Well, this was a real treat. Singer, songwriter, producer, Grammy-nominated artist, and overall great human, Kevin Garrett, was on the start of his latest tour with Gavin Degraw as they made their way through Columbia, South Carolina, not too far from Charlotte. He was nice enough to make some time for an interview and photos. I will take you back to 2015 when a friend and I traveled to Austin, Texas for SXSW. I heard one of Kevin's songs the day before our flight on my Spotify discovery weekly playlist called "Refuse" and was hooked. Looking at the lineups at the festival, he was playing a few times, and we made it a point to see him live. I've been following along since then, and Kevin is just an artist who plays and writes music for the love and passion of it. To hear him speak on it and truly see him play for the crowd that night, you saw what it meant to him. So saddle up, this is a good one, let's get into the early years of Kevin's life and how music came to light —
Take me back to the earlier years of life, where did music come into play? “I started playing violin when I was four. I loved sports, loved messing around and playing games, and my parents wanted me to try something creative too. I’m so glad they pushed me in that direction because it's the only thing I was good at. I gravitated to the violin, it actually got me into college. I was playing guitar and youth symphony stuff through high school and took that to auditions for college. I went to NYU for audio engineering. More than being there for the school, it was something about being in that city. I made a couple of connects to start playing some real shows outside of the dinner sets and random local things I did in Pittsburgh. My first show, actually after high school, I took a one-week trip to Nashville and played a bunch of open mics, but my first proper show was at 3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon at Rockwood Music Hall. The very second show, I got a call from the promoter there and asked if I wanted to open for Norah Jones. I skipped a couple of steps, I think, to get that gig, but the rest was history on the Rockwood scene. It was such a vibrant community. The Lower East side area was really the hub for me for a long time. It wasn’t until I was out of college, really, that I finished in 2013, I didn’t know how the business side of music worked; all I knew and wanted to do was have my indie band at the time just wanted to play shows. We went to Pittsburgh and other tri-state cities. It never really had the umph to build it beyond that, and we ended up going our separate ways, and a buddy of mine from school said just give it a year. Almost a year to the day of when I graduated, I get a text from this artist, James Vincent McMorrow, asking for my band to go on tour and open for him but we broke up, so I sent him a demo of a song called ‘Colouring’ I was working on which was one of the first songs I put out and he said alright, come on out. Actually, recently, I was on my computer doing a hard-drive purge, and I used to be a Photoshop wizard, and by that I mean I knew how to put text on pictures (laughs), but I just saw that old show poster from that tour, and it was fun to reflect on. It was a great time. He ended up taking me on a few other shows on and off after that. I started to put songs out in 2014, and lucky it got to the ears of peers of mine who brought me out on tour over the years and led me to do shows on my own, and I’m just really thankful.”
Was that the moment you knew that this was what you wanted to be doing? “Yeah, I think it was right around the time I was about to go out with James Vincent McMorrow, and I was starting to talk to Beyoncé’s team about the song I worked on for Lemonade. I didn’t know how anything worked. All I knew was how to get my hands on my parent's car to drive myself to these shows. Still have that car by the way, it's a Highlander, her name is Abigail. But yeah, with the songwriting thing, I've done some sessions before, but it was on a totally different level with something Beyoncé wants to cut. There was just a lot hidden at once there and it just snowballed a little bit. I really just know that I wanted to be on stage. The only reason I’m making music is that I want to sing it for people and that I want to design merch (laughs). Writing for other artists, if I get to work with the artist and we can channel something, I value that a lot. It’s an interesting game and this year I’ve had some great sessions with other artists and writers.”
From the earlier days of your career, is your mindset on how you approach your music the same, or has it changed? "It hasn't changed at all. I would go play those shows all over again if they wanted me back. I think since the pandemic, especially if you're a new artist — you had to gain some perspective to stay employed and find ways to supplement your creativity. I recently moved to Nashville and that's been a new experience that so far has proven to be daunting but I think I've made a somewhat of a good decision. It's nice to sign a lease and uproot your life from Pittsburgh to only go out on tour for a little while (laughs); blessings in disguise. I've never felt like I've made it in any capacity. I haven't even scratched the surface, I don't think, and that's across all facets of music making, and I try to keep that mentality because I already feel like with this business, I'm already grounded because it keeps you on the ground. Since I don't live in New York anymore, Pittsburgh is home and now Nashville its just different so it's all about adjusting and making it work."
Are you a goal-driven person? "Yeah, I mean, the first goal is to pay rent (laughs); second, it's kind of a debilitating industry, I'll be honest. It definitely knows how to cut your legs out and hit you while you're down. I don't think I've gotten good at being told no, but I've been told no so many times that it is like muscle memory at this point, so it's just keeping your head down and figuring it out. My goals haven't changed. I still want to play shows; I would love to do more stuff on my own on a headline level. Ten years in I finally made it to Australia. If you had told me that ten years ago that I would be playing shows there, I wouldn't have believed you. I don't have the words. The goals are the same. If the opportunity to write for someone comes back, I would be honored to be involved. I have so much music I want to put out, and we started rolling out that project, so it's really exciting; write music, play shows, and make t-shirts (laughs)."
What is a proud moment in your life that has shaped you into the person you are today? "I think everything from if you open the liner notes and being the first name on the credits of Lemonade to getting through this nine-hour drive from Nashville to South Carolina, if it's focused or geared towards making progress with my dreams, there is no shame in any of it. Obviously, there are certain moments; getting nominated for a Grammy with that record was amazing. If a song like Colouring gets enough streams to get to one of those status’, that would be really cool because I did that on CD Baby and released that all by myself. To all of the songs collecting dust in my folders on my hard drive, every one of those, I think the thing I'm most proud of is I have gotten through all of the punches that were thrown, especially at the independent level, but just in the industry, in general, to still not get tired of what you're making. I have some songs for this next project that I've been sitting on for four years, and you know, with 2020 feeling like yesterday, I think we did this like weird quantum leap thing; there is no way; I was thinking back at 2019 when I did another proper US run, there's just no way that I'm five years older. I remember moments in 2020 so vividly but I don't remember anything from the past three years. It's strange. I'm just proud to just keep loving what I do when it sometimes doesn't love me back."
What is your biggest struggle to get you to the next steps? “I don’t want to lean too far into the mental side of it, but the last few years have weighed on me a bit heavier. There are some people collaboratively who aren’t dependent on me but we had some plans, that are still plans but are just taking a little longer to execute. I’m okay with letting myself down but feeling like I’m letting other people down, whether its listeners, other collaborators, the venue managers if I show up late, that one I get sensitive to. The timeline of it all and really having to buckle down and having to regroup and figure out what’s next for all of the new music is something that I struggle with a lot, its like a top down look at everything. In the last few years, I’ve had some amazing touring; I’ve gotten to go around Europe and Australia. I played a handful of dates with Dermot Kennedy, and I’ve played Red Rocks twice —these things are just, to go back to your last question, the thing I’m proudest of is that I try to be very present and not take anything for granted and the thing I struggle with the most is that I’m so present on everything and I overthink it all.”
Are there any important lessons in life that you take with you on a daily basis? “Sometimes writers and other aspiring artists ask me for advice, and I say I’m doing the same thing you are. I’m still very much aspiring, and it’s all relative; I’m very lucky to be in the position I’m in. If I would have any sort of tips and something I try to convince myself every morning, gratitude is a real thing similar to listening to music when you try to find the hook in everything, you need to find the hook in life, that keeps me motivated and keeps me going, even when I’m like Eeyore and feeling depressed as it gets. I think creatively, when you start aiming you start losing. A lot of people are putting music out and there is just nothing timeless about it because its just a recycled thing that was a hit last year. At your own artistic level, just be yourself; you just need to trust yourself and trust your gut on the decisions you make creatively. Don’t aim; don’t try to be anyone other than yourself.”
