Rising Stars: Meet Caitlin Webster

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caitlin Webster. 

Caitlin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in Aberdeen, Maryland and am number 5 of 8 children. I grew up singing in church and attending punk, hardcore, and indie-rock shows with my older brother, and later on, my younger sister. Fugazi was the first show I really remember being pumped to see. It was on the University of Delaware campus. I still remember the outfit I wore. Music was always a safe haven for my family and me. My father and mom listened to a wide array of folk, Motown, and soul and there was a lot of “Name that tune” and singing on our family car rides. Lots of family dance parties in the kitchen too. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but there was always a lot of love to go around. I have been drawn to writing music and singing from an early age, but for a number of reasons, I didn’t faithfully take up an instrument until my early 20’s when I moved to Los Angeles from Richmond, Virginia. My friend Pedro Shanahan taught me guitar lessons at his Silver Lake apartment. He was a bartender at the whiskey bar where I cocktail served when I first moved to Los Angeles. I would bring him coffee and a $20 bill. He was also a yoga instructor and theater actor. Indeed, very L.A. and one of the kindest souls I know. There is a creative pulse in the city that really inspired me and for the first time in my life, I experienced a sense of anonymity. It was lonely at times, but oddly liberating. The Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers” was the first song I learned. From then on, the guitar was the truest friend I could hope for and songs found their way out, sometimes more easily than others. I recorded a demo under the pseudonym American Lion on an old 16-track mixing board my partner at the time had. We wrote some together as well. Soon (arguably too soon) after I started writing, I started performing. I cut my teeth in a live variety show hosted by comedian and actor John Ennis, at the Steve Allen Theater in North Hollywood. Since then, I have been fortunate to experience some big milestone moments, including having the title track of my 2015 debut EP “Black Moon” placed on a big ABC family show called Pretty Little Liars. In 2017, I got to play Stagecoach the same year as the Zombies, Willie Nelson, and Shania Twain. About a year and a half after my fiancé and I relocated to Nashville, I played a round at the Bluebird in January 2020, following my 2019 releases of “Wait (On Love)” and “Powhatan River Blues.” A favorite DJ, Ana Lee, has included a couple of my singles, including my most recent release “Shadow”, on her program on WMOT The Local Brew. I have experienced many “Pinch Me” moments as well as some curveballs, and I am looking forward to the continued adventure. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road, but it has been one worth traveling. Some of the troubles have included being stranded in a mountain pass in a winter storm on our way from Fort Collins, Colorado to a gig in Fruita. We didn’t make the gig. But, as it turned out, we had a guardian angel. Todd Lackie, who owns Go West T-shirt company, whose company holiday party we had just played put us up for a week while we sorted out a seized engine and how the hell to get home to Los Angeles. After all, we all had day jobs to get back to. I have tent camped through storms, slept in the mud to play to 15 people for 30 minutes, played packed house shows (my favorite) and listening rooms (my second favorite), driven from California to Texas, coasting back to California on fumes with .16 in my checking account, just to barely break even. This was in the early days. All along the way, I have had the kindest friends and strangers meet me to accompany me on dirt stages, help bring my songs to life and to cook me breakfast, share coffee and travel hacks, let me sleep on the floors of their sun rooms; guest rooms even. Kind strangers. It’s not glamorous, but it’s beautiful in its own way. Traveling and playing has been possible for me, not merely because of my creative drive, but also because of kindness and empathy and it reminds us it really does take a village. We are designed to connect and cooperate and I have not been more confident of that tenet than in my times spent on the road. 

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?
I think I am most known as a songwriter, though I do wear various hats. I specialize in storytelling songs and I think my lyrical style sets me apart from others. I write from a personal perspective, though the narrators of my songs are often part me and part some other character. 

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
If you want to collaborate, the best thing to do is email me. If you want to support me, follow me on Instagram and stream and share my songs if you dig them or know someone who would. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.facebook.com/cawebstermusic/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caitlin.a.webster/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtanXDOIXf05PYCMtFO8MUg
• Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/caitlin-anne-webster/999533279

Image Credits
Emily Quirk