Meet Rheannan Watson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rheannan Watson.

Rheannan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I honestly never thought in a million years that I would be making music now. I’ve been singing as a hobby my whole life, but I had always been far more interested in acting. All throughout my childhood, acting was my main creative outlet as far as performing arts. Although I loved to sing, I never had the confidence to sing in front of other people. I had no problems dancing or performing a script in front of a huge audience, but when it came to singing, I always froze.

Additionally, I just never realized how easy making music could be. In my mind, it was a really difficult and expensive undertaking, and I had no idea where to start. Fast-forward to about four years ago, I was dating an amazing musician that showed me first-hand how accessible making music could be. He’s a singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who records really high-quality music at his home studio. He would always compliment me on my voice, and then one year for my birthday he gifted me a microphone and a pack of around 30 or so beats. I started toying around with recording little demos through the GarageBand app on my iPhone, and the rest is history.

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?
So far, the road has been pretty smooth, so I’m very thankful for that. I’m still so new to making music professionally, so there’s still a lot to learn, but thankfully I have an amazing community of incredible artist friends that help me tremendously and give me so much guidance. I will say that one thing I do struggle with is stage fright. I get the worst, most paralyzing stage fright. I’m not sure what exactly the deal is with that because I’ve been doing various performing arts since I was a child, but I guess I just find performing my own music and having all the spotlight on me pretty sobering. It’s so intimate that it really freaks me out, but ’m working through it.

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am singer-songwriter currently based in Memphis, TN. The music I’m making right now is primarily R&B, but I’m super inspired by tons of other genres and sounds. I’m currently working on my debut EP, which I’m aiming to put out by Spring 2021. All the stuff I’m working on is inspired by a lot of that really soft, sensual, ultra-femme R&B I was listening to as a kid. Think Beyoncé’s debut album, Mariah Carey’s Butterfly or Brandy’s Never Say Never to name a few. While I’m not a powerhouse vocalist like those women, the melodies and overall softness and romance of some of their more mellow hits have really found their way into the stuff I’m making now.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
To be honest, I don’t think I really have a proudest moment yet. Again, it’s all still pretty new. I am proud to have made tremendous strides in my confidence and ability to assert what I want and who I am through my music. It makes me proud to feel myself evolving and growing as an artist, but in terms of a singular proudest moment, I don’t think I have one.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/rheannan___
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7bVk14GlgJAOMiPPZQyAl3?si=AsfzmcS0TvmSmGB5uMXBeQ

Image Credit:
Image 1: Lawrence Matthews III
Image 2: GAWSI
Image 3-4: Unknown
Image 5: Catherine Patton

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