What style do you play for your songs?

Indie Futuristic Metal Shoegaze Jazz Fusion…Ok. I made that genre up. But musical genres do have ridiculous names like that. As I describe on my Artists page, I am resistant to fitting myself into a genre mold. I respect the idea of genres and that people prefer to listen to one over another, but I am all over the place creatively. I enjoy too many styles right now to choose one. I realize that probably makes me unapproachable to listeners who’d like me to do one thing, but I can’t help it. With all this said, I am an avid minimalist. My favorite music tends to be one voice and one instrument, so that’s how I tend to write. Music like this is raw, emotional, and cuts to the chase. I am also a poet first. I taught myself guitar merely to add something to my poetry. I’ve only taken one, semester-long music theory course. Surprisingly, a simple foundation like that is all it takes to understand every song on the radio and write songs of your own. I revel in the simple, existing structures of music and just breaking the rules in tiny ways here and there. I don’t intend to study jazz or more complicated music theory. When I push the envelope, it is with my storytelling. I like songs that tell stories. And one way I’m pushing the envelope is by telling your stories instead of mine. Musicians are an egotistical lot, and we listeners encourage the behavior by calling it “genuine.” But I thought it would be different to focus on others’ experiences when I write, and just use myself as a filter. It has worked better than I expected so far. Partly this is because I’ve lived similar enough experiences to the people that reach out to me to empathize, so I can convert my liquid emotional fuel into a flame that reflects their light. But mainly this is because my followers submit such wonderful stories. Thank you, followers, and please continue. — KC