Meet Riley Ann

Today we’d like to introduce you to Riley Ann.

Riley, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I moved to Colorado in 2015 after teaching high school English for 6 years in the Midwest (originally from Wisconsin, taught one year in Iowa & five years in Illinois). I came to pursue my music career, and in the past four years, I’ve been involved with various facets of the community.

I was excited to meet other women in the music scene (and I wanted the women musicians I knew to know each other), so a few months after I moved to Boulder, I organized the first Coalition of Women Songwriters, which has been a great way to support the music community and especially the women in it. In fact, some of my closest friendships developed through the Coalition. The next summer, I started volunteering with Girls Rock Denver (in 2016.). That organization is 100% volunteer-driven, and it’s so validating to see how the summer camp empowers girls & gender-expansive youth. Through Girls Rock Denver camps, I’ve served as a band coach, drum teacher, guitar teacher and a variety of other roles and I’ve also performed at multiple fundraising events for them around Denver. It’s incredible to see these young people show up to the first day of camp and see them transform in a week and it’s astounding to see their performances at the showcase at the end of camp.

All this time, I’ve played in a variety of bands (most of the various projects I’ve started, but occasionally in other people’s bands as well). Currently, I’m focusing on launching the debut EP for my blues/rock band The Catcalls. I’m really excited to share this music – not just because I’m proud of the songs, but also because multiple songs are calls for social justice. For example, the new single we released on August 12th titled “My Stand” was written while the Charlottesville protest had a tragic ending in 2017 (and seems like a pretty significant turning point in our culture of the visibility and “validation” of White Supremacy given by the president). It came out on the anniversary. And proceeds benefit the Equal Justice Initiative as a response to what happened in Charlottesville.

Great, 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?
There’s something raw about being a working artist. Your work feels like part of you that you’re sharing with the world and there’s no way to control how it’s seen (or if it’s seen). There are definitely days when I ask myself, “Why am I even doing this?” It can be pretty brutal for your mental health some days, but other days it can feel like you’re on the top of the world and you’re living the dream you wanted. The idea of a “starving artist” doesn’t necessarily just apply to finances. As a working artist, I’ve grown accustomed to a very different standard of living than most people. However, some days it feels like you’re starving in this metaphorical way, and this “feast or famine” existence can be really hard to cope with. The best thing for me has been my friends who are dealing with the same thing and sharing our experiences to feel like we’re not alone and hopefully pull each other through the roughest, darkest times.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
Empowering others is really the through-line of what I do. In Girls Rock Denver, we use music as a vehicle for self-empowerment. I maintain a private studio where I work with people of all ages and use that same driving philosophy. For my younger students, I don’t expect any of them to become professional musicians or even perform at an open mic unless that’s what they want. I encourage my students to try songwriting on whatever instrument they’re learning (I teach guitar, fiddle, ukulele, saxophone, drums, mandolin, banjo and piano). Several of my students have become multi-instrumentalists because I encourage them to pursue the direction of music that speaks to them and freely explore different areas. The Coalition of Women Songwriters has been great for getting women connected to each other through peer mentoring and developing that strong sense of community and it’s been great to see countless co-bills for shows come out of meeting through the organization.

Regarding The Catcalls, I write a lot of music that is inherently feminist. I use my music and my shows to encourage activism, such as how I often introduce my original song “My Stand” or my reinvented cover of Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddamn.” In a world of an infinite number of songs, I don’t want to just write another song anymore. I want to write songs that matter. Music is such a powerful way to share ideas and motivate people to do something. Doing things like playing fundraisers for Girls Rock Denver or using proceeds of “My Stand” for the Equal Justice Initiative is a way for us to take action for things that matter too.

I also love talking to people at shows, especially when they were really impressed by the show and something about my performance struck them, whether it was my songwriting or playing guitar or just stage presence, so I tell them that they could do that too. Sometimes people say, “Oh, I could never do that,” and I tell them, “Sure you can. Just find a cheap guitar and start doing it.” Sometimes people look at me totally bewildered, but sometimes I think that’s all they needed to hear to try.

I’m excited that we have some cool shows coming up at Bean Cycle (FOCO) will be Saturday, Sept. 21st from 11 AM -1 PM (coffee release, giveaways, stripped-down, family-friendly performance) for Catcalls Blend coffee & single release for song “I Get High” from upcoming EP

EP release show on Thursday, Oct. 17 at Pinball Jones (campus west, Fort Collins) with Augustus & The Sasha Stone Band. Boulder release at Bohemian Biergarten on Sat. Nov. 9th, Denver release TBA.

More information is available at www.thecatcallsband.com

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I grew up in the country outside of the small town of Monroe, Wisconsin. I loved summers as a kid because I’d go horseback riding on my mule Jenny during the day and the whole family would play baseball in our front yard in the evenings. My dad would be a pitcher, and my mother, brother, sister and I would bat and run the bases. It was really non-competitive and just fun, and I remember the fireflies coming out at dusk.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.thecatcallsband.com/
• Email: thecatcallsband@gmail.com
• Instagram: @thecatcalls
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCatcalls/
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/RileyAnnSound/

Image Credit:
Live show photos taken by Lisa Dibbern (@little_sister_shoots) at The Oriental Theater (Denver, CO)
Other posed photos (watermarked) taken by Eric Romero of Ablaze Studios Photography (Ault, CO)

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