We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Claire Glass a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Claire , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I found my purpose slowly and over time. I always knew what my passions were: creativity, music, and art in general. It’s easy to confuse purpose with passion though, and for many years I didn’t understand the difference. I was left feeling like I had all these tools, but no toolbox. Purpose is where your passions have a place in the world; it creates belonging for your skills and proclivities. So, while my passion is creativity, my purpose is sharing. This realization has grown after many years of touring around the country as well as internationally, and building community through art, emotional release, and shared experience. Through sharing my talents, I am able to inspire others in the way of traditional performance, or, as is the case with Austin Classical Guitar, I am able to use my songwriting skills to guide others in telling their stories. Music has a way of bringing you to the present moment, whether alone or with others, and I believe my purpose is to share that knowledge to bring more awareness to our emotional selves.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
When I was 15, I switched from learning trumpet in school to classical guitar. This wasn’t a moment of inspiration, but rather a way for me to escape having to play in marching band in the Texas summer heat. I wouldn’t know that this innocuous (if mildly petulant) act would lead me to my life’s true musical love: composition. The school ensemble was lead by Travis Marcum of Austin Classical Guitar, whom I currently work for as manager of the Music and Healing program. In this program, we pair artists with people experiencing hardship to write a song about their story.
Before working with Austin Classical Guitar, I wrote and played for an orchestral pop band called Mother Falcon for about 10 years, starting in high school. We toured extensively after graduation, despite our outrageous membership, which at times reached 17 persons. I developed a love for performance and theatrics in these years, despite my introversion and stage fright. This stage of my career culminated in doing one of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, before tapering off due to sustainability issues (did I mention how many people were in that band?).
I was touring concurrently with a technical rock band called Hikes, led by Nay Wilkins, which I also contribute to compositionally. This project is still active. I am also currently playing guitar for Black Belt Eagle Scout; a PNW staple led by Katherine Paul, who writes homages to the land, water, and sky.
This year I’m branching out into my solo project, “Claire Glass”, and will be releasing my debut album next year. This project combines all the influences of my life into a cohesive sound. There’s the emotional dynamism of Hikes and Mother Falcon, and a new intimacy that I’m constantly exploring, and finding new hidden rooms in. I’ve gone back to my roots of classical guitar, and it feels like home. I’m also writing commissions for Nick Hurt, a classical guitar player in Marfa, TX. One of my commissions was recently featured in his documentary “Serenade, I Miss You”.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I struggled with, and still do at times, stage fright and performance anxiety. For many years I all but gave up on being a performer, and dreaded the times I would have to get on stage. I was given lots of specific advice from well-meaning people, but it turned out the only cure was exposure therapy. I couldn’t think my way out of it, I just had to do it over and over again until my body and brain stopped wanting to flee. I was amazed after a 6-week tour playing solo that I came out of it with hardly any stage fright.
This speaks to my next bit of knowledge I’ve picked up, which is that consistency really is key when trying to build a skill or change something in yourself. Whether that’s practicing, working out, or trying to change an attitude, working at something a little bit every day is better than big chunks of effort in between fallow states.
Mistakes won’t kill you. I know this isn’t a revelation, but to really get your subconscious to believe this, you really have to get out there and make those mistakes. There’s that quote by Stephen McCranie: “The master has failed more times than the beginner has tried”.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
It’s very helpful for me to write out everything I’m feeling overwhelmed about, then pick 1-3 things I can do right now. I will also number the tasks in order, and estimate how much time I think it will take to do each task. I then set a timer for each task and try to complete it in that amount of time. Even if I go over time, I will at least have started the thing I was avoiding or was feeling hesitant about, and 9 times out of 10 find out that it’s not such a huge undertaking after all.
I also use a daily planner called Passion Planner, that really helps keep my schedule and tasks organized.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/claire_glass
- Instagram: _claire_glass_
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XUENxUPmB4
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/73h3FEax0vcG1rEIB1QLBY?si=1vpAT_LUQK6uht46En61iQ
Image Credits
Jen Rachid Montsho Thoth Chris Long Nay Wilkins Tamir Kalifa
