The Wanderings Caitlin Quisenberry and Ryan Neely shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
The Wanderings, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
We are wandering- taking the road less traveled! That’s where we came up with the name of our duo, The Wanderings.
We ask our fans and followers to come wander with us. It’s not just about the destination, but more importantly, the journey.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
We are The Wanderings! My name is Caitlin Quisenberry and my duo partner is Ryan Neely. Our sound is described as cinematic folk because it tells a story where you can visualize and feel our music. We are both songwriters and have solo careers as well. We met in a song-write and wrote our first song the day before Ryan was performing at the iconic Bluebird Cafe. He loved the song so much that he asked if I would perform it with him and I jumped at the chance! That night was magic! After, people came up to us asking where they could hear our music and wanting to use our song in their wedding. That feedback sparked our idea to start a duo, something we had both always wanted to do but had never found the right fit. Since that night, we started and funded a Kickstarter which gave us the money to go record our record. We are currently in the studio now recording 7 songs with the producer of our dreams, Mike LoPinto, He really gets our sound and vibe. And he’s also Chris Stapleton’s guitarist, and is playing on our record as well- so that’s definitely a double bonus for us!
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
We were both first musicians from very early ages. I loved to sing and Ryan took to the guitar and piano. Then somewhere along the way, that shifted for both of us. Although we continued perusing our passion for music, we thought of it more as a hobby and not something we could make a good living doing. So we pour ourselves into our academics, making that our priority. Ryan was Valedictorian of his high school class and went on to pursue electrical engineering in college. Like Ryan, I chased the academic path as well, graduating sums cum laude from Pepperdine University then heading to law school. We both decided this academic path for ourselves, until our passion for music kept creeping in. Eventually, we told ourselves we could always pursue that direction later in life, but NOW was the time to following our hearts and true passions for a career in music. That’s a huge commonality I share with Ryan and part of what makes the foundation of our duo so strong. We are very determined and goal oriented and understand this is a business we are running together.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes! Being in the music industry is difficult because you work so hard for so long without getting rewarded monetarily for the time and effort you put in. The industry is also evolving all the time and has become as much about social media as it is about the songs themselves or the talent behind them. There have been many times we have almost given up, but we both keep choosing the path less traveled… the harder path… the path that requires financial sacrifices. That’s how much music means to us and how determined we are to living our dream. Being in a duo has honestly helped this immensely! When one of us is down, the other brings us back up. We are no long just accountable to ourselves and our own careers- there is another person involved.. counting on you, and that has made it easier to wander down the music path TOGETHER.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Not entirely. Most of what the public sees of us are our performances and what we share on social media. They see our chemistry, how well we song-write together and all the fun we have with each other. That is all completely true, but the other side hasn’t been publicly shared. It’s the side all duos and bands battle with… the disagreements, frustrations, and one of us having to concede to move forward for the betterment of our music, duo and business. When you’re a solo artist, you’re calling all the shots, making all the decisions, but in a duo that’s not the case. Ryan and I have been in those tough situations and grow each time we’ve come out of them. It’s made our duo stronger. I hope we can be better at sharing this moments on our socials because I think our followers would appreciate that and have a deeper understanding and appreciation for our duo. When we first started together, we met with a music manager and their advice was to get a marriage councilor because being in a duo is like being married in many ways. At the time, we laughed, but now we get it!
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. When do you feel most at peace?
We feel most at peace when we are enjoying the outdoors. We are both from beautiful states. Ryan is from Oregon and I’m from Colorado. We now live in Nashville which is also gorgeous, with its lush green landscape and rolling hills. Ryan enjoys walking his dog Bella around Percy Priest Lake and I love hiking and skiing. As a duo, our peaceful place is rehearsing our songs at the 12 South Park in Nashville. We sit under the big trees and at the picnic benches singing the songs we’ve written and practicing harmonies- something we’ve had to perfect being in a duo. Sometimes we fight over what key to sing our songs in, but being in nature makes it easier to compromise.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://caitlinquisenberry.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewanderingsmusic?igsh=NG1mbHU2b3RtdnF1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1ZT61rbXch/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thewanderingsmusic?si=9vusVEti_7RFOO9W
