AHC: What has this journey, this life in music been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way? Elspeth: I have been playing music for 8 years. It has been a tremendously high and low journey since 15 year old me found an old guitar in the closet and started writing songs. I played in a folk duo called The Botanicals in high school. At that time it was more of a hobby, something I did for fun. I didn't really get serious about wanting to make music my career until I was 21. At that time, I moved myself from my hometown of Gardnerville, NV to Reno with little to no money, but a whole lot of hope and passion. When I moved to Reno I was playing with a full band and that led to touring as a duo with one of my band members across the west coast. We were playing short tours in California/Nevada/Idaho and longer tours up through the Northwest. It started out as a dream come true, but quickly fell apart. I wasn't happy playing in bars all the time. I am an introvert and very shy. I didn't like being in a car for so many hours of the day. I wasn't happy with having to play so many shows I didn't want to play. There was so much stress around it because my music became this job I had to do for other people. My band fell apart, my tours were cancelled. I was so heartbroken. Music broke my heart. I didn't feel like I was good enough to play anymore. I wasn't what everyone else wanted me to be, and that got to me. I had failed. I took about a year and a half off. Recording my latest album, Round & Round, really catapulted me back into the music scene. Through the journey of failing and claiming redemption I found my passion, I found myself. The biggest lesson I have learned through this whole experience has been the importance of following your intuition and your heart. You have to create from an authentic place in your heart and soul. That is when the magic happens. AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them? Elspeth: I was first drawn to music because it allowed me to truly express myself in a way that was not obvious. I could write songs about things/emotions/experiences in a poetic way. Like I said, I am very shy, but with music I am able to become strong with a powerful voice. I grew up in a hippie house where Cat Stevens, The Moody Blues, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Jackson Browne were always being played. I love the folk music from the 60s/70s. As for one song that always floors me, Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues. Damn, I love that song. AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote? Elspeth: I do, and I was 15. It makes me laugh thinking back because I am sure it was an angsty love song about a crush I had that didn't notice me. I am sure it was something cliche and ridiculous. AHC: Who are some of your musical inspirations? Are there certain albums or songs you couldn't live without? Elspeth: I draw a lot of my inspirations from traditional bluegrass music. I have learned from/worked with Alice Gerrard from Hazel and Alice. She is one of the founders of the bluegrass movement and I always love drawing my country/western twang from those classic styles. I also love indie music today. I try and blend the new with the old and make my own signature style. I live in the mountains and desert so I draw a lot of imagery from the environment and Old West history around me. One album I can't live without is For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver. AHC: What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak? Elspeth: There is definitely that aha moment. Usually when things are flowing easily I know I have touched a pure place of inspiration. I know when I am writing about something true, something from my heart, it will be good. I strive to write from a place of truth. AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing art, the perfect vehicle through which to translate a feeling, a state of rupture, hope lost and regained? As a listener of music I have this impression, I wonder, as the artist, the creator, do you have this feeling about the transformative power of song? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener? Elspeth: ABSOLUTELY, there is a profound healing power through music. My whole goal as a musician/artist is to create work that makes people feel themselves, whether the emotion and experience is "good" or "bad". I want to bury deep into the listener's heart and soul and let them remember who they are without the facades and the walls and the distraction. I have gone deep into my own shadow, and discovered the importance of acknowledging the whole spectrum of human experience. It is okay to feel hurt, sad, and heartbroken. It is okay to feel happy, joyous, loved. I want people to discover themselves and spread that love to Mother Earth and everyone. It is SO important for us to heal ourselves so we can radiate that healing out into the world. Music has taught me this, and therefore music has saved me. AHC: When you set out to write an album of songs, how much does 'where the world is' in its current moment, culturally, politically, otherwise, influence the kinds of stories you set out to tell? Elspeth: It greatly affects what I write. My latest release, Round & Round, is an album of activism and illumination. I write songs that will make people stand up for what is right. We are at such a crucial and bizarre point in human history. We are polluting our waters, raping our lands, and allowing our forests to be decimated because of money and greed. You can go to jail longer for possessing a medicinal plant than raping someone. We allow our homeless and addicts to live in heartbreaking poverty while the rich control our governments and resources. We have the means to create a world of peace and prosperity. No matter what we are fed to believe, this is possible. I use my music as a voice for Mother Earth and a voice for all sentient beings. I know I am here on this planet for that reason. I am meant to help the world see the love that is already all around us. We just need to realign with who we are, Love. AHC: What are your favorite on-tour, on-the-road memories? Elspeth: My favorite memories are all the different places I have seen. I have seen deserts, and forests, and oceans, and cities! I love how vast and diverse it all is. AHC: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are trying to find their voice and their way in this world? Elspeth: Follow your heart and your voice. Not everyone is going to encourage you or help you out, but that is alright. Persevere. If you love what you do, and you know you are doing what you are meant to do, don't stop. There will be ups and downs. That is the wave of existence, but that makes the journey beautiful. AHC: Do you have any new projects in motion you'd like to tell people about? Elspeth: I just released a self produced album called, Round & Round. I made the album entirely on my own with the help of my boyfriend/creative partner, James Coleman II. This album is a true representation of me. Through the process of creating it I was able to evolve and grow and have some major self reflection. The main themes are environmentalism, love, and redemption from the low points to the place I am at now. I feel stronger than ever, and my hiatus away from music was the cause of this newfound voice and strength. I am extremely proud of this raw, rich album. For more information visit www.elspethsummers.com/
1 Comment
Roy Summers gill
10/15/2016 03:27:52 pm
Brilliant. Ups and downs, absolutely. We rise. LOVE
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