Meet Sydney. Like so many in our community, this East Nashvillian has high hopes and songwriting aspirations–however, at the ripe old age of six years old, Sydney got started on her dreams early, and now, at 13, she is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her heroes, superstar Beyoncé and icon-in-the-making Alessia Cara. “I’ve always wanted to be that voice on the radio,” she explains. “I imagine being a famous actor and singer. I’ll dance in my mirror for 30 minutes and my mom will scream at me to get out of the bathroom.”
Sydney, along with many other young women, are participants in Girls Write Nashville, an exciting (and free!) new program in town which strives to empower girls through songwriting, artistic community, and album making. Participants are paired with songwriting mentors, attend monthly song-sharing events, and work towards creating an album. At the end of the writing season, they record their song(s) in a professional studio with a professional band, and celebrate with a CD release party. The program, led by local artists Georgia English and Jen Starsinic, is partially funded by the Metro Nashville Arts Commission; Nashville studio The Sound Emporium generously donated a day in their Studio A for the girls in to record their songs accompanied by an all-female band of professional studio musicians. Season 2 of the program is already in the works, and the girls may perform a short set at Americana Fest in September.
Songwriting can be a very scary process, but Girls Write Nashville seeks to provide a safe, community environment for talented young women to hone their skills and learn to shine. “I love that I get to work with people who let me take my music and help me make it real,” she explains of her experience, which culminated in “Happy Place,” her new song and contribution to the Girls Write Nashville album. “’Happy Place’ is about being true to yourself and never giving in or backing down to anybody in your way of having a good time,” Sydney explains.”No matter where you go, there will always be judge-y people who will try and bring you down,” Sydney says. “But like Taylor says, the haters gonna hate and fakers gonna fake so shake ‘em off.”
[For more information about Girls Write Nashville: https://www.girlswritenashville.com]
[For more information about the Girls Write Nashville: Season 1 album release show at The Family Wash on July 9th: http://www.familywash.com/shows/2017/7/9/girls-write-nashville]
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