As fans of live music and independent artists making their way in a new world, we're thrilled to kick off a new artist spotlight series with Nashville-based singer-songwriter, Jill Andrews. Keep reading to learn more about the creative origins behind her latest EP, Ellen, and what fuels her artistic practice.
Brit + Co:What creative project are you currently working on and how does it inspire you?
Jill Andrews: I’m currently finishing a new record. I’m getting it mixed right now. It is so fun to see how the songs have blossomed from when I first wrote them. The different musical elements that we added have served to expand the emotional landscape of each one.
B+C:How do you find creative inspiration for your music?
JA: I normally find the inspiration for my music in the mundane features of everyday life. Conversation and people watching can be huge sources of inspiration.
B+C: What things do you feel confident DIY-ing in your craft and when do you ask for help?
JA: I am big into trying to DIY everything in the creative part of my career. However, I often realize that having other people's input and help can be very beneficial. I have recorded some on my own, made a music video with my husband ("Gimme the Beat Back" — very DIY), and dabbled in some photography (the cover for my EP Vultures). I find that it's a great exercise for me to try it myself first and then if I get stuck, I can always ask for help and I often do.
B+C:How do you make time to hone your creative muscle?
JA: I find that being creative is part of my daily life. I feel creative when I cook, garden, play with my kids, write, and hang out with my friends. I am always thinking of ways to make things more fun, more interesting, and more beautiful.
B+C:Do your best creative projects/songs start when you get inspired on your own or by another's creativity?
JA: I find inspiration from others a lot. I may hear a story, see a movie, hear a song that someone else has created and it may stay with me, even in an unconscious way and find its way into my own work in a small way when I'm writing on my own.
B+C:How has your creative perspective and motivation evolved since you first shared your skills with the world?
JA: I've been writing for over twenty years and I have lived a lot of life in that time. I started writing when I was basically a kid with very little experience in the world to now where I have traveled a lot, had many relationships both romantic and platonic, I've lost friends and family, and I have had children. I think that every new experience has served to make me a richer songwriter.
B+C:What is your secret superpower that you are really good at that we'd never know about?
JA: I am good at making up games. My kids are good inspiration for that. We like to do a thing I call a progressive drawing where someone draws a few lines, or shapes and then passes it to the next person. They add to it and so on and so on. It's cool to see what it ends up looking like.
B+C: What is a social cause that you care about and how can folks best get involved in their own communities?
JA: I care a lot about kids getting enough food. Gardening can be a good way to share with members of your community. It's easy to give out vegetables that you've grown especially when your harvest is large.
More About Jill Andrews from Olivia Management:
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Jill Andrews gives the unsung moments the voice they have always deserved. From her days fronting lauded Americana group, the everbodyfields, to her successful solo career as a writer and performer, Andrews’ music has taken her far from her East Tennessee home.
She has collaborated and shared the stage with countless celebrated artists including the Avett Brothers, Langhorne Slim, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, and the Secret Sisters. Her music has been featured on Grey’s Anatomy, This is Us, The Good Wife, Nashville, and Wynonna Earp to name a few.
After the success of her critically acclaimed 2020 album and book, Thirties, Jill decided to dig back into her songwriting catalog. Her most recent release, Ellen, is one that feels as if it lives in a middle space between where she has been and where she is going as a musician, songwriter, mother, wife, and friend. The six songs on the EP were mostly recorded when she first moved to Nashville, while still finding her footing in a town filled with some of the music industry’s most talented people. She had just started co-writing and recording with incredibly prolific writers and musicians (Trent Dabbs, K.S. Rhoads, Shawn Camp, etc.) and was still playing with some longtime friends like Josh Oliver (the everybodyfields, Watchhouse) and Ethan Ballinger (Miranda Lambert). Then, last year while the whole world was on pause, Andrews took the opportunity to focus on uncovering those songs. With hours of work put into rerecording, mastering, and fine tuning these songs, thus came Ellen.
Andrews currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee with her children Nico, Falcon, and husband, Jerred. Jill is currently touring this fall in support of her music with Clem Snide.
SupportJill Andrews via Patreon
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