We recently announced Meghan Downing, a low vision singer/songwriter, is our LightHouse Gala Musical Guest Performer. We asked Meghan to share more with us about her music journey so far, and we invite you to learn more of her story.
Can you tell us a little about how you came to be a musician?
I’ve been a musician pretty much my whole life. My mom encouraged me to play the violin at age four, and I played classical violin and fiddle through high school. I always thought that guitar and ukulele were really cool, so I picked them up, too. With that came singing, and I got into this rock band that said they needed a lead singer. I sang lead in the band from eighth grade until I was a senior in high school, and then started getting into singing and songwriting.
What made you shift into wanting to express yourself through your own songs?
I go to Berklee College of Music in Boston and before going there, a lot of my friends were writing songs, but every time I tried to write, I got discouraged and thought “this doesn’t sound very good.” I’m kind of a perfectionist, which is a blessing and a curse. But finally, during my first or second year at Berklee, I sat down one day and started humming and playing a chord progression that I’d been working on. I thought, “You know what this is? We’re going to write a song. We’re going to see how it comes out.” I started doing that every day and didn’t let my brain tell me to stop if it didn’t sound exactly like how I wanted it to sound. Ever since then, songwriting has been a thing that I do.
How does the music style of the rock band you were in compare to your individual music style?
The music I’m writing is country folk. My mom really likes how country music tells a story, so I was raised listening to old-time country songs. My current band, which I formed in college with friends from Santa Barbara, started off playing pop and rock, but now we’re morphing into a country-folk sound.
Who are your biggest musical influences right now?
I love Bonnie Raitt, Kacey Musgraves, James Taylor and Carole King. But I would say my biggest influence right now, and currently kind of my idol, is Kelsea Ballerini.
Are there any sort of unique experiences you draw on when writing songs?
Santa Barbara is where I’m from. I’m totally in love with being a California girl, but a big part of my life has been the switch between moving back and forth between Boston and California and living kind of two different lives. In country music, you hear a lot about hometowns, but you don’t really hear a lot about a California hometown. I’ve been writing about leaving home and what that feels like. I think that’s an experience that a lot of people can relate to.
How has your visual impairment affected your music?
I have Stargardt disease. I’ve been losing my vision since I was nine. It was actually playing the violin that made me, my family and my violin teacher realize that something was going on with my vision because I stopped sight reading music. We first thought that maybe my interests were changing, but there were other hints pointing to something being up with my vision, so I went to the eye doctor and they diagnosed me. I started learning music by ear and started playing the fiddle, because you can learn to play fiddle by ear. I’m blessed as far as my ability to hear music and to put that music into my fingers or and my singing. I just have to trust my ears and trust my fingers, trust that muscle memory and my connection to music. I’m able to connect with my audience a lot more because I’m not thinking about reading sheet music.
What can people expect from your performance at One Enchanted Evening?
I got so excited when I heard the theme of the gala was an evening at camp. I went to an all-girls’ camp from ages 5 to 15. At night we would sit around a campfire and there would be 400 girls singing together with guitars.
A lot of my country folk influences come from camp and I’m excited to bring that to the gala. I also get the opportunity to play with an alumna of Enchanted Hills Camp, and I’m really looking forward to that.
What are you hoping the gala audience takes away from your performance?
I want it to be a unifying experience. At an event like this, people may not know each other, but they might hear a song and say to each other “Oh, I love this song.” I want to make it a group experience where everyone connects through music.
Want to get a taste of Meghan’s music before the gala? Listen to her new single, Any Luck. And if you purchase a ticket to An Enchanted Evening, you can hear her perform live! Gala ticket sales close at 12:00 pm Pacific on Monday, August 14.
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