Today we’d like to introduce you to Avery Gipson.
Hi Avery, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started doing music as early as I can remember. My mom put me and my sister into church choir at 3 years old, and we both fell in love with it. Whether it was singing the little mermaid in the living room, or singing for the congregation on Sundays, I loved everything about music. My house growing up was always filled with some kind of song – both my parents play and sing, and my mom studied music composition in college, so I grew up listening to her songs and thinking they were hit records! She put me into piano lessons in the 3rd grade, and although I only took about 3 semesters of it before my teacher retired, I was hooked. The first time I played piano and sang was at the 4th grade talent show, where I performed Sara Barielles’ “King of Anything”, and I remember thinking “this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life”. Fast forward to the end of 8th grade – I’m in church choir, school choir, Allstate choir, and I’ve just written my very first original song that I’m going to play in the talent show. I still remember that moment. I wasn’t just singing about someone else’s experience, I was singing about my own. Songwriting quickly became my new hobby. If I wasn’t at church or lacrosse practice, or musical rehearsal, or choir, or singing jazz, I was at the piano trying to figure out the ins and outs of writing a song. The game changed my freshman year of high school when my mom signed up for the renown Eddie’s Attic Open Mic, and I asked her if I could sign up too. She said if I could write 3 fully finished songs I’d be able to, so that’s what I did. In January of 2016, I played my first open mic at Eddie’s Attic. Eddie’s open mic is a competition, and each winner of those open mic nights moves on to the semi annual Open mic Shootout, which is a head to head competition bracket style. Sure enough, that first night I ended up “winning” and moving onto the shootout. Unfortunately, I was out of town for that first shootout, so I decided to play another open mic at Red Clay Music Foundry, where I also moved on to their shootout that following Fall. This led to series of incredible opportunities and events, and truly kickstarted my “career” as a songwriter. For the first time in my music journey I thought “I could do this songwriting thing professionally”. Throughout high school I continued to play open mics, festivals, and headline shows in and around Atlanta. I applied and won the National YoungArts award twice in the category of Voice – Singer Songwriter, and my senior year I won the 49th Semi Annual Eddie’s Attic Open Mic Shootout. As a result, I got to record my first single “Look What You’ve Done” and release it in April of 2019. Around this time, I was also applying to colleges, and choosing between Berklee College of Music and Belmont. Although it was a very tough decision, I chose Belmont, and it was the best choice I could have made. In the fall of 2019, I started in the Songwriting program at Belmont, and quickly fell in love with Nashville. I focused on making friends, writing music, and applying myself. I won another YoungArts award and this time, they flew me down to Miami for their week long camp where I got to meet other creatives in my field and make connections with people I still talk to today. This was in February of 2020. By the time I got back and decided to dip my toes in the water of performing in Nashville, March 2020 brought my dreams to a halt. For the next 2 years, I was extremely limited in the live performance realm, playing livestreams and socially distanced shows when I could. I focused on honing my craft, putting out 2 more singles, “Roots’ in 2021 and “Til Death Do Us Part” in 2022. By my last year of college, life was practically back to normal, but my journey was again being halted. in January of 2023, I started having some health issues and I found out I had vocal nodules. I was immediately put into vocal and speech therapy at the Vanderbilt Voice clinic, and again, was forced to focus on everything but performance. That May, I graduated with honors from Belmont University with a degree in Songwriting and Music Business, but my hard work was just beginning. I continued to work on my voice, in and out of the clinic, and tried starting to navigate post-grad when I couldn’t do the one thing I loved. That first year out of college was challenging, but I persevered and did my best to continue pushing for this dream. I started co-writing on a regular basis, and I spent a lot of my time pouring into others in my community that I believed in. With every check up, my voice was getting stronger, and in 2024, I decided to take another stab at performing. I started playing open mics, writers rounds, and anything I could get involved in. I continued to work on my voice and my craft, releasing another single in January of 2025. That following August, I got the green light from my doctors – my vocal cords were practically healed! All my hard work had payed off, I felt free to finally sing full time. I started playing cover gigs again, singing now 4-5 times a week. I started playing as many writer’s rounds as I could, and I began writing songs that showcased my voice again. Now, I’m working on my debut EP that I hope to release by the end of 2026, which will include 5 songs that define who I am as an artist. I’m playing everything from writer’s rounds, to shows, to cover gigs, and my life is full of performance again. My journey has not been linear, and it certainly has been filled with beautiful ups and disappointing downs, but every step of the way has helped form me into who I am today, and I feel as if I’m just beginning.
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?
As I previously mentioned, it has definitely been a bumpy road. As a whole, I believe all performing artists and songwriters took a pretty heavy hit in 2020, and I was no exception. I was very fortunate to have had the experiences I did in high school, and going into college, it looked like I was on the rise so to speak. However, Covid had other plans. Instead of establishing myself as an artist in Nashville, I took a backseat and started to figure out who I was as a person and where that line between artist and person was drawn. Although in the moment it felt like all I had worked for was being taken away, it truly was a gift, as I turned inward and focused on the foundation of my artistry. Turns out, going from 100 to 0 can be difficult, especially when you start defining who you are by what you do. The time I took during 2020-2022 was filled with doubts, insecurities, struggles, and questions. However, I believe it was necessary to my growth as a person and artist, as it hardened my foundation, and solidified a self assurance that was rooted not in achievements but in personal belief. I brought all this into my senior year of school, where I was challenged again. My final semester of college felt very similar to my first spring semester of freshman year- full of setbacks and heartache. I was sick for a month straight, I found out I had vocal nodules, and I lost a dear friend to suicide. Hit after hit, these hardships challenged the foundation I had started to build, and it seemed like the footing I had found was slowly slipping. I didn’t write for 2 months, and I didn’t perform live for 5 months. But the great thing about having a firm foundation is that it’s there for you when times get tough. Instead of giving up, I focused on getting through. I turned to my community, my family, and my faith to help strengthen me. I worked hard in vocal/speech therapy, and I got a job as a server. That whole year sometimes feels like a lost year to me, but I know that without it, I wouldn’t have the perspective on life that I do. It made me grateful for every moment, every opportunity, and helped me remember the why. Now, when faced with challenges, whether big or small, I find myself feeling grateful for all the hard moments I’ve experienced before. I’ve been challenged, educated, humbled, and informed. I’m sure my road ahead will be filled with both joys and disappointments alike, but I’ve been on both sides of the storm, and I’ve learned to navigate the waters, whether they are choppy or smooth.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a performing singer/songwriter and that’s about as definitive of an answer as I can give. My music has changed so much since I started, and often I find it difficult to tell someone exactly what lane I’m in. I sing, I play piano and guitar, I write songs, and I love to perform. I would like to think that my specialty is my voice, and I often find that is the thing that sticks with people the longest. However, the details of my music often change. I started in a genre I’d like to call pop power ballads, and I swiftly moved from one genre to the next in college. I have songs that are country, indie, folk, pop, rock, and Americana. In other words, I write what I feel is most organic in the moment. I have always focused more on the story and the songwriting than I have the “brand” and the “genre”. I write about everything, from my own experiences to others, from the books I read to the music I listen to. These days, I’m writing songs for other artists as well as myself, and it truly depends on who I’m writing for that dictates the sound. My debut EP that I’m currently working on showcases this idea well. Each song has a different “flavor” to it, and each one represents an avenue of my music that is authentic to me. The only similarity between the songs is that each one feels truly like me. I’m not pretending to be someone I’m not, I’m choosing songs that speak to who I am as a person. This assurance is what I’m most proud of. I’ve accomplished achievements in my career that I’m certainly proud of and I’ve won awards for my voice and songwriting that I could talk about. But I’m most proud of who I’ve found myself to be as an artist. Finding my “lane” and my “sound” has always been difficult, and maybe it’s because I was never meant to. My songs and my voice stand alone without a specific genre. Whether I’m writing for other artists, for myself, or just for fun, I’m writing what I feel is true. I have stopped chasing the idea of setting myself apart and finding my “brand”. Instead, I’ve found that my “brand” is simply just being my most authentic self. I love storytelling, singing, performing, playing, and above all, creating moments that bring people together.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is who I am and how I treat people. In his most important teachings, Jesus says the second greatest commandment after loving God is “Love your neighbor as yourself” Matthew 22:39. It wasn’t about doing your best or working your hardest, it was about Love. Loving God, loving yourself, and loving others. All the achievements in the world mean nothing without love. Loving your craft, loving your fans, loving your critics. To me, if I’m not treating people with love, I have no business doing anything. Music at its core is about expression and bringing people together, and for me, it’s the best way to connect with and love as many people as I can. Music has always been where I find community. From church choir, to co-writes, to connecting with friends about the music we’re listening to, I have found comfort and love in my music community. It is so important to me that I extend the same amount of friendship and compassion that I’ve found in music to others. Whether or not music is involved, just being kind to someone can change the trajectory of their life and yours. Now, I find it easier to love others than it is to love myself, but loving yourself is just as important – especially in this career. There will always be people that don’t like your music, and especially in this day and age, they’ll say what they want online. I’ve found it so important to start with loving the person in the mirror, because everything you do is dictated by how you see yourself. If you can find grace to love yourself even in the hard moments, it’s always easier to love others even when you disagree. Today, it’s definitely easy to find stories of hate. But that is exactly why love is so important. If I can focus on finding the humanity in every single person, I can try my best to leave the world better than I found it. At the end of my life, I won’t be thinking about all the cool things I’ve done with my music. I’ll be thinking about the time I spent with my family and friends, the people who I crossed paths with, and the way I treated those around me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://averygipson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avestown_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/averygipsonmusic/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@avestown_
