Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Cutler
Anna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started in the supermarket, at a very young age humming tunes and making up melodies as I shopped with my mom. My parents had the intuition that I would enjoy learning how to play piano, so on my sixth birthday they gifted me a Yamaha p-120 keyboard. This keyboard is quite a big purchase for a six year old; however, they knew that it would last a long while and it would be good for gigging, if I ever took my music in that direction. WOW, what intuition they had. I started classical piano lessons soon thereafter and learned how to sing and play at the same time by the age of 8. Lessons after that started to look differently. Instead of working on my classical pieces, I would write my own songs and show those to my teacher instead. Once they realized that I was going to take my own path, no matter what, my teacher started to teach me how to write songs; he mentored me on structure and melody, lyrics and cadence and slowly, without even thinking about it, I turned into a gigging musician. I had my first gig at the age of 13 at the rock-and-soul cafe.
Music is my hobby and I expect it to never be more than that. It is a way to express my emotions, and tap into a creative style of writing where I can make up worlds and stories and share them in an engaging way. With that said, like all hobbies, music ebbs and flows for me. I let it take control and when it is feeling inspiring, it takes me down rapids but other days, or even months, it has me waiting in eddies. I cast no judgment on the process, but rather sit in whatever stage I am in.
Last year I was in a rapid, booking shows all around town, winning songwriting contests, and filing my taxes with “Music” as one of my jobs. This year, I am writing at home, for myself. Not because I can’t book a gig; but rather because I am using this time to reconnect to my 6-year old self who just wanted to sing and play and stay up all night writing.
Lastly, I am also diving into a new project with a dear friend of mine, William Thomas, called Ghost of Caroline. You can follow our story if you’d like to stay in the loop at ghostofcaroline.com
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Certainly not.
Whenever I want to take a step back, and stop playing shows I receive a lot of push back and concern from the community. The truth is, songwriters tend to write when they are sad or have big emotions – when I am not writing, it’s sometimes a good thing.
I used to have a lot of self-judgement when I would “take a break”, but I have gotten to the point where I am not seeking fame and I mostly do it just for myself, so when I play I want to make sure I am doing it for the right reasons. Some artists swear by writing for 30 minutes a day, and even if you really don’t want to you force yourself to push through because sometimes the most beautiful things can come out of pushing through the struggle. For me, I follow my feelings. If I don’t want to write… I don’t. And sometimes that means I don’t write for months and months on end. But once I get that spark – let me tell you – it is magic.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I manage all of the volunteers at the Food Bank in Louisville, Colorado. My heart has always been drawn to helping people and the truth is, there are so many people in our very community that are hungry, while grocery stores and restaurants are throwing away food. Something about that just rubs me the wrong way. Community Food Share (the company I work for) does a great job by rescuing food that would otherwise be wasted and reroutes it to people that are having a hard time providing for themselves and their families. It feels good working for a company that is giving back to our neighbors. I manage the volunteers, but when people ask me how they can best help – I tell them to donate money. We can flip one dollar into six dollars with our purchasing power!
I am most proud of leaning into the community side of our name and making sure everyone feels welcome, regardless of their needs.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I hate to say no, but I actually only listen to fun audio books because sometimes life and work get too serious.
Contact Info:
- Email: annacutlermusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annacutlermusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@8181anna
Image Credits
Skyler Sun, Andrew Sturtz
