My main goal in writing weekly blogs is to let my audience know a little more about who I am as a person and what I'm currently up to in the music industry. In this entry, because I am turning 21 in a couple days, I thought I'd share more about my personal life by answering 21 questions... so here we go!
1. Where are you from?
I was born and raised in a small town called Weyburn in Southern Saskatchewan. I quite like it there, especially in the summer months.
2. How long have you been playing music?
I've always been very intrigued by music but I started playing guitar when I was about 8 years old and started singing in front of people when I was about 13. When I first started playing and singing, I would mainly learn covers of songs, it wasn't until I was 15 when I started writing songs of my own.
3. Do you play any other instruments?
Yes! I my secondary instruments are the mandolin and baritone ukulele. When I was in high school I played percussion in band class and attended a couple Provincial Band camps for percussion, so I kind of know what I'm doing with auxiliary percussion, but I'm not the greatest. I also took piano lessons for couple months, but I still don't know what I'm doing there
4. What do you like to do for fun?
I love being active and spending time outdoors. Some of my favorite outdoor activities include hiking, running, and paddle boarding. Other activities that are truly life giving to me are really anything that involves creativity. Whether it's painting, crafting, songwriting, or even cooking, if it involves creating something from scratch, I'm there!
5. What did you do after you graduated high school?
After graduating high school, I worked at a camp for the summer and then went straight to Prairie College in Three Hills, Alberta to study Music and Worship Arts. My program is a three year program so I will be graduating this April.
6. What are you doing after you graduate from Prairie?
Good question! After I graduate I am going to work at a camp in Saskatchewan as a program/music director for the summer and in the fall I fully intend to pursue a career as a songwriter/recording artist. Right now I don't know all the specifics as to what that looks like, but I'm hoping to move to Calgary, Alberta and get involved in the music scene there.
7. Who are your biggest musical inspirations?
Some of the artists who inspire me lyrically include Luke Sital-Singh, Josh Ramsay of Marianas Trench, and James Taylor. I know it's a weird combination but all of these artists are incredible lyricists and I have personally been moved and inspired while listening to them. My musical inspiration comes from groups such as The Paper Kites, Rend Collective, and The Lumineers. All of these bands portray the type of folksy/rootsy/Americana
sound I love listening to and wish to emulate in my own music
8. What's your favorite song right now?
I would have to say at the moment, it's 'Death With Dignity' by Sufjan Stevens. One of my fellow classmates Joseph introduced me to this artist and I don't know why but this song just moves me, truthfully I'm not entirely sure what it's about, maybe that's why I keep coming back to it.
9. How long does it take you to write a song?
That's a tricky one. I can usually write a song within an hour or two, but creating great music takes time. For example, I wrote "Schedules", one of the songs on my album all in one day but it took me a couple months until it was finished. What I mean by that is, everything can be improved upon and as artists we need to present our art with humility which means allowing other artists to give their honest feedback in order to help the tune reach its full potential and sometimes this process can take a while. So to answer this question I would say, it really depends on the song.
10. Do you write about anything other than nature?
Haha, yes I do. I just mainly write nature songs because I love taking beautiful scenery and transforming it into beautiful imagery using lyrics, but I do write about things that are not related to nature, there's even a couple of these on my EP.
11. What has been your favorite class you've taken at Prairie?
There are so many good ones! But hands down my favorite classes were my songwriting classes with Brian Doerksen. A close second would be the Prophets class I took last year.
12. What does EP stand for?
I actually didn't know this one until a couple of years ago. EP stands for Extended Play. It's shorter than a full length album, but longer than if I were just releasing a single. It's basically just a shorter album., they can range anywhere from 3-7 songs. My EP has 6 tunes on it.
13. What made you want to start writing songs?
I went to a youth conference when I was 15 and they had a song writing contest and I really wanted to enter it, so I decided to write a song and I discovered I actually kind of liked it.
14. Do you have any doubts about your music?
At least ten a day, if not then something's wrong.
In all seriousness I think every artist experiences doubt in their art, but committed artists need to learn how to address their doubt because it will always be there. When I'm writing, deep down I know when a song is worth pursuing and if so, I've learned and am still learning to tune out the voice that says "this is garbage" and focus instead on creating beautiful art.
15. What can listeners expect to hear on your EP?
You can expect to hear some sweet sounds from the mandolin, banjo, and pedal steel guitar to illustrate the stories my tunes have to tell. Also, expect the unexpected is all I'll say for now. There are some very cool, unexpected twists I am very excited to share.
16. If you could play another instrument what would it be?
I know of all these sweet instruments I want to learn but I realize that I can't get super good at them all in one life time so for now I really want to focus on expanding my knowledge of guitar and getting better at mandolin, but someday I would love to add cello to my repertoire
17. If you could play a show anywhere in the world, where would that be?
I think there is so much beauty yet to be discovered in my own country beyond what I have already seen, so as cool as it would be to travel around the world and play gigs, I'd really love to do a cross-country Canadian tour!
18. If you could have coffee with any celebrity living or not who would that be?
Oh gee probably Bob Goff just because I'm reading his book "Everybody Always" right now and he's such a good story teller and I think I could learn a lot from him. Also he just seems like a good time and I think we'd be quick friends.
19. What's one thing you've learned over the past year?
Everybody's got a story so we can't be too quick to judge. Even if people think or act differently, their hearts are generally in the right place and they probably have a pretty cool story. Sometimes it takes a while to remember that.
20. What was the best thing that happened to you at age 20?
Finally recording my album! This has been a dream of mine long before I'd even heard of the Song Writing and Recording program at Prairie so seeing one of my biggest dreams become a reality was such an incredible experience
21. What would you like to do before you turn 22?
I think over this next year I want to focus less on what I want to do and more on who I want to become. In Bob Goff's book "Everybody Always" he talks a lot about people "becoming love" meaning becoming more like Christ and because I'm not a perfect person, becoming more like Christ should always be my priority. God has shaped my life so much throughout my 20 years of existence, especially in the last three years, but I think there is always more to learn and there is always ways that He can refine me and make me more unto His likeness. I guess the simple answer to this question would be; I want to love others in the same way that Christ loves me.
Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions that I did not touch on, please feel free to contact me through email (kearstinpfeifermusic@gmail.com), or through my facebook page @kearstinpfeifermusic