For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a musician.

Hello readers! I’ve been working with The Gatesville Messenger for just over four years as the Marketing Consultant, but I’m also a local musician, and I am thrilled to announce I will be writing a music column for the newspaper discussing news, stories, and my own personal experiences in the music industry.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a musician. I grew up listening to my dad playing his guitar or fiddle and singing the songs of Merle Haggard, Don Williams, George Jones, and so many other classic artists from a young age. My first heartbreak was the day I heard Earl Thomas Conley’s “Holding Her and Loving You” on the radio and realized it wasn’t my dad who had written it, because he had sung it so many times for me as a child. Similarly, I’ll never forget the day my mom introduced me to Kenny Loggins and Dan Fogelberg on our way to Belton Lake for the weekend, or the day she showed me “Bohemian Rhapsody” as we watched the sun setting over the lake. I especially remember one night when my softball game got rained out, and on our way to the lake in the dark, a hailstorm knocked out our radio signal in the middle of Hinder’s “Better Than Me.” We were both so desperate to finish the song, we stopped at the Belton Wal-Mart, running through the parking lot, battling golf ball-sized hail just to pick up a copy of the CD for one song. Between my parents I don’t think I stood a chance: a passion for music was always a certainty.

I used to attend a two-week music camp every summer in Corsicana between the ages of 12 and 19. I learned about sight-reading, music theory, harmony, and how to read shape notes. I made amazing friends and further embraced my love for singing. After high school, I attended the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor for two years, pursuing a degree in Vocal Track Music Education, where I did not fit in as a musician, which I learned relatively soon. In 2016, I was accepted into Berklee College of Music. I attended online classes on and off for several years, and I am proud to say I recently received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Business through Berklee.

Since finishing at Berklee, my dad and I have been performing regularly at a few local places in town, and I’ve been learning and writing more music that I hope to release within the next few months. I’m excited to start writing about different topics in the music industry, including some of our recent gigs, the process of writing, recording, and releasing new music, personal experiences, and even discussing upcoming events for our local musicians. I’m looking forward to informing our wonderful community about current news in the music industry, as well as showcasing all the local talent Gatesville and the surrounding areas have to offer!