While growing up in Iowa, Natascha Myers had a passion for music but it wasn’t always a career choice on her radar; that is until fate intervened and opened the door to this talented singer/songwriter. Now, only a few years into her musical journey, 2019 is easily becoming Natascha’s’ breakout year with the high praise surrounding the release of her debut EP Songs From A Hardwood Floor and the title track’s music video premiering on CMT.
We caught up with Natascha to talk about the path that led her here, her new release and more.
CN: For our readers who may not be familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
NM: Happily, and nice to meet you, readers! Beyond the obvious (being a Nashville singer/songwriter), here is the Cliff Notes version about me: I’m quite an old soul; I’m a sucker for my vinyl records and paperback books and Cheers! (television show from the 80s) and wingback armchairs. I’m quite a Becky Homecky; I love me some cooking, gardening, crafting, and interior designing. Otherwise, I guess I’m just really happy to be on this Earth, making music and living the dream.
CN: You discovered music at a very young age – your first performance was at age 3?
NM: Performance is a bit of a stretch. Some folks at my grandma’s birthday party had heard I could carry a tune, so my mom held me up high while I sang John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” I come from a non-musical family (my daddy always jokes that he plays the radio quite well), so I wasn’t necessarily surrounded by music beyond listening to my dad’s Bad Company and AC/DC records. It wasn’t until I was seven that I was put in guitar lessons with my older brother. We woke up early to attend lessons at 7am before school started, eventually earning the right to play in the church band. I think that’s really when my love for music really came about.
CN: Which musicians, country or not, have influenced you both personally and as an artist?
NM: Heavens to Betsy, where to begin! Let’s see here: Artistically, I am probably most directly influenced by the likes of Lori McKenna and Donovan Woods. Their knack for intricate, but crucial detail aiding in storytelling, as well as their vastly different Americana styles are pretty elemental in my own music. I now listen to a lot of Ray Price, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and the like, so I have no doubt they had an influence on my “older soul style.” I just have such an affinity for that raw, slightly out of tune style that comes so effortlessly, and yet, is so darn effective! I also spent a good portion of my high school and college years skipping school to go to concerts (don’t you worry, still managed to get A’s!) so I’d be remiss not to mention Parachute. I went to each and every one of their concerts that was within six hours of my hometown, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t learn a lot about putting on a show from them. There are loads more, but we would be here awhile!
CN: What was the first album you ever owned?
NM: Beyond the Bible school CDs, Patty Loveless’ Trouble With the Truth and Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance. I’d play those things over and over and over on my crappy Toshiba CD player. My poor parents listened to a lot of Patty and Lee Ann in those early years.
CN: Your connection with music is very powerful; emotionally but also in the physical sense when you faced an unknown illness in high school. Can you tell us how music helped you get through that period of your life and how it’s kept you strong?
NM: I didn’t play or sing for a good portion of that time, so I was largely dependent on a playlist I had put together on my grey iPod classic. I had titled it “Lifeline,” after the song by the same name by Angels and Airwaves, filling it with all of the songs that lifted my spirits. (i.e. “Fix You” by Coldplay, “Living Louder” by the Cab, “Free Fallin'”). I finally reached a point where I realized how largely I had music to thank for making it out of that period in one piece, and so I decided to make it my life.
CN: Once that dark cloud was behind you, you made it your mission to pursue music, so you enrolled at Clarke University to study music. How has having a formal education prepared you and shaped you as an artist?
NM: Little known fact: I actually studied classical music at Clarke University. Not only did that instill a remarkable discipline for practicing my instruments, as well as an awareness of my voice as a physical one, but I was the black sheep who did Americana music among all of the opera singers and musical theater students. As a result, I was forced to make my own way in the curriculum. With the help of the professors that believed in me there, I did exactly that, and I think that was the biggest preparation for being an artist. I learned that, sure, I’m different than perhaps the mold of the country music industry as it stands right now, but I’ll be darned if I don’t make my own way in it. After all, that’s what God gave us elbows for, isn’t it? A little gentle pushin’ and shovin’?
CN: You also released your debut project and toured on the weekends while studying. How were you able to balance school life with career life?
NM: I am answering this honestly when I say, I have absolutely no idea. I look back on that time and think, “Man, I must have been bonkers.” I was out on quite a few weekends, in additions to sitting on multiple boards, being the student body president, and pursuing a double major in psychology and music. Ultimately, I was so supported by my Clarke University family, and along with time management left and right, I got by just dandy!
CN: When did you decide to move to Nashville? How does it differ from home in Iowa?
NM: I was a sophomore in college, studying psychology and music. I realized I was calling music my Plan B, and I didn’t much like that. No one gets anywhere with a mere Plan B. So I made the decision right then and there. In fact, I remember the exact moment: I was sitting in the atrium of my college, talking to my dad on the phone between studying. It had been a long going conversation on how to remedy how disgruntled I was with things (aka the aforementioned Plan B). All of a sudden, something in me clicked: I was moving to Nashville. I had never even been, but I knew that’s where you needed to be to be immersed and make things happen. So, 2+ years after graduating and moving… here I am!
As for your latter question… it’s night and day. Nashville is fast paced and demanding and exciting. Iowa is also exciting, but in its own way that is much more of a reprieve. It’s quiet and everyone moves at a much more normal pace. I love them both for different things; I love living here, but I always am so thrilled to hop on a plane back to where I came from and my sweet sweet family. You just can’t stop loving your roots.
CN: Your songwriting style has been compared to that of Lori McKenna. Can you take us through your songwriting process? Do you draw on personal experiences?
NM: It has, and I feel so blessed to even be slightly measured up next to that powerhouse. The songwriting process never looks the same, but I think the consistencies in my writing style are as such: 1) Yes, absolutely; I draw almost exclusively on personal experiences. I strive for those that can relate to the masses (after all, I think that’s largely what country music is about), but unless I’m writing for another artist, as I often do, I struggle to claim a song as my own without a deep personal connection. 2) Details, details, details. I am fascinated by the minutia of life that we tend to overlook, and yet, is SO elemental to the story. For example, my childhood bedroom wasn’t just blue and yellow; it was this sharp Crayola blue with sponge-painted yellow flowers. And let’s not forget the poster of Nick Jonas on the back of my door in my teenage years or the American Girl dolls strewn everywhere. You see, it’s the details that take a mere account to a story that puts you right there. And I absolutely love to dial in on those elements. 3) I like to bridge the gap between saying things in a conversational, commonplace way and in a way they maybe haven’t been heard before. I think it’s the marriage of the two that makes a good songwriter a great one. I don’t know if I’m quite there yet, but I’m sure as heck trying.
CN: In August you released your current single “Hindsight.” What was the inspiration behind this track?
NM: I wrote this song with two friends and gals I look up to, Emily Hackett and Palmer Lee. It was our first write of the New Year, collectively, and we got to talking about how long our resolution lists were. I don’t know about y’all, but my resolution lists get EXTENSIVE. I’m always very diligent about making things happen, but all of a sudden, you blink, and another 365 days have gone by! We decided to write this song about acting upon that before regret sets in, but from the perspective of a relationship.
CN: And you just released your debut album?
NM: My first official release Songs From A Hardwood Floor released last week. It is a collection of five songs that serve as a primer for my story. Ultimately, they set the tone for who I am as both an artist and human being, while also giving folks something to listen to!
CN: Do you have a dream collaboration in mind?
NM: Easy. Donovan Woods, hands down. I first heard his song “That Hotel” during my junior year of high school. I was listening to Pandora in study hall, and I quite literally stopped what I was doing to listen keenly. Not only did I not get my homework done that period, but I fell in love with songwriting right then and there. I respect the hell out of the guy– as writer, artist, and human. I don’t know him from a sack of sand, but it’s my perception from the high praises around town and his songs that he never compromises his craft. Who cares how people perceive; these are the stories, and he’s sticking to it. Bonus points that he can make a person cry in a three and a half minute song. In the event The Country Note is gracious and gives me more than one dream collaboration: Chris Martin of Coldplay is a big one, Lori McKenna is an obvious one, Tom Petty is an unattainable one, and Niall Horan is a weird one (I was an unabashedly HUGE One Direction fan in my teenage years, and I would still sing a song with him in a half a heartbeat.)
CN: What was the first concert you ever attended?
NM: First official concert? Hootie and the Blowfish, age three, from the view of my dad’s shoulders. As for the first I can remember, I saw Keith Urban at age nine when he was just hitting the US. I reckon he was on his Days Go By tour, and our local radio station was basically giving tickets away just to get butts in the seats of our mid-sized municipal auditorium– I want to say my mom paid $10 for them. And look at him now.
CN: If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be and why?
NM: One word? How about two that often come coupled as their own phrase? If so, “old soul.” I guess I’m just really keen on days gone by, and I love face-to-face interactions with people more than I will ever enjoy social media and all that 21st century ruckus. Give me my old Victrola and swing dancing and bell bottom jeans, please and thank you. I hope cheating is allowed on this one because I’m drawn a blank on a single word!
CN: What’s next on the horizon?
NM: In addition to taking these songs on the road all over the US and hopefully abroad over the summer, I’ll be hunkering down in Nashville and writing songs like nobody’s business, writing for the next project and learning from the best of ’em. There’s no shortage of those writers here. I’d love to get on an opening act within the next year, as well, so Dearest Dream Collaborators, drop me a line if you need an opener.
For more information on Natascha Myers, visit her website www.nataschamyers.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.