Interview with Singer-Songwriter Vanessa Peters

AHC: What has this journey, this life in music been like for you, both the highs and lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way?

Vanessa: Patience!  That's the number one lesson I've learned from this journey, and I'm still learning it every day. I'm a naturally impatient, quick-moving, quick-thinking person, and in this business sometimes it takes years to see dividends from all of the hard work you put into it. I've also learned time and again that life is not a meritocracy - I've seen a lot of my friends who are enormously talented give up on trying to make it because they just can't seem to get a foot in the door. It doesn't seem fair sometimes, but I guess that's another lesson I've had to relearn time and again - life really isn't fair, and you'll be a lot happier if you stop expecting it to play by your rules.
 

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?

Vanessa: We listened to everything... my aunt was really into musicals and show tunes, my mother was more into classic country, and my dad listened to a lot of 70s and 80s rock... and when I was younger I listened to a lot of mainstream pop and rock.  Anything I could sing to, really - I was never into heavy stuff, didn't have enough melody to interest me. I liked (and still do) songs that tell a story, paint a picture. I like short story songs, but they don't have to be ballads, or even folk songs in the traditional sense. I just love songs with an a-ha moment or line, like "Kathleen" by Josh Ritter - "every heart is a package, tangled up in knots someone else tied." That's greatness.
 

AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote?

Vanessa: I think I've blocked it out. :)  I think the first one I ever finished was actually an assignment for a creative writing and literature class of mine - we had to inhabit a character from one of the novels we had studied that semester (it was a southern lit class) and I chose to write from the point of view of Jack Burden from All the King's Men. It was a terrible song, but the important thing is that I finished it and performed it (because I had to, for a grade), and I think it helped get me over the hump.
 

AHC: Who are some of your musical inspirations?

Vanessa: Sarah Harmer and Aimee Mann were my big gateway drugs into singer/songwriters, but I love The Weakerthans, Kathleen Edwards, Elliott Smith (huge early influence), Billy Joel (love his melody and just how easy his songs feel)... Hello Saferide has become a big influence lately as well. The Jayhawks and Wilco.
 

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?

Vanessa: I don't know that I can put my finger on it. I just know, and that's usually when I'm without a pen or paper. :)  Ha!  Seriously I usually have to dash away to go get a scrap of something so I can make sure to write down what I just hit on. I'm still not that keen on just recording straight into my computer. Sometimes that works for me, but more often not when I see it I just think of other work I'm supposed to be doing and I get distracted.  Pen and paper is still best for me.
 

AHC: Do you have a personal favorite, of all the records you've recorded throughout your career?

Vanessa: I have a soft spot for Little Films, my first "fully-realized" album.  But I don't know that I prefer any of them over the others. They were all so tied to a specific time and place in my life that when I re-listen to any of them, I'm transported back there, and I'm grateful for the little time capsules they represent, both of the wonderful musicians I've been lucky enough to play with, and the places I've called home.
 

AHC: What are your favorite on-tour, on-the-road memories?

Vanessa: Too many to count. I love finding beautiful places on days off - we went for a gorgeous hike in the mountains of West Virginia once, and spent a lovely fall day tooling around Minneapolis.... the best days off are in Europe, and I'm lucky to have had so much time touring the Netherlands and Italy and Germany... interesting, wonderful places.
 

AHC: Do you have any words of advice for young musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are trying to find their voice and their way in this world?

Vanessa: Don't forget it's a job!  But don't forget to have fun. And try (this is so hard for me) not to judge your own worth as a musician/songwriter based on the fickle fortunes of the music industry.  


AHC: Do you have any new projects in motion you'd like to tell people about?

Vanessa: We're working on some new material but right now we're just trying to be really free and experimental with it, trying different instrumentation and electronic things that we haven't played with in the past.  Nothing to share yet but hopefully soon.



For more information visit vanessapeters.com/