Can you share your musical journey with us, from when you first discovered your passion for music to where you are today as an independent musician?
I first fell in love with music as a young child. My Mom would sing to me and my sister when we were very young and I think this stayed with me through my life. I begged to start singing in the church choir when I was almost 5 and have been singing ever since. In grade school I fell in love with instruments – flute, oboe, piano. I loved practicing for hours a day, learning new songs and even writing my own songs.
When I was 21, I finally bought my first guitar and started taking songwriting more seriously. My early songs were poetry put to music, they became a way for me to learn the guitar and taught me to sing and play at the same time.
I walked many paths in my early adult life – traveling, studying Anthropology, becoming a massage therapist, herbalist, helping raise my step child and holding the hands of each of my parents as they passed. Through each aspect of my life, music has been my comfort and self-expression.
Now, I’m at a stage in my life where music is my primary vocation. Each moment of my past has enriched my soul and deepened my heart and feeds the music I live and breathe today.
What motivates you to create music, and how do you stay inspired to continue making new and unique music?
Life. Life motivates me to create music. Sometimes music is my emotional release, sometimes it’s my way to cope with a difficult experience or express an incredible moment. Music is so evocative, it stirs the soul.
What keeps me most inspired is to simply get out of my own way and let myself create. There are times that I am so busy with being out in the world – performing, life… that I don’t give myself enough space to create. At those moments, my greatest challenge is giving myself license to go within and reach the deeper places where emotion and authentic feelings are found so I can just let all out without worrying about it being good enough. Later, I can hone the song, create order and structure and really develop the ideas.
As an independent musician, you wear many hats – from composing to marketing. How do you balance these different aspects of your career, and what challenges do you face in the process?
Finding balance is really challenging. It’s sometimes difficult to find enough time and energy to do everything I want to do in order to effectively build my career. Greater focus on one area can mean that another aspect doesn’t receive as much of my attention that I’d like it too.
For example, when I have a busy performance schedule, I find it difficult to find the time to book new shows, or when I’m really focused on building my social media presence, it takes time and space away from creating new music.
The heart of me is a musician, an artist. The time management side of things can be difficult sometimes. Ultimately, the greatest challenge for me is to be ok with the process and realize it is all an ebb and flow – for everything there is a season. When I’m being kind to myself, I try to remember that whatever I do, or do not accomplish, I’m giving it my best!
Could you tell us about your creative process? How do you come up with new ideas for songs, and how do you go about turning those ideas into finished tracks?
First, I need space. When my life is busy, it can be more challenging to do, but I need to create safe space in order to create and come from an honest place. This is where my emotions and ideas and unfold without self-judgment – being good enough, or perfect, or right or wrong.
Later, when I listen back with fresh ears, then I can be more discerning, but these early moments of creation are really sacred. The seeds of any idea could blossom into something really beautiful.
Some songs come from my direct experiences – what I’m going through in the moment or something I’m trying to resolve from the past. It’s like journaling but with rhyme and rhythm and a melody that take me deeper into the feeling. My husband and my family have been a strong source of inspiration for many songs. Nature is also incredibly inspirational for me.
Other songs are more experimental. Sometimes a word or phrase catches my attention. I like to see what ideas and emotions follow. Then, I experiment with different chords or riffs on my guitar that help the images be more evocative, visceral, emotional.
At other times, I hear musical phrases in my mind and I pick up my guitar to find out where that music thread wants to go and what feelings they inspire – love, sadness, sensuality, longing…. Then the lyrics follow to give voice to the music.
Independent musicians often face financial challenges. How do you manage your finances to sustain your music career while also covering your personal expenses?
Ah yes, money…
Finances are a real consideration. It’s a dance between what I earn for my musical work and deciding how much to invest back into my music to, hopefully, reach more people and create a more sustainable living for me and my family. Financially, my solo performances are almost always the most lucrative, but creatively, I love bringing together my band to take the music in more directions.
It can also be challenging to determine what are the most effective investments to make in my music. Sometimes it’s obvious – like I need to replace equipment, but other times it’s about how much to spend on advertising, PR and opportunities to grow my reach. Mostly, my musical work and performances cover my expenses but when things get tight financially, or I decide to make some bigger investments in my music, I take on outside work to help offset the additional costs.
Can you share a particularly memorable or challenging experience from your journey as a musician that has had a significant impact on your career and personal growth?
So much of my life has been about healing and this is a story about how healing has had a significant impact on both my career and personal growth.
I completed my most recent album, remotely, during Covid, however plans for its release were slowed due to many Covid complications affecting the whole world. By the Summer of 2021, I was performing solo and back to working with a couple of bands with a lot of regional shows at casinos and outdoor festivals and I was finally gearing up to release my new album. Then, I lost my voice…
During that Summer, the West Coast was consumed by blistering heat, intense wildfires and smoke. Since I was regularly performing outdoors in hazardous smoke conditions, it impacted my health to such a degree that I developed vocal polyps. I was forced to cancel all upcoming performances, quit my bands and delay my album release. I was devastated.
I started working with an amazing Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose, Throat specialist). Through lifestyle modifications, voice therapy sessions and guidance from my vocal coach – Ken Orsow (who is also my songwriting collaborator and producer), I started healing. During 2022 I kept performing, but mostly as an instrumentalist. I even had a couple shows while in total silence. Since I was unable to sing, I chose to put together a series of music videos for my new album with my friend and amazing videographer – Antonio Melendez with Heartisan Films.
It was close to a year of modified singing before my vocal cords started to heal but, thankfully, I’m back to singing again. This experience taught me take my voice more seriously. For years I just assumed I would always be able to sing. I had taken it for granted. Now, I sing with a much, much deeper awareness of my voice, my breath, of how I sing with proper vocal techniques instead of pushing or straining.
This healing crisis continues to teach me how to listen to my body and honor my voice. With every performance I am gaining a new level of mindfulness in my singing.
The loss, healing and regaining of my voice has been, and continues to be, my greatest teacher. I feel that I am a better singer after going through this difficult time, but the process of healing and overcoming my own obstacles has been invaluable to help me deepen into my music.
With the rise of digital platforms, the music industry has changed significantly. How do you navigate the digital landscape, including streaming services and social media, to promote your music and connect with your audience?
The digital landscape can really offer for artists a way to reach new listeners on a global scale. With the entire world as a potential audience, there is a greater opportunity to find a niche of really engaged listeners to support an artist. I feel this is the positive side of streaming music.
I still feel new to utilizing all the digital formats. Personally, I have found growth in my fan base by releasing short form live performance videos on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook which has expanded my reach to a greater variety of people of varying ages and demographics.
Ideally, I like to post at least 3 times/week and would like to increase that to 5x, but sometimes I find it challenging to find the time to put together when things get busy.
Although my music is being released on all streaming platforms and I have been added to a number of Spotify playlists, I feel that I am under-utilizing this media and feel that paid advertising could boost my reach. I still rely on building my email list and do frequent direct messaging to fans.
Collaboration is a key part of the music industry. Have you worked with other musicians or producers, and how have these collaborations influenced your sound and career?
Yes. Most of the songs on my recent album, Plenty Of Nothin’ To Do, I co-wrote with my friend and vocal coach Ken Orsow. He is also a talented vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist with a long history as a professional musician and brings a similar but unique perspective to the songwriting process.
This was my first experience collaborating. It’s a really exciting experience to bounce ideas off of each other. We were writing songs together through COVID and finally recorded the album – remotely. Ken also became the producer of the album, helped arrange a number of the songs and was one of the engineers.
Working with Ken brought a shift to the sound of this album and helped expand the direction of the project. My prior albums were more acoustic/indie/folk. Ken’s influence brought out the more blues/rock elements in my writing.
It also felt good to not always be the only one driving the songwriting/producing bus. Working with a trusted co-writer helped to bring out a higher level of songwriting from me. We look forward to working on our next project in 2024.
Your music likely reflects your unique style and perspective. Could you describe your musical identity and what makes your sound stand out in a crowded industry?
I call my style Nouveaux Blues. There are elements of Jazz, R&B, Country and even World music throughout my songs, but it’s really Blues that I’m most influenced by, especially when singing about the themes of life’s struggles, love and heartbreak. What sets my music apart from other musicians are my diverse musical influences. I also am drawn to creating some unique chording and arrangements that are often outside the traditional 1-4-5 blues chord structures.
Throughout my career I’ve performed in a range of styles from Jazz to Pop, Country to Rock and Soul. I enjoy stretching my voice from sweet to sultry, gritty to soulful. I like the dimension it adds to my music.
Cultivating a diverse sound is authentic to me as an artist, although it can sometimes be challenging to characterize my music by a specific genre. Ultimately, I believe my multi-genre musical background is a strength that engages the listener and sets my music apart from similar artists.
What role does live performance play in your music career, and how do you approach planning and executing your live shows, especially in light of recent challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic?
Live performances are at the core of what I do as a musician. My current performances are solo, duo and my full band.
As a solo artist, I perform what I call my One-Woman-Live-Looping-Show where I live-loop my acoustic guitar and vocals then layer in guitar solos, flute solos and vocal harmonies. My performances largely consist of my original material and a blend of jazz standards, blues, country and rock covers.
During COVID, I had a lot of work as a solo artist at wineries and venues that were able to stay open by offering heated outdoor seating with plenty of social distancing. Since it was just me, I could fit into a small spaces and I offered a range of musical styles to the audience.
My duo is with a local singer/guitarist/keyboardist. We perform some of my original material and select classic rock covers where I add rock flute, mandolin, acoustic guitar and vocals. Most of our venues are regional wineries.
My band, Jen Ambrose & The Mystics, is a 5 piece band (or 8 piece with the horn section) featuring my original material. These shows are made for a larger stage with lighting and full sound. After COVID, it has been more difficult to find venues that can afford a larger bands so it takes more planning to find opportunities for these shows. Outdoor venues and festivals really highlight this project.
Many fans are interested in the stories behind the songs. Could you share the backstory or inspiration behind one of your recent tracks that holds special meaning to you?
My first release, is an upbeat song called Under Your Spell from my Plenty Of Nothin’ To Do album. It’s a nostalgic tribute to my hometown roots and the memories associated with a local bar called Kingsbury’s. It speaks to the struggle of trying to move on and make a new start in my life, only to be irresistibly drawn back to the grasp of an unforgettable person from an unforgettable place.
Like me, Kingsbury’s is no longer there, but sometimes I feel a strange nostalgia for that place, for the smell of stale beer and for the people who used to be there.
I wrote Under Your Spell after stepping away from music during a difficult year to be with my parents as they were dying. The uplifting tone of the song became of balm for me after so much personal loss. When I returned to Oregon, I started collaborating with my co-writer, Ken Orsow, who inspired many of the signature guitar licks throughout the song. This became one of the first songs we recorded for the new album.
Looking ahead, what are your future goals and aspirations as an independent musician? Are there any upcoming projects or exciting developments in your career that you’d like to share with your fans and the audience?
In the next few years, I see myself performing, as a solo artist and with my band, at theaters and festivals in the US and abroad. This includes opening for and touring with some more established artists.
One of my favorite things to do is write music and I look forward to recording and releasing new songs. I’ve been writing new music and Ken and I have been talking about some future collaborations. I’ve also started pursuing Sync opportunities and hope to have some placements in shows and movies in the coming years.
An ultimate goal for me is to be nominated for a Grammy!
In January of 2024 I’m releasing my full album, Plenty Of Nothin’ To Do on all digital platforms.
In addition to my solo-live-looping-One-Woman shows, there will be more opportunities to hear me with my spectacular new band: Jen Ambrose & The Mystics.
Thank you so much Soundhub for your time and thoughtful questions and for creating a space where artists, such as myself, can share a little bit about our musical story with you and your audience.
Keep the Flame Alive!
Most sincerely,
Jen Ambrose
http://www.jenambrose.org
