Rising Stars: Meet Angela Morano of Nashville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Morano

Hi Angela, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I have had a true love for music since I can remember. My grandma was getting rid of her player piano when I was around 5 years old and I begged my parents to let us bring it back to our house. I started taking classical lessons pretty shortly after and have continued playing piano in various styles ever since then. Once I started to develop skills in other genres besides classical, I began writing my own songs at around age 11. Throughout middle school and high school, I wrote and wrote and wrote. My friends would tell me what was going on in their lives and ask me to write songs for them, which I happily obliged to. After realizing that there was genuinely no other path for me to take besides pursuing music, I applied and was accepted to Berklee College of Music where I got a dual degree in songwriting and music business. Shortly after graduating, I decided to move to Nashville to pursue my dreams of becoming a songwriter

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Hahaha, no it has not been smooth. It’s been a road with what feels like ten million speed bumps and I keep trying to go over them faster than I should. Obviously in college, Covid hit and we were sent home mid way through our first year. The pressure that I (and I’m sure other musicians) put on themselves to be creative during this time was a heavy burden. You can’t force creativity and I think a lot of people, myself included, learned that authenticity cannot be manufactured. School eventually started back up in person and the rest of my college experience was truly amazing. However, post grad was a different story. The move to Nashville felt like the biggest mistake of my life when I first got here. I was applying for every music business job imaginable and couldn’t even get responses from these places I would apply to. I felt upset at myself in those moments for pursuing a dream that is not tangible. I tried to put my business degree to use, but was met with rejection after rejection. I quickly found out that most of Nashville was trying to do the same thing I was doing and it was hard not to feel like a drop of water in the ocean. A lot of the struggles I faced (and still face) were mental – “Why is this not working out for me yet?” , “What do I have to do to be different?” , “Why is what I’m doing not enough?”. Although it’s not been a smooth road, it’s taught me a lot about reshaping the way I think about things

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a songwriter and keys player. I specialize in lyric driven songs which have been acknowledged and awarded by the Nashville Grammy U Chapter where I recently won the Annual Songwriting Competition. Although I have primarily only written for myself, I am venturing more into the world of songwriting for other artists. I’ve realized that the giddiness I feel about stuff like rhyme scheme, lyrical prosody, and metaphors are an indicator that I exist more in the realm of a songwriter rather than an artist. Alongside pursuing songwriting, I also play piano and keys for multiple different artists around Nashville both as a live performer and a studio session player. During my time at Berklee, I was awarded the Pattison Lyricist Scholarship from Pat Pattison (author of Writing Better Lyrics). Pat is well known in the songwriting world and to have been awarded this scholarship is definitely what I am most proud of. I look up to him more than anyone when it comes to songwriting.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I think something that might be shocking is that I can’t play a lick of guitar. All of my writing gets done strictly on keys and then I have friends of mine play guitar for demos or tracks. It’s kind of funny being a songwriter in Nashville and not even being able to play a simple chord progression, but because I’ve been playing piano for so long I feel confident in those skills to keep me afloat here!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelamoranomusic/