Daily Inspiration: Meet Sierra Carson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sierra Carson.

Hi Sierra, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My journey with music starts early enough that I can only remember it through other people’s stories. My nana always says I used to “dance to the beat of the washing machine.” Music has always been a guiding light and a soft place for me to land. I grew up in small town Arkansas, raised by young parents. No one in our family was musically inclined, but there was music all around, all the time- my mom and her Sheryl Crow CDs, Dad and his country radio stations.

Once I started singing along, they started trying to figure out what to do with me and put me into musical theatre at a really young age. From there, my love of all things music exploded. I was constantly singing my favorite songs, making up my own, or some combination of the two. I begged for a guitar and on my ninth birthday, a purple Hannah Montana acoustic became my best friend. Songwriting became a large part of my childhood, before I even knew that’s what I was doing. I would start singing whatever came to mind and write it all down before rushing to the living room to show my parents. As I got older, I started taking it more seriously. I never worked a typical job in high school because I started playing restaurant and bar gigs (before I was technically old enough to even be inside the building) and never looked back. A music teacher I had in high school, Mr. Singleton, was the first to tell me there were college programs where you could actually study songwriting and composition. I was accepted into Belmont’s program and a few others across the country, but my whole plan was put on pause when Covid hit in 2020. When the world stopped spinning, I spent a year writing songs in my bedroom and posting them on TikTok. That’s when everything changed. I moved to Nashville in 2021 and Belmont was my home for the next 3 years.

Since my move to this precious place, I’ve worked with some incredible people and been lucky enough to watch my dreams turn, slowly, into reality. That girl with the Hannah Montana guitar would be losing her mind right about now.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Obviously, no journey is without complications. In my experience, comparison has not only been a thief of joy, but a thief of motivation. I have always considered myself lucky to have the support of my family and friends, but my biggest enemy has always been me. Moving from a town where I was the girl with a guitar to a town where every girl has a guitar did a number on my self-confidence. Social media is the reason I am here doing this, but it’s also the reason I think about throwing the towel in every day. It’s nearly impossible to separate the value of your work with the constant analytics you face every time you post it. It’s easy to find yourself discouraged and pissed off when a singular post doesn’t do as well as you’d hoped. Or when you’re watching a friend get three times the amount of attention online. There was a year or so in college where I stopped posting almost entirely. I was tired of the disappointment and had completely forgotten my love of creating and sharing my art. As much as I’d like to pretend I have it figured out, I don’t. There are still days when the business part of the music business makes my heart heavy and my mind a little foggy, too. I’m learning to anchor myself in my passion and the things I can control; the art I’m putting into the world and the work I’m doing to make it the best it can be.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I strive to make music that says something. I have always been a lover of written words and the power they hold. Songwriting has gotten me through the lowest and highest moments in life, always helping me find the through line of my thoughts and emotions. I think I sit in a unique position as a female artist in the current folk/alt movement, which is extremely male dominated in the mainstream media. Women like Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Patty Griffith, and Carole King pioneered this genre. The bravery and transparency in their writing inspires me to speak on topics like religion, policy, and mental health- things we are all confronting and often too scared to address. At the end of the day, I hope my vulnerability brings comfort and connectivity to at least one person out there. I hope it makes people feel a little less alone.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I wouldn’t be here today without the support of my family. My parents have sacrificed everything to help my sister and I chase our dreams. No one knows me quite like they do and it’s nice to have a support system to remind me who I am every now and then, especially while pursuing a career like this one. I would also be an idiot not to acknowledge this town and all of the people who keep it alive. Nashville buzzes with a creativity unlike any other city I’ve ever been to. This community rallies behind its people, all of its people, and I am inspired by something new every single day.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sierracarsonmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sierracarsonmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sierracarsonmusic
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sierracarsonmusic