Talihina, Oklahoma based singer/songwriter Bethnie Rose has been writing since the tender age of 7 years old, playing guitar since she was 13, and performing live for the last 3 years. Her songs are passionate with lyrics centered on the emotions of the heart but at the core, Bethnie is just being and expressing herself.
She plays with her band in various venues across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas and is working to grow that list with every new performance. Her 5 song project released in June (2019).
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Bethnie Rose about her new album, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I am originally from the Ozarks in Arkansas, but currently live in the metropolis of Talihina, Oklahoma – home of Bigfoot legend AND Bethnie Rose 🙂
My style would be “classified” as Rock – whether that’s Indie, Alternative, Pop. I personally feel my genre is more song based than artist based. I simply try to let the song be what it demands – no matter the musical genre or influence.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I was raised in a musical family – my father requiring me to pick my instrument to learn by 9 years old. I have always written songs or poetry of sort, and it was when I learned acoustic guitar at 14 that I developed the creative flow to bring life to my lyrics. I must have wrote almost 100 songs that first year, and I’ve been writing ever since.
My motivation is honestly to be true to myself, and not create a false identity that is not inherently ME. I did spend years squashing the need to make a sound and share, mainly because of life, tragedy, and misappropriation of who I am. I lost myself at one point, and owning up to my artistry and that there is a place for me – keeps me going to keep being me.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
This is actually my first musical project. I wanted to give a selection of songs that adequately express my sound and what I am. An introduction to Bethnie Rose of sorts.
I think I accomplished that with this EP. I wanted it to express notes of pain, desperation, love, intensity, and vulnerability. All things I have personally experienced in my life and expressed in these songs.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
I do believe while technology and social media platforms are AMAZING tools, I also feel they can quickly replace the messy beauty of humanity, if we aren’t careful.
In the music industry – more predominately in America – we have a tendency to live all parts of our lives by algorithm, versus discovery. When something is popular, we can’t seem to appreciate the singularity of it – instead we fabricate 100 more just like it. I think this is very evident in mainstream, popular music. It’s a lot harder to discern uniqueness or artistry when everything sounds recreated. We’ve replaced practice and naturally talented vocal ability, with pitch corrector software or auto-tuning. We’ve replaced percussion or instrumentation with loops, and purchased riffs. These products can be helpful, and valuable in the right context; unfortunately it’s overused in my humble opinion, and takes away the aspect of humanity creating something.
I believe the same for social media. It’s anything but social. The way I’ve utilized this tool is to connect overseas and to places I would never have access to on my own, however keeping the balance of my interaction staying genuine and personable. I am not afraid of DM’s or PM’s or actually using it as true interaction, not just shares, likes, and follows. Truly using it to connect to people and be personable to them.
What was the last song you listened to?
Here to Mars by Coheed and Cambria
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Are cassettes not even on the list? Poor things. CD’s. Mainly because I was around at their rise in popularity.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
This is a hard one. I think all the platforms have some serious pros or cons. As an artist, Spotify is the way to go if you want exposure, the journey, however is long and time consuming. I think my biggest issue with Spotify, is I notice in their free version (which most people use), when you search an artist you want to hear, and you shuffle it, the selection they choose to be played with it seems to be the hit artists, like a sort of top 40. It makes you wonder sometimes, how an independent musician can get heard when the popular option is constantly pushed to the forefront. Hopefully people go off the beaten path more. I think the answer is to get your music on ALL platforms if you can, because in our beautiful world of diverse humanity, there’s a crowd at every table. The key is to get your dish out there on the table to be served.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
My 5 song EP is currently available on Spotify, iTunes, Applemusic, Google Play, YouTube Music, Deezer, and Amazon.
You can connect with me personally on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I invite everyone to connect – I love meeting people.
Anything else before we sign off?
Like I said, there is room at the table for everyone. I appreciate those who support us indie artists and those who allow us to be ourselves and share our heart. If you are an artist and you are outside wondering if you should “go for it”, please do. You can never go wrong by being true to yourself.
