Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Edwards.
Hi Amber, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I know people always say I’ve been singing all my life but I honestly was a singer straight out of the womb, lol. But, when I was younger I didn’t think there was anything special about it, just something I did in my mom’s backseat while we would listen to her R&B music. Honestly, I thought singing was a normal thing everyone could do; it wasn’t until I got to 2nd grade with my teacher Ms. Houston. We were practicing for the yearly 2nd-grade play that she wrote ” Ray Charles meets Beethoven” and it was as interesting as it sounds. Anyway, we were learning the song “Hit The Road Jack” by Ray Charles of course and Ms. Houston is walking around listening as we were singing through it and stopped the practice track suddenly.
She walks over to the section of the room I’m sitting in and ask us to sing the chorus alone 1 by 1; now I was a shy kid and I was nervous that she was stopping us because someone was singing it wrong. She goes down the row and everyone sounds fine I’m not sure what she heard at this point, but then she gets to me I sing my chorus confidently because at this point I had heard it done enough times correctly I knew I wasn’t messing it up. She stares at me for a second (I’m nervous) and then asks me “Where did you learn to sing like that Miss Edwards?” I told her I didn’t learn anything I just do it for fun in the car sometimes. Like I said at that point I didn’t know singing was a talent, but I could tell by her reaction that I had just done something special. Ms. Houston gave me a solo that year singing “God Bless The Child” the Billie Holiday version, and I was hooked ever since, singing was my thing. Ms. Houston is part of the reason I used my singing skills to become a music teacher in my adult life and help kids realize their full potential too.
Once I realized my passion for music it was all gas no brakes. I went to Denver School Of The Arts for middle and high school and focused heavily on learning how to read and write music on a technical level. After I graduated I bounced around to a few colleges for several seen and unforeseen reasons but I always majored in something revolving around music. First, it was Jazz Vocal Performance at Metropolitan State University because Jazz was my first passion. Then it was Contemporary Musical Performance at Santa Fe University for Art & Design. Then I finally settled on Music Business with an emphasis on the performance track at the University of Colorado Denver and I eventually got my Bachelor’s in 2020. Even though my college journey was unconventional I wouldn’t trade it because I met some extremely talented people along the way and learned a lot about myself. There is NOTHING wrong with walking away from things that no longer serve you and I know it can be scary the “unknown” but on the other side of that is growth and clarity and I’ve lived long enough to know that’s a fact in every situation.
Now I’ve been writing little songs here and there since high school but I didn’t start taking songwriting seriously until about 2017. I started joining different groups and cultivating a sound for myself, I was in small local bands and because of Covid the groups slowly dissipated but I still have a lot of love and respect for my former bandmates (Shout out to Sugar Walls and Louphonic). I’ve always been a good writer it’s the course I excelled in the most in school every time and I enjoyed writing poems and things like that when I was younger, but honestly being in those collaborative spaces as I got older with musicians I respected and them respecting my art in return gave me a lot of confidence in my writing skills.
Now I’m a full-blown solo artist making it happen for myself performing around the city and releasing my music; I go by the name HOME because it speaks to the familiar and vulnerable feeling I put into my music and how I strive to connect with people who listen to my music. I want my music to feel like you’re at home with your sister or your favorite cousin or how you feel when you’re completely by yourself. I also run my own private voice lesson studio for kids and I’m a co-conductor for the Denver Children’s Choir. Teaching kind of fell into my lap by accident but it is the job that brings me a lot of purpose and joy because I genuinely love my kids and I love to help them see the best in themselves.
I’m proud of where I am in life now and excited for what the future holds if you don’t take anything away from this story take this, go with the flow of life because God (whatever god you believe in or don’t believe in I don’t judge!) has a beautiful vision of the life you’re meant to live and it requires walking away sometimes from things we know and love and walking towards things we don’t know which makes you a little scared (that’s normal) but as long as you have faith and don’t give up on yourself you’ll always land on your feet.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’m gonna be honest, getting to this point was not easy. Getting my degree alone took 3 different colleges, and at first I didn’t want to go to college but my mom convinced me and I chose Metro last minute. I left Metro because I wasn’t truly happy and wanted the “out-of-state college experience” and I got that in Santa Fe.
It was the perfect college it was a small campus but the professors were extremely knowledgeable and successful in their fields so it was easy to make meaningful networking connections and have professors who were actively invested in your growth as a student. Unfortunately, they were shut down in 2017 due to a transfer of ownership deal falling through for political reasons. At that point I was OVER college it felt like the universe was telling me this is not where you need to be, so I took a break for a semester to figure out my next move. But I’m stubborn and at that point, I had put in too much time I wanted my degree, and that’s exactly what I did while working 3 jobs! During a global pandemic!
Not only was getting my degree a struggle but getting to this point in my music career was an uphill battle too. Like I said I had joined a few groups and each time I seemed to be getting my footing life would come and uproot the situation and I’d be right back at square 1 which was discouraging especially because when I was younger I had developed a need for perfectionism which was my strength and my downfall. So anytime things didn’t go accordingly I was ready to walk away from the whole thing. This plays into my whole thing about going with the flow of life because I am only human and there are always bigger forces at hand and reasons why things don’t work out the way we want them to or feel they should. And it took me a long time to realize things happen not for us to understand, but they happen for us to learn from.
Once I decided to become a solo artist I felt like it took a while for people to take me seriously and it would feel like no matter how much I showed up for myself no one saw me; and that shit gets discouraging you start 2nd guessing yourself and what you’re doing. There could’ve been a lot of forces at play as to why I wasn’t breaking through like I wanted to sexism, racism, colorism, and I could’ve also been in my own way sometimes and I’m self-aware enough to admit that. Eventually, I had to get to a point where I stopped letting those obstacles define me and defiantly go after the things I wanted even if it felt like the universe didn’t want them for me. In a way, it felt like a test like “How bad do you REALLY want it” my Degree, my business, my music career.
The vision you have for your life is your vision and not everyone will get the picture right off the bat just like a painter when they start a piece of work people can’t see the finished product right from the very beginning but just keep “painting” your picture and eventually people will catch on; you have to see the vision first and you have to be confident about it and active in making it happen and don’t let anyone or anything make you waiver on what are you see for yourself and what you want to accomplish.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
How you know me depends on where you know me but most people know me as the singer who’s always looking for how she can help. I feel my purpose the most in helping people and making them feel good about themselves and whatever they got going on in life. I am a woman of many trades because I love spontaneity and financial stability lol. I work 3 main jobs I do social media management for large organizations, run my private voice studio for kids, and co-conduct a children’s choir, and then I also maintain my music career. I’ve also done a little modeling and anything that lets me express my creativity and connect with other creatives.
My music is my first love and will always be a staple of who I am. I find therapy in the songs I write by finding myself. Most people write from personal experience and that takes a lot of self-discovery and vulnerability to effectively create something people can understand and maybe even relate to. However, teaching is where I also get passion from. The choir that I work with now (Denver Children’s Choir) is the same choir I grew up in as a child and it’s been a blessing to be on the giving side of working with these kids and watching them grow up. Like I said teaching just kind of fell into my lap by accident my old choir conductor needed some help and I needed a college job so I said why not, but I turned out to be good at it and I didn’t realize it until my student’s parents would come to tell me how they’re kid loved me and my students would bring me pictures they drew of me in school (if a kid draws a picture of you you’re in I don’t make the rules).
I started really loving it and eventually, parents started asking me to teach their kids private lessons which was nerve-wracking because I hadn’t taught kids 1 on 1 and I was nervous if I would be able to effectively teach them anything, My boss at the time saw potential in me and encouraged me to take the offers and I’m so happy I did! My kids make me so proud when they showcase the new things they learned or come back and tell me they got the solo they auditioned for, or they were able to explain something better in music class at school because I had already taught it to them. Overall seeing their confidence in themselves increase as they get better and learn more makes me so happy; it doesn’t matter what I go through. I could be having the worst day and they make me smile and forget about the drama for a moment.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Man, I honestly don’t know if I can pinpoint one memory but I just know my mom did everything in her power to make sure we had a good life even when things weren’t great. There were moments when we didn’t have a home or had no TVs or a stove in the house my mom would set up a computer with some rerun of a show on YouTube and make us cold-cut sandwiches and you couldn’t tell me life wasn’t good! Those times didn’t last long and like I said I only remember the good things about it.
I admire her resilience and she’s the one who taught me you don’t have to look like what you go through. I grew up watching her pull herself out of some of the hardest times and she did it so gracefully every time and she always found a way to make things happen for me.
My mom is my rock, my best friend, and my reason for achieving my goals because everything she sacrificed and put in motion to get me to this point can’t go in vain. Shout out to the single moms and single parents, in general, you are your kid the entire world and you make it happen for them, you deserve every blessing!
Pricing:
- $60/hr for Voice Lessons and Musicianship Skills
- Booking to perform TBD on case to case basis please contact via email to discuss
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @justcallmehome
- SoundCloud: https://open.spotify.com/album/31ax8E6CAUprdg9DgyQ9xy?si=e3de6218192b492b
- Other: https://music.apple.com/us/album/too-much-to-count-single/1650657465
Image Credits
Tori Enyart of Vows On The Run Photography
