Emmy Award winner and multi-platinum selling recording artist. Few artists in the past decade have struck a chord of hope and resilience like she did with her empowering hit “Fight Song.” She continues to inspire audiences with her powerful, raw and most intimate lyrics to date with her second major-label album, “Waves.” Not only is she touring with a three-time Grammy Award-winning group, but she is also doing it while stepping with grace into motherhood for the first time.
Q: Tell us about your first hit. “ ‘Fight Song’ took me two years to write. My publicist heard the chorus and immediately said this was special. Fight Song went through 20 or 30 iterations before landing on the version that is out now. When it was first released by a major label, I was 33. It was incredibly frustrating because I knew I had something that the world needed. When I released it, I was expecting a huge wave of support and actually several industry labels heard it and said it was not a radio song; but I believed in it. I played it in house concerts when clubs wouldn’t book me. I saw the reaction and how people were embracing it. I lived through the message and didn’t give up on myself. It finally broke through after being on an episode of Pretty Little Liars, then being played at a radio station in Baltimore that took a chance an indie artist.”
Q: Does all of your music draw from your first-hand experiences? “Yes, absolutely. Everything I write is in my personal journal entries; it’s the only way I found how to write songs. Why do we need another song about love, unless it’s something real that someone has gone through and lived? Every difficult time I’ve faced has brought a new light in my life and has shown me how strong I am as a person. I don’t shy away from my fears. I had anxiety when I was 22. I am struggling with postpartum anxiety right now. I am such an empathetic person and I feel so deeply for those struggling.”
Q: Do you ever experience pressure to change your music or style as an artist? “Absolutely, I talk about it on stage before I sing ‘Perfect For You’ every night on stage. After Fight Song, I was pressured by my team at the time to be “cooler”, and if I didn’t, I would be too old to grasp big festivals. I went through a period of feeling lost again, only recently after having a child, did I remember how to listen and how to be authentic. I am perfect enough in my imperfections and all my music and lyrics will resonate with people, and that was so true to me.”
Q: Do you ever experience pressure to change your music or style as an artist? “Absolutely, I talk about it on stage before I sing ‘Perfect For You’ every night on stage. After ‘Fight Song,’ I was pressured by my team at the time to seem cooler and if I didn’t, I would be too old to grasp big festivals. I went through a period of feeling lost again, only recently after having a child, did I remember how to listen and how to be authentic. I am perfect enough in my imperfections and all my music and lyrics will resonate with people, and that was so true to me.”
Q: You had audiences in tears with your Ellen Degeneres performance of “Fight Song” with 16-year-old cancer survivor Caly Bevier. What is it like to have such a platform? “It’s such a gift, but I don’t think it’s me. I appreciate it, but all I think I’m doing is showing my light and giving people a chance to show their own. I’m speaking my truth and giving people the opportunity to be themselves.”
