Growing up, sweet Megan Palmer was Cleveland’s most valuable little performer before she carried her talent over to other cities including Columbus, New York, and Nashville. The latter of which is where she has been working on her new album “What She’s Got to Give.” This friendly soul blessed me with some of her time this past weekend for an interview on her music career and a little insight into her life.
The city of Cleveland was lucky enough to see this singer/songwriter/pianist/guitarist/violinist — who began practicing instruments at age nine — entertaining people since the sixth grade. Palmer first picked up the violin following the influence of her musician grandfather, who passed down his father’s old violin to her. She practiced classical music and after a couple of years, she was able to have jam sessions with her jazz playing grandfather.
“The piano, for me, has always been sort of a really natural instinct,” said Palmer. “It’s my road map to music and how I understand music.”
Palmer explained her ability to understand music by how easily she can hear whether a song needs piano or guitar. Familiarity with string instruments assisted her in picking up the guitar in her mid-twenties when she realized it helped with her song-writing. Her love for singing came naturally while working with her many other instrumental talents and skills.
Although she has been performing for many years, Palmer still struggles with the ever-so-common jitter-bugs before stepping on stage by herself.
“I came into the music world by being a side person,” Palmer explained, adding that her less anxious performances come from those where she performs with other artists. “I feed off of other people.”
Palmer’s contributors to her new album — Jon Radford, Tony Scherr, Larry Cook, Tim Easton and Amy Speace — are a band that she often performs with; The Spikedrivers.
“I love being in the studio — that’s the most fun especially with the players I’m producing with,” said Palmer. “It’s like an experiment because we don’t know what’s going to happen. Something didn’t exist before, and now it does.”
New record “What She’s Got to Give” expresses Palmer’s struggle through the feeling of self-doubt that musicians oftentimes feel.
“It’s a difficult road to choose,” she explained. “These songs kind of came to me as I moved to Nashville. They came as a collection of ‘being in the moment’, whether it’s being in a relationship or producing a musical career.”
Natalie’s Coal-Fired Pizza will be hosting Palmer’s new album release on Wednesday, June 22nd at 9pm.
For more information, visit www.meganpalmer.com.
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