Conversations with Ali Sperry

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ali Sperry. 

Hi Ali, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
There has always been music in my family, even in the generations well before mine. Part of what initially drew my parents together was music and in the late ’70s and early ’80s, they were creating and performing together for the Transcendental Meditation movement. Some of my earliest clear memories are in the TM Center where we lived for a while in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where my parents were teaching TM and performing at events and celebrations. I had a vivid imagination as a child that translated to many hours of make-believe and many hours of improvising songs into my tape recorder. Eventually, I transitioned from making up extemporaneous childish pop songs into actually writing songs. I have always loved performing, and my love of the stage was also tied to a passion for musical theater and acting. I followed this passion through high school and into college, where I studied musical theater at Syracuse University. For a long time, I considered songwriting more like a therapeutic hobby, something that I turned to when I was going through a difficulty that needed to be expressed. I remember a clear feeling that I didn’t know how my songs would even fit into the world of music that was popular at that time, so I never really thought to try. When I was living in Chicago in my early 20s, I began leaning into my musical inspiration and taking it more seriously. I found someone on craigslist to collaborate with, we played a couple gigs in town and I was starting to get excited about music being a more prominent chunk of my life. It was around this time that I got the opportunity to join a band in Nashville and I jumped at the chance. Those first couple years in Nashville were rather magical and also somewhat frustrating, as I was totally green when it came to the music business and I had lofty expectations of our band getting scooped up by a fancy record label and waltzing off into the sunset. But the magic was in that I was writing with people for the first time, I was in this band that was recording in some of the historic studios of Nashville and with incredible players. I was thrown in the deep end, essentially, and that part, I loved. In 2012 I had amassed enough songs of my own to record an EP, which blossomed into my first full-length album, Storybook. I gathered my nearest and dearest friends around for those recording sessions and I felt so thoroughly supported as I took my first steps into becoming a solo artist. I will always fondly remember that very first tour we did together—I was in heaven to be out on the road with my friends playing my own songs. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think my most prominent challenge has been the feeling at times of not knowing what to do next. There is no clear roadmap for success in this business, no foolproof plan to follow. When I reflect on the highs and lows of the last ten years, the lows were often connected with a feeling of “now what?”. It takes a lot of grit to keep putting yourself out there again and again, to keep saying “hey world, listen to my new song” and to sometimes feel like that shout is echoing through an abyss. I have come a long way over the years as far as self-validating instead of letting myself be taken down when I don’t get the outside validation I had hoped for. Also, there’s an innate financial challenge that comes with being an independent artist of needing to invest money into your music with no guarantee that you will be getting any of that money back. So, it takes a lot of faith in yourself in that way. I have always had a “day job” of teaching yoga, and I’m very glad for that as it is something I also love and feels healthy and supportive to my life. But I still strive to be able to devote more time and resources to music. 

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?
What I am most proud of in my new record, In Front Of Us, is that I accomplished a level of vulnerability and of letting my own true personality come through that feels like a new depth for me as a songwriter and artist. Having the time and space of creating this record from home really set the tone for being super selective as far as the song choices and ensuring that everything on there was something that I wanted to say right now. I also naturally feel quite comfortable at home, and without any constraints on studio time and without an audience other than my husband, I was able to give a vocal performance that I feel really good about. I’ve never been a particularly showy or chopsy singer, but my strength lies in being able to let the emotions of the song come through. 

What’s next?
I am greatly looking forward to getting back on tour this summer and fall. It’s something that I have missed during these pandemic years and now that I have new music out, I am pumped to get out and share it. In early 2020, before the world shut down, I did my first tour in the UK, one of my favorite tours to date, and I am working on plans to get back there this fall. I also am excited to have a beautiful new studio at home and ready to dig into some more home recording. We made “In Front Of Us” in a makeshift studio set up in our guest room, and have since gone through a major upgrade by gut-renovating our garage and making it into a really inspiring space for recording. I have schemes of recording a Christmas album in there this year. 

Contact Info:

• Website: http://alisperry.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aligreeno/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alisperry
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrwqYtxx8y7o0D-7drqdqyw

Image Credits
Fairlight Hubbard
Fetzer Designs
Jennie Okon