Meet Halem Albright

 

We were lucky to catch up with Halem Albright recently and have shared our conversation below.

Halem, so glad you were able to set aside some time for us today. We’ve always admired not just your journey and success, but also the seemingly high levels of self-discipline that you seem to have mastered and so maybe we can start by chatting about how you developed it or where it comes from?

I never felt that self-discipline was something that I had to force on myself. Because there’s always so much I want to do & there’s always something to work on, it feels more like I’m just trying to keep up with a big/new body of work that’s always there for me to chip away at. So trying to keep some balance in all ways is big to me. I feel “off” if I neglect any certain aspect of that balance, so I’ve always tried to stay ahead of it.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Making & playing music is something I’d pretty much be doing no matter what. When it’s working, it’s the greatest. So it’s now evolved into some sort of basic-need that I have, and my excitement for playing live has only grown.

The Halem Albright Band is a rock band with elements of most styles of music, and an emphasis on improvisation. We just released our 4th album, and a couple of brand new music videos. We’re doing a run of shows this summer, and the big one for us is 7/25 at Vinyl-Center Stage in Atlanta(on sale now). You can read our full bio at halemalbright.com.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

-Being true to the artistic vision you have for yourself, “finding your own voice”. I’m not going to write a song the same way anyone else is….and I believe that if you can work to deliver your original style well, then there’ll be an audience that’s into what you do.

-What has helped our sound stand out is the originality & strength in the songwriting. So on an advice level, I’d say to always have your antennae up…the same way a comedian is always ready to discover that next joke. Great ideas can be found just by listening. Record any ideas that you’re hearing, even if they sound stupid or funny. So many good songs started off as a dumb idea.

-Making those connections with other people in the biz, and being careful about burning any bridges. The 18-year-old version of me could’ve benefited from understanding this better.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

Improving in many creative areas will only help in finding diverse opportunities over time, so of course I’m all for that But when your strengths are evident, especially if you’re implementing them for your primary creative outlet, I think you’re going to be focusing mostly on those strengths anyway. I’m always trying to improve in many areas, but most of my energy goes into doing what I do best. An example would be to say for instance if I was in a cover band, in which case I would constantly be switching out guitar sounds/to mimic the styles of those artists whose songs I’d be playing. But in my band, with this original music, I just want to sound like me/us. Also, I’ve played & recorded with many of the greatest studio musicians in Georgia…….but there’s nothing like growing together as a band(even if your your skill level isn’t masterful). The greatest moments I’ve had on stage has been with players that I’ve grown with together… Because it’s more about listening to each other than anything else. That’s when the real magic happens.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Stephanie Heath/Smiling Eyes Media
Matt Daniels/Matt Daniels Designs

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