Daily Inspiration: Meet Janie Waddell

Hi Janie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was very lucky to grow up with parents who love and appreciate music, so my story really starts with them! They enrolled me in piano lessons when I turned five and eventually let me switch over to guitar lessons when I was 10. I was always writing short stories and poems as a kid, so it didn’t take long after picking up a guitar for me to start turning those stories into songs. Everything snowballed from there – I started taking vocal lessons, began performing at open mics and other events around Marietta, and pretty quickly set my sights on Nashville. After spending four years at The University of Georgia studying Marketing and Music Business, performing in Athens, and taking summer trips to Nashville, I finally made the official move to Tennessee to really start pursuing this dream.

Alright, 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 have absolutely been struggles. I was 14 when I decided that I wanted to pursue being a country artist. Given how young I was, I had to really work to prove to my parents that I was serious about making it my career. They were always supportive of my dream, but at the time, they also wanted to make sure I knew exactly what I was getting into. The music industry is incredibly complex and comes with a lot of risks, so looking back now, I can see why my parents were hesitant to let their teenage daughter run into it headfirst! I’m ultimately very grateful for that challenge because it pushed me to continue to become a better songwriter/performer and prompted me to learn as much as possible about the music business. Another more recent challenge has been the way COVID-19 has affected the entire entertainment industry. With the majority of venues being closed, live performances really have not been an option for a while. It’s been a major shift for artists and writers because shows are a huge way to promote your music and new releases. When I released my debut single in October, I very much planned my promotion around social media outreach because live performances are still few and far between for me. It has been a bizarre year, but it has also been amazing to see how the music community has adapted as much as possible to try to keep going throughout this.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I write and perform country-pop songs. There are a lot of country musicians in both Georgia and Nashville, so one thing I’ve focused on is creating a sound that is unique to me. My songs stand out from other country songs because of the alternative flares and notes of pop throughout them. I released my debut single, “Push a Button,” a few weeks ago, and it is easily my favorite career highlight thus far. I spent a long time waiting for the right songs and the right time to release them, so it is an unreal feeling to finally have music out. The response it has gotten from friends and fans has also completely exceeded my expectations! The only thing more exciting than releasing music is seeing people relating to it and enjoying it, so it has been such a special experience.

How do you think about happiness?
For me, happiness is so many things. I absolutely love getting to spend time with my close friends, who I don’t see that often since leaving Georgia. There is something so special about finding people who know you better than you know yourself and who you can be 100% yourself around, so the days I get to catch up with them are always some of my happiest. Being an Enneagram 2, I also LOVE hosting parties at my house, especially if it’s a UGA football watch party! Some everyday things that always make me smile are getting a latte from my favorite coffee shop, blasting my favorite songs in the car with all the windows down, and any road trip. My roommates and I literally just drove across the country in September to see National Parks, so I am a big road trip person!

Pricing:

• Push a Button – $1.29 on iTunes

Contact Info:

• Email: janiewaddellmusic@gmail.com
• Website: https://janiewaddell.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janiewaddell__/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Janie-Waddell-1456391341282143/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/janiewaddell__?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVSIAW4axL2-Mzf_D98b_2Q

Image Credits
Victoria Metzger Thomas Crabtree