Daily Inspiration: Meet Ira Wolf

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ira Wolf. 

Hi Ira, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I grew up in Montana and always had a deep love for all things music and creativity. I studied classical music and voice through my teenage years, eventually leading me to an opera program at the University of Montana in 2009. I found my passion for songwriting and guitar around that time, and after three years of studying opera, I transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston to learn more about songwriting and music therapy. I was in Boston for only a semester before realizing I couldn’t afford to stay and decided to leave college in 2012. Shortly after, a coin toss brought me to Nashville. I drove to town without knowing where I was going to live or work, but after living in my car for a month I found a room to rent and started working as a nanny. I did that for almost a year before deciding to attempt my first tour. Touring quickly became a full-time endeavor and I spent the next seven years playing shows and recording three studio albums. During that time, I moved into a 1988 VW camper van that I named Ruby. I was spending 9-10 months of every year on the road, and vanlife was the perfect way to bring home with me wherever I went. 

My music career continued to grow steadily, eventually bringing in more than 100 million plays on Spotify, and I maintained a busy tour schedule up until 2020. I was finishing a run of shows in the UK when the pandemic began and I watched, along with the rest of the music community, (and much of the world), as my job seemingly disappeared overnight. 

I spent the majority of the pandemic at a house I’d purchased in Nashville where I shifted my focus to a new weaving business to supplement my lost touring income. I slowly started writing a new album as I awaited a return to the road, and started recording the project in February 2022. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I feel incredibly fortunate to be in a position of making a career out of my greatest passions, but it definitely hasn’t come without struggle. In the first few years of touring, I was barely scraping together enough money to get to the next town. I would play a show at night and then busk on a street corner during the day for gas and food money. I slept in my car most nights because I couldn’t afford hotels, and I had a lot of moments of doubt. Now that I’ve become a little more financially stable, I’ve found that my mental and physical health are often negatively impacted by my work. Maintaining a tour schedule can be incredibly exhausting, both physically and mentally, but also emotionally. I write from a very honest and vulnerable space and I’ve found that sharing my songs with others can be incredibly fulfilling, but it can also put me back into the headspace that the songs were written from, which isn’t always healthy. In writing and recording my upcoming album I’ve had a hard time finding a balance in stepping away from the emotional element of the songs at times. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am most known as a singer/songwriter and vanlifer, but I also work as a textile artist, photographer, and social media ambassador. I’m really proud of the albums I’ve created and the music I’ve shared with the world. One of the most fulfilling experiences of songwriting for me is hearing from listeners and fans about their own connections to my songs and lyrics. I find a lot of gratification and solace in knowing my own creative outlets have brought a bit of comfort or meaning to someone else. I think that’s the magic of music; connecting total strangers on some deeply intimate level of understanding and empathy. 

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
When I was about 7 years old my dad was based in Guam for work. My family was able to travel to see him that summer and we visited Bali and Hawaii after Guam. I was enthralled with the entire experience and adored all the people we met. It was the first time I was introduced to cultures so wildly different than the one I’d grown up within Montana and I found so much beauty and curiosity in it all. That trip instilled an early obsession for travel. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: http://irawolfmusic.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/irawolfmusic
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/irawolfmusic
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/irawolfmusic
• Youtube: http://youtube.com/irawolfmusic

Image Credits
Ira Wolf
Von Wong