By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
It is a pleasure to welcome singer-songwriter Eileen Carey to Jake’s Take.
The Ohio native turned California transplant has the music industry talking thanks to mixing pop, rock, and country music. She also earned several awards over the past few years, including the 2017 Los Angeles Music Awards’ Live Country Music Performer and New Music Weekly’s 2018 Country Breakthrough Artist of the Year. In 2019, she also found herself on national Adult Contemporary (AC)/Hot AC radio charts alongside Five Seconds of Summer, Post Malone, and A Star is Born’s Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.
Eileen also shared the stage with a plethora of music legends such as Don McLean, Peter Noone, Rita Coolidge, and Wilson Philips. She also is the creator of The Music Mom website, where Eileen offers posts about music, motherhood, and life.
In this edition of Jake’s Take’s Conversation, Eileen Carey described her songwriting process and the lessons that she learned from sharing the stage with music legends such as Don McLean and Wilson Phillips. Eileen also talked about her new single: “Keep Your Love to Yourself.”
Jacob Elyachar: When did you get interested in music? How did that passion evolve into the desire to pursue a career in the music industry?
Eileen Carey: As a kid, I played drums and was also in choir and theater. I came to California to pursue my career in the hotel industry and become a general manager in the hospitality industry. Still, during that process of working and living in California, I realized I wanted to get into film and music. I was booking entertainment for a chain when I realized I could do it and the people I was booking.
So I started writing songs and looking for songs that I wanted to sing. I was taking vocal lessons with a teacher whom I began writing songs with, and her boyfriend was a known record producer, so we wrote and recorded three songs, “That Town,” “Lazy,” and “Wings.” The first version of “That Town,” a song that I re-wrote, re-recorded and re-released in 2018 as a single again. The song was successful for me than getting play on College Radio and Medium Adult Contemporary Radio Charts. It topped the New Music Weekly Country and Adult Contemporary Radio Charts in 2018.
Initially, I thought of myself as a pop singer-songwriter. My influences were people like Sheryl Crow, Chrissie Hynde, and the Beatles. Then, this legendary country music radio promoter, Gene Kennedy, told me that it would do well on country radio. It did that and more, and I have never looked back.
Jacob Elyachar: Could you describe your songwriting process to my readers?
Eileen Carey: I am a Country-Pop singer-songwriter. I write and sing what I call West Coast Country. It is a hybrid that mixes my interest in 80s pop, rock, adult contemporary, and current country music. I like to think that my songs are romantic and inspirational.. My music message is that we can do what we believe we can do and that the journey itself is the reward. Nashville Music Guide a ways back, “an accomplished storyteller… Her songs also offer distinct, prominent messages about personal empowerment and emotional fulfillment.
My songs are little stories. Little plays that reflect what I see, hear, and encounter. Sometimes it is just a word. Sometimes it is something in the news. Movies inspire me, as do great people in any area of life. I create my music and lyrics from what I see all around me.
When I get an idea, either for a melody or a phrase, I write it down and work it as far as I can take it; and then I decide which collaborator would be best to have further. More often than not, most of my lyrics will be fully realized before reaching out to a co-writer. In pinning the melody to the song, both the melody and the lyric will evolve. I listen to other artists, search out new collaborators, go to concerts. Search the internet for inspiring stories. I have taken on the regimen of writing something every day. Maybe it is just a sentence, but every day.
Jacob Elyachar: You shared the stage with a plethora of music icons such as Don McLean, Jefferson Starship, Johnny Rivers, and Wilson Phillips. What were some of the lessons that you learned from them that helped you grow as a performer?
Eileen Carey: Work ethic! Every one of those classic acts I shared a stage with were consummate professionals. They were all efficient in soundcheck, focused, and intimate with the crowd from the stage in performance. Each one of those acts I have had the privilege of sharing an evening displayed their signature rapport with their audiences.
For example, I shared the stage with the legendary Rita Coolidge some years ago and was an education in live performance artistry. After a long set that her rapport with the audience extended her set, she made sure every fan got to meet her and her band after the show by bringing them out having a table set for her and the group. They proceeded to sign every last fan autograph who wanted one.
Lesson number one: It is all about the fan! The music lover!
Jacob Elyachar: What have been some of the challenges that you faced throughout your career? How have you overcome those obstacles?
Eileen Carey: I have been fortunate in life. I have the support of my family, which by having two daughters before I started my professional music career, was no small task to navigate. It took some effort to overcome to be sure, but compared to the obstacles that some face, juggling my marriage, children and work has been a labor of love and extremely rewarding. A lot of times, what one may view as an obstacle is only a challenge. Most women in music with children face a similar hurdle, which is why I write my themusicmom.com blog. To share my experience with being a musician and a mom.
Jacob Elyachar: How has the coronavirus outbreak challenged you creatively and as a musician?
Eileen Carey: In every way imaginable, but I am busy turning everything around to create a positive result through these challenging times.
People listen and enjoy music digitally, so I dropped my new single, “Keep Your Love To Yourself,” on Monday, July 27. It premiered on PopWrapped.com. I have been busy putting together all the release platforms and the merchandise campaign, as I would for any release, and under any circumstances. Even though we won’t be able to support the release with tour dates, my music director and lead guitarist John McDuffie and I have been working on creating virtual performances to be released as Facebook Watch Parties, on my sites, and YouTube.
I have increased my writing and recording, and my producer Travis Allen and I have four new songs that we are going to finish vocals on in Nashville shortly. I was slated to headline the Sync Summit in Nashville on August 18, which is now canceled, but maybe it will run on a virtual platform itself.
Also, I have been writing a column of a sort of reliving some of the little stories that go around making my music in Country Music News International. It is sort of instructive to a career in music and an excellent way for me and my fans to look back and see where we were so that we know where we want to go when life returns to normal.
Jacob Elyachar: Let’s talk about your single, “Keep Your Love to Yourself.” Could you describe the song to my readers?
Eileen Carey: Yes.“Keep Your Love To Yourself”, which might be seen as a quarantine reference (Laughs) but is really about the fact that sometimes you have to slam on the brakes in a relationship and choose yourself! The song written by Meesha Black (https://soundbetter.com/profiles/65336-meesha-black), who wrote my biggest hit to date “Finally” as well, depicts a woman moving on from a toxic relationship, explaining she would rather be by herself and happy than to stay. Sometimes in life, you have to have enough love for yourself to reject a toxic relationship hard as that can be. You have to put the brakes on so you can move on. Both tracks were produced by my longtime producer Travis Allen of Nashville Tracks.
Jacob Elyachar: Who are some of your dream collaborators (singers, songwriters, and producers) that you would like to record with in the future? How would they enhance your sound?
Eileen Carey: I would love to collaborate further with Keith Urban. I sang a song that he and Vernon Rust wrote that I got from a Nashville music publisher. It is called “That Was Her This Is Now,” and it was a Los Angeles Music Award Americana Song of the Year in 2009. It wasn’t a cover since it was exclusive to me. Keith rocks his country much as I do. I would love him to work with my producer Travis Allen to co-produce a record for me.
I would love to write a song with Ali Willis or Diane Warren. I would like to write a song with Rob Thomas lead singer of Matchbox 20, whom I consider highly underrated by the critics.
Jacob Elyachar: If you had the opportunity to meet with aspiring musicians who want to advance their careers in the music industry, what advice would you share with them?
Eileen Carey: I think a person needs to follow their dreams. You have to imagine yourself succeeding in music to do so. Believe in yourself, but back it up with as much experience and education as possible. But also, it is essential for artists today to learn the business of music as well.
For more information about Eileen Carey, visit her website!
You can also connect with Eileen on social media. Visit her Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube channels.
