and started writing songs related to parenting, children, etc. for fun. I was inspired by the Children’s artist Laurie Berkner after seeing her on TV and realized maybe one could perform live with kids music!

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

I have always loved singing and music for as long as I can remember! I had the best elementary school music teacher and just loved all the songs she taught us! I sang “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi at an event at my High School and that experience changed my life! The feeling of singing on stage and being so well-received by an audience gave me such confidence (I was kind of shy!) and I knew this was something I wanted to continue as part of my life. I sang in bands all throughout college while working toward my teaching degree. After I had my first child, I took a break from full-time teaching and began to write songs from the perspective of a parent and child and realized I wanted to make them into an actual album! I started performing locally at birthday parties and schools, finally combing my love of children and music, and released my first album called “Together” in 2011. This started my career in Children’s music and soon I was booked running music classes, visiting schools, libraries, outdoor concerts, and theaters, while writing and recording more music. Now it’s 2023 and I have 5 albums out (releasing my next one this year!) and have three children who are all my inspiration.
My favorite thing is to create music that parents and kids connect with, as well as music that can be used by teachers, librarians, dance instructors, etc in their classrooms to enrich their experience. I love writing a song and seeing kids move to it, use their imaginations, and have a great time! I also love providing an experience for kids and caregivers to share at my classes and concerts. Childhood is a short time, so I hope I am providing memorable experiences for families that they cherish.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I think we can all agree, the biggest pivot occurred in 2020 with the Coronavirus pandemic. My world of live performing and teaching came to a screeching halt, as did all of society. I had been a live performer for 30 years and while technology has flourished, I had never truly desired to reach audiences on youTube or social media. This changed as we all had to pivot and move our connections to a virtual platform. I was also finishing my album called Make it Happen! and was not able go to the recording studio to record my vocal tracks and complete the album. I had no choice but to learn a lot of brand new skills that I never thought I could! I bought an interface, borrowed a professional vocal microphone and learned how to record my vocals at home to send to my producer. I learned how to navigate Zoom to hold music classes and schools visits virtually. I learned how to record videos on YouTube and Facebook to give my young families a musical outlet while they were all stuck at home as well.
Once we started to resume in-person activities, I had many parents say my classes and videos were a saving grace during Covid for their families and it really meant a lot. When you are in person, you have immediate reaction from the children live, but in videos, you are putting them out there and really have no idea who is watching or what impact they are making!

Another big piece of my business are music classes which also took a big turn during Covid. I finished my indoor music sessions in early March and expected to begin my next session when the world shut down. People tended to feel safe outdoors, so starting in May, I began visiting places outdoors, masked, and spread very, very far apart. I still remember the worry in the eyes of parents as we all navigated this new world together. We resumed outdoor classes for the entire year when the weather was cooperative here in Massachusetts, and are finally indoors now again! I do have families who enjoyed being outdoors and have still been running those classes event though the indoor activities have resumed! This is a new aspect of my business I didn’t expect!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are so many rewarding experiences being an artist and creative!! I love writing music, planning lessons, performing at shows, visiting classrooms, and being in charge of my own schedule and destiny! I love when I have a new idea and approaching clients about it and they say yes!! I am constantly learning from others and am part of a large network of Children’s artists and teachers called the Children’s Music Network, made up of people from all over the world who share the same goals of making music for children and making music to help change the world and make it a better place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.staceypeasley.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/staceypeasleyband/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/staceypeasleymusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrjLKEbYYUrDTU4HMLajtKQ

Image Credits
Photo credits: Sara Sniderman Photography Album Cover Art: Ed Shems