Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Erin Bonnie. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Erin, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
When I graduated from Berklee College of Music, my anxiety and feeling of being an imposter were at an all time high. I didn’t really know why I had ever decided to pack up my life back in Montana and move across the country to study songwriting and violin in Boston. My life out west was filled with joy and connection, family, friends, and a landscape unmatched by anything I’ve yet experienced. In that place and time, my creative identity, the thing that drove me and made me who I am, ran as wild a river in the spring.
Over my four years as a student – lacking a community, lacking a sense of place, and feeling entirely insufficient compared to my peers, compounded by the untimely loss of a dear friend and bandmate back home – that identity completely dried up. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had buried everything that made me who I am so deep in my body that my true self was inaccessible. I hardly remembered who I once was, so deep was the animal desire to protect myself from the critical eye of others – for fear of being not good enough, for fear of being critiqued, for fear of being found out. I was miserable, and I was stuck.
And then came the unsticking. It was in the form of an unexpected phone call from a Berklee connection who knew someone who was starting a country band. And they needed a fiddle player. So before I could let myself say no, I hurriedly blurted out a yes. I knew I wanted music in my life. In fact, I knew I needed it. That deep need, that pure desire, that’s what overcame the imposter syndrome just enough to get me to rosin up my bow and head over to a complete stranger’s house to play music with a bunch of people who I had never met before in my life. It was the best decision I could have ever made.
That stranger was Elisa Smith, a country artist here in Boston that I’ve now been making music with for almost ten years. Over our time together we’ve played countless shows, headlined festivals, recorded with massive talent in Nashville, written and arranged original songs, and bonded over our shared joy of music, music making, and in particular the creative act of songwriting.
You see, when Elisa and I met, she was beginning her own journey of reconnection to music making, performing, singing, and writing. And I was inspired. I was finally in a room again with people who were making music for the pure joy of it, rather than the pursuit of technical perfection. Don’t get me wrong, we wanted to be good – and we got there. But it took time. Time spent in a room of raucous twangy risk-taking in the form of drums, bass, banjo, fiddle, and guitars. It was as loud as it was brilliant.
Each rehearsal, each show, each song became a water drop in my creative well. Each interaction with my bandmates, with the audience, with professionals in the industry became an unfastening of the bonds of fear. Slowly but surely I found myself again. Over that time I’ve recorded and released an EP, a full length album, and a number of singles. I’ve made music videos, lyric videos, built my brand, formed my own bands, and headlined my own shows. I got a song placed on a television show. Heck, I even landed myself my dream job at Berklee College of Music as a professor in the Songwriting Department! It took time, it took frustration, it took despair. It took being pushed so far to the edge that I had no choice but to jump. Thank goodness I did.
When I made that first terrifying and nigh unwilling jump, I landed in a community of musicians, now the dearest of friends, that helped me see myself again. And that’s the ultimate take away. I had to interact with people. I had to find a space and a place where I could open up. Once I did, the imposter within ebbed until I was so full of joy and purpose there was no space left for it to inhabit.
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?
To sum things up, I’m a performing singer-songwriter, musician, and music educator.
As an artist, I identify as a roots crooner with a feminist rock edge – an Americana Folk-Rock Mama and fiddle player with style and presence to boot! Taking inspiration from artists like Gillian Welch, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, and Dolly Parton, I’m a true singer-songwriter at heart. My songs are lush in language and melody, and I live for those intimate moments of truth between audience and artist that happen because of a song and a stage.
I’m always chasing the song. Songwriting as an art form is so powerful and expressive. I want to move and be moved. I want to feel. I want to experience. I want to express. Songwriting does all of that for me. It’s both who I am and what I do, and that’s such a special thing to have in life.
Which is why I feel so lucky to teach in the Songwriting Department at Berklee College of Music, where my role as music educator comes in. I get to bring that joy, that creative impulse, that insane and overwhelming desire to pull sound out of the void and turn it into a story, and explore all of it with the next generation of creatives. I love working with artists and helping them bring their ideas to life. I want them to be able to write with intention and expression. To tell stories. Change minds. Make others feel in ways they didn’t know they needed to, or never even thought possible.
In addition to taking the lead as a songwriter and educator, I also gig out as a side player in a few bands around the Boston area, most prominently with country rock n roller Elisa Smith. It’s nice to be able to step out of my lead roles, and help support others in their own pursuit of creativity. It’s fun to come up with fiddle parts/riffs, background vocals, and help shape someone else’s sound. Plus the stage is such a fun place to be. I feel the most like myself when I’m up there. I feel powerful and strong and badass. And any time I find myself in a funk, it’s likely I haven’t played a show in a while.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the three most formative and important qualities that were most impactful in my journey, and remain relevant every minute of every day, are being a good listener, practicing kindness, and having authentic self confidence.
Being a good listener invites people in, and it’s so important to build your network when you work in the creative arts. Especially because your professional circle is likely your community circle. They’re inherently interwoven. Plus, if you’re open to listening with your whole body, and are really committed to taking in new information and different perspectives and advice, then you’re maximizing your own potential for growth and development.
When it comes to practicing kindness, give it to yourself, and give it to those around you. We’re all hard on ourselves. But meet yourself where you’re at. If you can do that, then all work becomes good work, because it’s getting you to the next thing. Even if it empirically sucks. Doesn’t matter. You have to do the work. And when you give sincere kindness to others, it encourages continued creativity. And we all thrive when creativity as a whole is alive and well.
Lastly, authentic self confidence is so important because you are your best ally. Embrace who you are, and present that to the world without any apologies or disclaimers. It will help you find your place and your people.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
Invest effort in improving areas you aren’t as strong in! Because it will open up so much for you in terms of self-growth. Plus, we have to find ways throughout life to remain curious and inquisitive. At least I do. Otherwise I get bored and uninspired. The most recent way that I have been stepping out of my comfort zone has been learning to record and produce my own music. That process has always felt completely out of reach for me, like my brain wasn’t wired for it. But it turns out, I just needed to wait for the point in my life where I could receive that knowledge and turn it into action. Over the last year I’ve been sitting in on recording technology courses at Berklee, and am in the middle of releasing my first self-produced song! The single is called Classic, and it comes out on November 29th. I can’t wait to share it with folks because it will absolutely slap you in the face with classic tones, classic licks, and classic guitar-player hair flips. Press play and step back into the late 60s, early 70s southern classic country rock nostalgia-land of my dreams! My band is killing, and it’s just so fun to hear them shine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.erinbonniemusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinbonniemusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinbonniemusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_7b4LxwE—0Deijh-vAsg
- Other: https://linktr.ee/erinbonniemusic
Image Credits
Red 13 Studios Adam Noya Lisa Czech Photography Devin Clark Photography Gunmetal Studios
