Happy Anniversary! And Thank You!
Celebrating one year of Creative Reverberations.
I cannot believe it’s been a year since I launched this little engine that could. To say that I was nervous about putting my own publication into the world is a massive understatement. I spent weeks agonizing over every aspect of it—the title, the content, the layout. My “about” page gave me anxiety. I couldn’t figure out how to describe what it was I wanted to do. Would people think I was stupid for assuming I could offer anything of value? Would anyone agree to an interview? Would anyone other than my husband and my mom subscribe?
(No offense to my husband or my mom. I love you guys.)
Although I’d been working as an entertainment journalist for a few years and had a bunch of great bylines on my resume, I still felt the crushing weight of imposter syndrome. The moment I hit send on emails to potential interview subjects, I wanted to crawl under my desk and hide. It was like being back in junior high and handing a note to a crush. (Content: “Would you agree to an interview?” Subtext: “Please like me.”)
But to my utter shock, people said yes. And it soon became apparent that Creative Reverberations would not only allow me to continue doing work I love (interviewing artists) but would provide an opportunity to showcase artists whose work might not get as much recognition in more mainstream outlets. Artists like indie singer-songwriter Zoe Boekbinder (my first Creative Reverberations interview!), who has often used their work to influence social change. Or Renee Stahl, who has found success making kid-friendly music that adults love.
Thanks to Creative Reverberations, I’ve been introduced to so many artists whose work I wasn’t already familiar with, including Jack Manley (love his EP, Unmeasurable Terms); authors Marcus Kliewer and Allison Gunn, whose novels (We Used to Live Here and Nowhere, respectively) were crazy scary; painter TB Ward, who spent last year creating gorgeous portraits; Vivian Kerr, who wrote, directed, and starred in the indie film Scrap; and John W. Lawson, star of the fantastic indie film Daruma.
But I also got to speak with people I’ve been a fan of for years and have never had the pleasure of chatting with. Like poet Buddy Wakefield, who I became a fan of after seeing him open for Ani DiFranco on tour. Or Amie McNee, who I’ve been following on social media for forever. And my fellow Dorchester (MA) native Kay Hanley, frontwoman of Letters to Cleo. And Jermaine Crawford, who played Dukie Weems on The Wire, my all-time favorite TV show.
And on and on and on…
I’ve walked away from every single interview learning something new. The most frequent piece of advice from every artist? Just do the work. Write the thing. Pen the song. Make the film. Pick up the instrument. The second piece of advice? Share it. Get it out there. Don’t be afraid to create bad art.
I could write a book (maybe someday I will!) about all I’ve learned from the 40+ interviews I’ve published so far. It’s been a huge, huge honor to share each artist’s story, and I thank you so very much for coming along for the ride.
If you enjoy what I’ve been doing here, please consider supporting it—any or all of the following helps:
Upgrade: Maintaining this little corner of the internet takes an extraordinary amount of work. If you enjoy the publication and have the means, I would be so grateful if you became a paid subscriber. It’s $5/month or a discounted $50/year, and I share extra goodies with paid subscribers each week.
Give a gift subscription: Mother’s Day! Father’s Day! A random Wednesday! They’re all great for gift giving.
Sharing: If you like the work I’m doing here, share Creative Reverberations on social media. (You can also use the “share” link embedded in each piece to share that specific interview.)
Refer a Friend: You can use the following link to refer a friend to Creative Reverberations.
Recommendations: If you have your own Substack, consider recommending Creative Reverberations. Just go to Dashboard, Recommendations, and Add Recommendations.
No matter how you support the work, thank you. It means the world to me. More fantastic interviews to come!
