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

Alright, Toria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I have always had a massive love of music ever since being really young, I was brought up in a family that if we were not playing an instrument we were listening to songs. When I was 12 I fell in love with the guitar, my dad taught me how to play Top Of The World by The Carpenters and I was hooked! I locked myself in bedroom for a year, went through so many blisters but I emerged playing the guitar!
In 2019 I embarked on a road trip with my family through America. We started in New York and made our way to Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans it was in these places my love of songwriting re emerged. My husband surprised me and had booked for me to record a few of my songs in the Iconic House Of David studios Nashville, it was an experience I will never forget and is what lit my fires to do more!
Sadly and unexpectedly whilst on our trip my mum passed away, It was the worst moment in my life and took a lot of strength to try and carry on.
It was the loss of my mum coupled with the experience in Nashville that made me decide a career in music is what I most wanted to do, Life is short and we need to make the most of every opportunity possible.
I spent the rest of 2019 and early 2020 writing my first EP, My husband found me a studio to record my songs and in July 2020 my first EP Turning Tides was released.
I think everyone that writes songs should record them in a studio even if its just for your own pleasure. If you have never done this before it makes you look at the way music comes together in such a different way. Over the past few years I have learnt so much and met some amazing people I have also met the darker side of the industry and met some people that aren’t so nice, these experiences have taught me a lot, the darker things I have seen have broadend my knowledge and had made me extra careful who I work with!
There are many obstacles in this business, starting from the beginning trying to get your music heard can be challenging, there are a lot of scam companies offering listeners for money, we live in a world today were the amount of likes follows etc seems to be more important than quality and real people. I would advise anybody starting out to resist the urge to buy these things, you need real people who genuinely like your music, for me to have 1 person I don’t know tell me they have heard a song of mine and like it, is amazing and means more than a 1000 fake bots!
I don’t think there’s real way of speeding up the process of being an emerging artist unless you are fortunate enough to know people in the business!
Go and watch as much live music as you can, introduce yourself to other musicians, and accept Rome wasn’t built in a day!!
The main obstacle I have struggled with is my own self-confidence, music is my soul and when I am singing my songs it is when I am the most vulnerable, self doubt can be crippling if you let it creep in! Thankfully I have an amazing family who constantly support and encourage me, whatever level you are at whether it be learning an instrument or writing songs and performing believe in yourself, music is objectionable there will always be people who don’t like your music it doesn’t mean it’s bad, there will be just as many other people who do like it!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I class myself as an Americana/Alt Country Singer songwriter, I have been an emerging artist since 2020 Releasing my first EP Turning Tides thus release was the start of my career in music.
I have spent the last couple of years honing my songwriting and recording a lot of songs some yet to be released! Some have made it out currently there are 2 EPs and some singles available to stream on all digital platforms with my 3rd EP The Nashville Sessions recently released in America and available from November in Australia and the UK.
I have many moments I am proud of so far, I guess My very first release will always feel like a pinnacle moment and was an achievement I didn’t ever think would happen, Following on from this In 2021 I released my second EP Diamond Stone, this got to the No 1 position in the American Roots charts for Aussie singers, it is something I still can’t believe happend!
In 2021 I wrote a song about the loss of my mum, called Where It All Began, Whilst going through the grieving process I started a video project for this, I thought it would be really touching to have other people’s lost family and friends photos in the clip, I was a member of quite a few grief groups worldwide and put out a post asking if anyone would like to be included to get in touch. The response was overwhelming and something I didn’t quite expect! The finished video is probably one of my most proudest moments because it gave a lot of comfort to so many other people. These were people all over the world I had never met, but trusted me with their precious pictures, My very good friend spent 1000 of hours creating the video for this, we both knew it needed to be done right and I think the finished video is perfect! the messages I received meant the world to me, the people involved all have a video with their special someone in, it gives them a place to feel close to them and proud the rest of the world can see them too.
If anyone would like to listen to my music you can check it out on all streaming apps like Spotify Apple Deezer etc if you like all types of country music you make like mine!! I do not think I write just traditional country, my song style varies from song to song, but I think I definately have both feet placed in the Americana style!
You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram Tiktok or my website for up to date things that may be happening, feel free to drop me a message I love hearing from new people..

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Partway on my musical journey I was meeting a lot of people involved in various aspects of the music industry. When you are a newby this can seem so exciting, it is also the time I think you are the most vulnerable. I think as in any career you may want to get into, there are always people in higher places that can help you get a rung up the ladder, but there are also just as many that cant actually help you but pretend they can, Once you start on this journey every step you take brings you closer to the milestones you need to get seen by the right people, I had many offers to help promote my music or get me to the right doors that could open, but some of these offers were from people that were looking to make fast cash and didn’t actually have my best interests at heart. Thankfully I have surrounded myself with the good people in the industry, it has meant I can double check when I am an unsure and avoid some of these people and their offers!
The more you meet people like this the easier it becomes to spot them, it also makes you get a much harder shell to protect yourself,

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think as has always been the case, musicians unless at the top of their game, struggle financially to create their art release it and then try and earn a living from it. The best ways to support artists in the industry is things like going to watch them play live so they can earn a small.amount from ticket sales, also instead of listening to music on spotify apple etc check out the artists page on bandcamp and buy the music from there, the money goes direct to the artist rather then lining the pockets of big companies that dont pay the musicians their worth.
I would also say follow the musicians you like on their social media pages if they are selling band merchandise buy something even if its only a few dollars, it all helps to fund future releases!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.toriarichings.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toriarichings
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCBgB0M5vRdwtTuND4bquyBA
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/toriarichings https://www.tiktok.com/@toriarichings https://open.spotify.com/artist/3pBbVgUuyXd7AaEAVIEfWq?si=acoluh8CQOGSyPS2WVrBNg&utm_source=copy-link

Image Credits
Jy-Perry Banks Pete Metro Tess Jenner