With some nostalgia I just found Zoe’s trip to Nashville Contract we drew up last year. ! Some of you might remember last Feb a deal was made…Zoe was challenged to write 12 songs (1 a month) and her reward would be a road trip to Nashville.
You can read all about it here!
February came and left without a road trip to Nashville. While she has not written 12 songs (though close if you add co-writes!, her progress and growth has way exceeded expectation. The intention of the challenge was to give her a goal to help her stay focussed and learn to work though the hard part, to journey on instead of just giving up, to see what can come from perseverance.
She has developed so much musically in a year. Her love of music has deepened and she now embraces so many different types of music. Just a year ago it was mostly Taylor Swift and top 10 pop radio. Now it includes the standard teenage angst (Nirvana, Paramore) as well as some oldies, classic rock, RnB, new electronic music, old protest songs and even some folk! She reads and writes way more poetry. Her guitar skills have improved tremendously and gets excited by a “hard piece” that she has to figure out and work on for a long time or a piece that causes frustration along the way that eventually comes together!
During the the Summer at the IMA pre-teen girls Rock ‘n Roll Camp along with 2 friends the wrote a song and from there a band was formed “Felixis Jinx” They spent the remainder of the summer making a music video and entered it into the Ashfield Film Fest.
In September they were invited to play their first gig at the Tri County Fair a stage sponsored by the IMA.
They played a few more small gigs in the Fall. They practiced, picked up new instruments, learned covers, wrote songs, and practiced more. Come Spring they were ready for a few more gigs, and luckily several came their way plus their dream opportunity to open for one of their favorite musicians Hayley Reardon
As well as gaining confidence in the band as a performer and songwriter, a community of young creative people was forming in the area and Zoe found herself part of the organizing committee for their first event Goshen Rocks! A sense of belonging and a community added to her confidence!
Just a few weeks ago this happened!
and it struck me! wow how much can happen in a year…how much a motivated 12 year old can achieve in a period of time. And then just last week she performed 2 original songs (1 was a work in progress) solo at a middle/high school open mic (not her school).
Zoe performing her new song “She likes Girls”
Dreaming in Green 
