Natasha Blaine: That was right around the same time as I started writing music. I was living in Seattle at the time, and attending college. I just felt this pull to try and be an artist, because if I didn’t try, I would always wonder what would have happened if I did. There’s nothing else I’ve ever wanted to do. Spotlight on Business: What made you decide to leave Seattle for Nashville to focus on pursuing your music career? Natasha Blaine: I was studying English, in Seattle and had no idea what I wanted to do if it wasn’t music, so I decided to apply to transfer to a school in Nashville as an excuse to move here. I got in, and I was surprised. I mean, it was a hard school to get into, and when I moved here [Nashville], I knew nothing about pursuing a music career, I knew nothing about writing songs, getting and playing shows, or anything, but I was eager to learn. I had just turned 20. Spotlight on Business: Can you tell us about your journey, how did you know it was the time to make the jump and what was it like? Natasha Blaine: I felt like there was nothing I loved as much as music. I was involved in music a little bit in Seattle, but I felt like I needed to get out of my hometown and make a serious jump into music in Nashville. But mostly it was just the thought of it’s really now or never. If I hadn’t, and I ignored my desire to pursue music, I could have had a happy life, but I would have always wondered what would have happened if I had given it a shot. Spotlight on Business: What is the biggest lesson you have learned along the way in your professional journey so far? What is the biggest challenge you
“My music is a huge part of me, and the Internet can be a cruel place, but I know that inaction and not putting music out due to insecurity is the biggest way to predict failure. I just have to do it.”
Sarah Vaughan playing in the kitchen when I was at her house. So, I grew up listening to a lot of jazz with her. She definitely was the person who kind of instigated my singing career. She came to my mom when I was around six and told her to get me enrolled in some voice lessons to learn a bit more about singing, and she did. And I never looked back. Spotlight on Business: What draws you to the jazz, soul, and R&B genres? Natasha Blaine: I’ve always been drawn to the timelessness of jazz, but it was not until college that I started listening to R&B and neo-soul heavily. I remember discovering Erykah Badu’s
album Baduizm in college and I was listening to it on repeat. I was like, “Where has this been all my life?” That album truly inspired me to get into my own artistry. Spotlight on Business: Listening to your music, it comes from a place of someone who has been through some stuff, and you are so young. When did you start writing your own songs and where does the inspiration for your songs come from? Natasha Blaine: I didn’t start writing music seriously until I was 19. I dabbled in it a little bit when I was younger, but I didn’t truly start trying to become
a songwriter until I was 19. I believe my most authentic songs come from somewhere deep inside of me. And the process of getting the words, and kind of packaging them neatly into a specific song helps me process a lot of ups and downs in my life. So, it does really come from life experiences and emotions, and sometimes it feels like my songs kind of write themselves. It’s like the song already exists, but I’m just putting the pieces together and assembling it. Spotlight on Business: When did you discover that you might want to make a career out of music?
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