Artist: Michaela Anne
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: Oh to Be That Free
What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?
I love when I feel like I’m having a conversation with the audience and I’m not just standing up there singing at them. I’ve had so many fun shows like this but for some reason I remember a show at the Chapel in San Francisco, opening for Joe Pug in the fall of 2019. I was playing solo and I just remember laughing with the audience so much. Felt like I was in a room full of friends.
What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?
Literature for sure. Richard Powers’ book The Overstory was especially influential to this album, specifically the song “Trees.” So is the work of Barbara Kingsolver whose novels all have some incredible way of showing how connected and necessary we all are in nature. I love being in nature. I love the mountains and desert, the ocean, the forests. But because of where I live in Nashville, I spend most of my time walking in the woods by Percy Priest Lake. Being in nature calms me immensely and helps me remember that a lot of the stuff that distracts me from my work, the business of it all…none of it really matters in the big picture. Just make art.
What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?
I try to gather myself and do a short meditation of sorts before going on stage. It’s a way to make sure I don’t feel so scattered and can retain my focus.
Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?
I love good food… Bastion is one of my favorite restaurants in Nashville. I’d have to say my dream would be a dinner there with Emmylou Harris. There are so many things I want to ask her.
How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use āyouā when it’s actually āmeā?
Not very often. I definitely have written about different characters from time to time but most of my songs in some way always come back to me.
Photo Credit: Natia Cinco
