Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Cushman.
Hi Kevin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When I was a child living in Tucson, I began taking drum lessons at age eight and continued for years with the lessons and then playing in various bands. In middle school, I learned guitar and picked up songwriting, which has been one of my main focuses in life. Throughout high school I challenged myself to write a song every day for the school year. Sometimes I wrote one song; other days five. I might have even had a few good ones back then! I later attended college at Northern Arizona University and formed a band called ‘Girl Etc.’ We played indie pop/rock music, sold merchandise, and had some amazing fans! We performed at many different venues, and a college friend made a documentary about us. We had a reputation for putting on a great show. I received a degree in Communication Studies and a minor in guitar and took too many choir classes to count. I also got radio experience by working as a production manager and DJ at the college radio station KJACK. I loved performing at open mics, battle of the bands, and hosting my own show, ‘Kevin’s Questions,’ where I interviewed interesting people on campus, including a runner on the track team and a news anchor for the student news station. I also started a podcast!
When 2024 came around, it was time for me to graduate from college, and I decided I wanted to take music more seriously as an artist and songwriter. I decided to do a full year of vocal training at Yavapai College in Prescott and studied under some incredible music mentors. I practiced singing for hours every day, was in three choirs, did musical theater, and even got a role in Yavapai College Performing Arts Center’s production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ And yes, music theory finally clicked for me!
Originally, I had planned on doing two years at Yavapai, but after taking about four years of singing lessons combined with band experience, I decided to cut my education short and move to a music industry city where I could focus on making connections and getting new opportunities. That city happened to be Nashville.
I had never thought of moving to a place where country music was so prominent, but the more research I did, the more interested I became. Open mics and songwriter rounds occur seven days a week here. Nashville is the hub for recording music in the United States and the world. Music Row includes blocks of music publishing houses, record labels, and recording studios, in other words, the places where people can help you get your music heard by the entire world. Some of this information I only learned after moving here and scouting out the city.
So in September of 2025, I made the decision to pack up my car with all my childhood memories and my possessions and start driving. Luckily, I had my Prescott friend Maverick come with me to help me unpack everything and move into a new house 1600 miles away from my home. It took us three days to get to Nashville. We drove past my old college town, Flagstaff, through New Mexico (a rather large state with a lot of empty space), and stopped for the night in Amarillo, Texas. If we had planned the trip a bit differently, we may have been able to sing the classic country tune ‘Amarillo by Morning’ with conviction. But we didn’t. I think we still sang it though.
After the first night, we drove through the northern part of Texas, then straight through Oklahoma, passing by Oklahoma City, and made it to Little Rock, Arkansas, where we enjoyed some time in town and had a wonderful southern barbeque dinner. We rested for the night and got up early in the morning, ready to finish our trip to Nashville. By this time, we were getting on each other’s nerves and had the greatly anticipated road trip argument; expletives were thrown at each other until we had to have an hour of silence. Then we arrived in Nashville, Tennessee.
I will never forget how we were driving on the I-40 through the trees, where there was endless forest on either side of us, and you couldn’t see 100 feet to the left, right, or center. And all at once, out of nowhere, there was a sprawling cityscape in front of us. High-rises, corporate buildings, and the iconic AT&T tower were all in view. We continued driving and made it to Hermitage, a neighborhood of Nashville, where I was moving into a house in a city where I literally knew no one. We were greeted by Eric Ripper, a touring musician and someone who I can say became a good friend of mine. After we unpacked our belongings and picked up a dresser and an air mattress, Eric took us down to Broadway to show us all of his favorite spots in town.
That first night was a culture shock. It was overwhelming to see hundreds of musicians on the street and in every building for blocks. Broadway is a street in Nashville, near Music Row, that has booming live music on every floor of multiple four to five story buildings with thousands of tourists flooding the streets. We went to all the iconic places, including Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk Bar. I felt disoriented and panicked by the size of Broadway and the great talent everywhere. A few days later, Eric had a ‘writers round’ at The Stillery, an event where songwriters showcase their original songs. Seeing the round made me feel more confident because if there’s one thing I love to do, it’s write songs and perform them. I received the contact information for the promoter and scheduled myself for an upcoming writers’ round. Then a lucky thing happened.
At that writers’ round, I met someone who is associated with a recording studio in Nashville. Previously in Arizona, I had been recording my own songs throughout high school and college. I also learned production techniques interning at Mudshark recording studio in Flagstaff, so I had credentials as an audio engineer. I mentioned this to the person at the round, and he gave me the contact for the studio manager. I reached out to the studio manager, and he offered me an internship at his studio. I was ecstatic to start my new internship and learn more techniques and sit in on sessions with professional artists, bands, touring musicians, and producers. I began learning how the sausage is made.
For most of 2025-2026, this has been my routine: recording my own music, learning from others, and gaining experience in the industry. I’m still playing a lot, going out to shows most nights, and working on developing my artist brand with high-quality assets like live videos, photography, websites, and social media. Of course, in the midst of all of this, I have been working odd jobs to make just enough money to survive while focusing full time on music. In November of last year, one of the songs I recorded made it onto the Nashville radio station Lightning 100.1 as a DJ Pick and was played on rotation. Coming up in late September, I have my first ticketed headline show in Nashville with supporting artists. I am also a member of NSAI, where I can receive feedback on songs, meet co-writers, and even pitch my songs to music publishers.
However, the decision to leave Arizona, where I was born and raised, and relocate to Nashville has been challenging. I have never felt so surrounded by people similar to myself, and at the same time so alone. I have learned that ‘imposter syndrome’ is real. A number of people believe in me and my music; others don’t and have told me so bluntly and callously. Financially, I have seen what it feels like to have close to nothing, and there are days when I worry about paying my rent or if my debit card has enough money on it when I buy food at the grocery store.
But I am a highly optimistic person. I don’t intend to give up on this goal of mine. I’ve made it this far, and I’m excited to see how much further I can go!
To the reader, if you have a dream, go for it! It might not be easy, but you’ll never know what can happen, if you don’t try something new.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The decision to leave Arizona, where I was born and raised, and relocate to Nashville has been challenging. I have never felt so surrounded by people similar to myself, and at the same time so alone. I have learned that ‘imposter syndrome’ is real. A number of people believe in me and my music; others don’t and have told me so bluntly and callously. Financially, I have seen what it feels like to have close to nothing, and there are days when I worry about paying my rent or if my debit card has enough money on it when I buy food at the grocery store.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an independent artist based in Nashville, originally from Tucson, Arizona. I am a singer/songwriter and an audio engineer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kevincushman.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevingcushman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevingcushman/
- Twitter: https://x.com/kevingcushman?s=11
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thekevingcushman
