I’m Not Lost, I’m Wandering

I suppose at this point in my musical career, I can be forgiven for varying my song styles quite a bit. I know plenty of other singer/songwriters who come out of the gate as fully functional country artists, or folks artists, or rock artists.

I’m not any of those things.

I’m still trying on various styles to see which one best fits me. And that’s a lot of fun!

For example, this month, I released my third recording (my first EP) of four songs - called “Acceleration” - which contains some of my simplest songs to date but ones that are “rock-ish” in quality. So, am I now a rock(ish) goddess?

Hardly.

I may stay in this quasi-rock mode… or not. Honestly, these four songs are rockin’ numbers because that’s what style I happened to write in for a relatively short timeframe last year (well, one song is a little more soul/ballad Bonnie Raitt-ish and another is kinda rockabilly/country rock, but still with rock roots). 

I honestly am not obsessed with categorizing my music as reflecting one or another genre overall. But some entities do require that information: for example, radio stations and streaming/download services. I get it. They need to inform their customers about the style of music they are likely to hear from a particular artist. So these organizations end up asking the artist “What style is this recording you have submitted to us?”

It’s fairly easy to assign a genre on a song-by-song basis. I can look back at my catalogue and say, oh yes, this song is folk, this song is pop, etc. But what happens when you put together an album or EP, and each individual song is a different genre?

I don’t have an answer; I just like asking questions. 

Streaming/download services have changed my perspective of producing music. Until recently, I felt as though the best way to present yourself in recorded music was with an album: a set of songs that represents what you, as a musician, are all about.

But I am beginning to see the value of releasing music in smaller units: singles and EPs. For one thing, these formats can be produced fairly quickly and thus help to sustain the fan-base momentum an artist is trying to build. And an EP is an easily-digested tidbit that can showcase a particular song style, if the artist feels the need to do so.

All this contemplating is new and fun for me! I may completely change my mind about all of it next week. So stay tuned if you’re hooked on suspense!

Oh, BTW, you can find my EP “Acceleration” on all the usual streaming and download platforms. Enjoy!