Conversations with Mandi Mapes

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mandi Mapes.

Hi Mandi, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The first time I came alive to music was when I was fourteen and I discovered that could take some poetry I had written and sing it over a few chords I had learned on the guitar and suddenly it was a song.

The thing I love about listening to music is how deeply music attaches to our memories. Most songs that I’ve listened to more than ten times are tethered to a trip, a moment, a person, or a season of life. However, the thing I love about making music is how it allows me to connect with the listener on the other side of the song and tethers us to a shared feeling.

From the time I was a teenager, I loved singing and songwriting. At the age of 18, I moved to Birmingham, AL where I continued making music, singing at my church, and performing around town. I think back fondly on that season. Not only was I deeply inspired to write, but my music started circulating through my city and people loved the music. People were coming to my shows, I was getting asked to play shows and my songs were even getting picked to be used in movies on Netflix. At the time, I think I took all of this for granted in the sense that I was grateful for all of it, but I had no idea how easily it could all fade away.

Fast forward to my 20s. I met my incredible husband and we decided to take a job that would allow us to live abroad for a few years. We moved to the Middle East and while much of it was a welcomed adventure, there were parts of it that were hard. Particularly, making music and performing. For a season we even lived in an area where music particularly women singing was frowned upon by the extreme religious culture. To go from one place where I felt like my voice and my gifts mattered and were appreciated and then find myself in a place where my voice was unwelcome and my gifts not valued- that had a huge impact on me.

Finally, after our daughter was born, we all moved to Nashville (where my husband is from) to be closer to family. While I was optimistic about moving to Nashville, I faced a new set of challenges. I was a new mom. I was almost 30. I had struggled with writer’s block for several years. I remember reading a book of prayer called “Every Moment Holy” and in the book, there’s a prayer called “The Death of a Dream” (A prayer for the disappointed.) I resisted reading it but finally read through each line as hot tears began to stream out of my eyes. And I wept.

And after I finally released all those tears I had been holding inside, I picked up my guitar and I wrote, “I used to think dreams could come true. Stars could grant wishes and mountains could move, but now that I’m older it gets harder to see that the stars in the sky are shining for me. And oh, it is been a long time since I could sing a song, and it’s kind of sad how I’ve listened to every voice but my own.

But I’m remembering how to dream again, how to feel again, how to need again, and as silly as it may seem, I’m remembering how to dream.” And that song, Dream became the final track on my album, Levees. An album that I would slowly write over the next two years.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
So many struggles. The first challenge was learning to dream again. The second obstacle was finding the anger to sit down and finish all my unfinished song ideas. The next huge hurdle was finding someone who would let me perform.

I started playing at my local farmers market, then a couple of writers rounds, a lot of house shows, and finally, after a few years of playing I’m starting to play on stage. However, to be honest, house shows are always my favorite kind of show to play!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m very proud of my latest album, Levees.

So much of my heart and tears went into making this album. Lucas Morton did a fantastic job producing it and so many people lent their time and talent to it and you can sense that when you listen to it.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting?
If you know you want to be an artist, go after it. Don’t be coy about it. Don’t waste your younger years figuring yourself out. Give music your best shot while you’re young. And whether you’re young or old.

If you have a gift, use that gift to bless your community. Your art is what makes the world beautiful and your voice and your gifts matter. You are of invaluable worth. Don’t hide under a basket what was meant to shine.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mandimapes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandimapesmusic/

Image Credits
Betsy Phillips and Taylor Ann A. Bogner