Rising Stars: Meet Amber Mogg Cathey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Mogg Cathey.

Hi Amber, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Hi and thanks, so much, for having me! I am from the tiny town of Hamilton, Missouri and am told that I essentially came out of the womb singing. I did all of the county fair talent competitions anywhere around me and lots of community theater growing up and my sweet parents drove me an hour each way, multiple times a week, to Kansas City and St Joseph for vocal coaching and dance lessons. I started getting my first paid performance opportunities around Middle School and have just kept going from there….and that was a good long while ago!

I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, which was wonderful and surreal coming from Hamilton. I loved it immediately and met so many incredibly talented peers and staff that I’m still connected with now. I knew I wanted to come to Nashville when I graduated but didn’t want to leave Boston. I moved to Nashville in August of 1997, lived here for 6 months, promptly moved back to Boston for another two years, and played music all over the Northeast during that time. I moved back to Nashville in August of 1999 and have never left. I worked as a solo artist and performed around town with a band of great guys for several years. I also worked as on-air talent at CMT and co-hosted the new show, at the time, Most Wanted Live.

A definite surreal experience during my time with CMT…Dolly Parton was being interviewed on one of our shows and she came on set during the commercial break time to get ready for the shot and I just burst into tears when I met her. It makes me sound like a kook but, I grew up listening to her and having my mom tell me the story of A Coat of Many Colors and how Dolly grew up and became who she is now. And I just had such an overwhelming feeling of appreciation in that moment for everything that had gotten me to be on set with THE Dolly Parton. She said, “well, hon, are you a fan?’ Then 30 seconds later, I sucked in my tears and we were back on camera.

As I continued working and performing around town, I started to realize that what I really loved most was being behind the scenes and helping singers, who were right where I had been so many times, develop their voice and artistry and the tools they needed to reach their goals. So, I started teaching and coaching vocalists more and more, first just under my name. Then I founded Nashville Vocal Studio about 9 years ago and it’s been growing and going ever since. I still pinch myself on the regular.

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 was lucky to have super supportive parents and a tight-knit family that all helped me experience things that had me end up in Boston, MA, at Berklee, one of the top music schools in the world, from little Hamilton, MO. There were most certainly challenges along the way. The good thing about experiencing some of those challenges is that they were big-time learning opportunities. Challenges always are. When I work with my artists now, I can teach them from all of my training and education but also from a lot of real-life experience; much of it from doing things right and then some of it from really learning what not to do!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve been singing and performing for well over 30 years now. I’ve been working with vocalists, in one way or another, for the past 20 years. I decided to open Nashville Vocal Studio  about 9 years ago because I didn’t see a lot of opportunities for evidence-based voice training specifically for contemporary styles. Back when I was starting as a singer in the 90s, if you were a serious singer, you trained in classical music or, you sang contemporary, commercial genres of music and just crossed your fingers. I have a huge appreciation for classical singing but learned quickly that is not where my heart lies. I’ve been focused solely on contemporary singing and working with contemporary singers for over 20 years now.  I am also highly passionate about vocal health because it’s the key to everything that singers do. There is no impressive powerhouse singing without a healthy voice. There is no ability to express how you feel through your songs if your voice isn’t healthy. There is no tour, no career that will last any length without it. So, for me, that provides the foundation of everything we do at NVS. Then, we tailor things depending on each singer and their voice and goals. Ultimately, our job as vocalists is to communicate and connect with people. So, once singers know how to get and keep themselves healthy, we dive into the technical and artistic choices that will help them do that in the way that’s most authentic to them.

I’m so proud of all of the successes that my singers have experienced over the years. I’m so proud to have created a safe and supportive space where they can get the tools they need to reach their goals and I feel so incredibly lucky to be a small part of so many wonderful artist’s journeys. **Little plug  – I have my first online course coming out in September – Erase Your Break – that will be great and just for contemporary singers looking to develop their most professional sound from wherever they are. I’m excited about it!

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
First and foremost, I think it’s a deep love and appreciation for music, for the voice and for all of the wonderful people that I get to work with and learn with and from. Then, I am a perpetual student and am always learning and working to expand my knowledge and experience so that I can take that straight to my singers and serve them at the highest level. I also utilize a very holistic approach in everything that I do. As a voice professional, I don’t just work with people’s voices. Those voices are part of a person and what is going on with that person’s body and mind can really impact their voice. I believe that working with the whole person and having that be the center of everything that you do with each client, is a big key to success – for the individual and for myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nashvillevocalstudio.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/nashvillevocalstsudio
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/nashvillevocalstudio
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/nashvillevocalstudio.com
• Other: www.tiktok.com/nashvillevocalstudio

Image Credits
Headshots by Libby Danforth