 Megan Arial may be new to Nashville, but she has been working her way to the Music City for many years. A Los Angeles, Calif. native, Megan has been performing since childhood. Even from an early age, every time Megan graced the stage, there was no mistaking that she was right where she was meant to be. In school, she was active in the musical theater and choir departments. During this time, she naturally transitioned to songwriting as a way of expressing her feelings. Little did she know, her songwriting would take her to prominent venues across the country including Disneyland, Carnegie Hall and Universal Studios CityWalk. Since her move to Nashville, Megan has taken her performances to legendary songwriter spots including, Douglas Corner, The Commodore Grille and The Local. She caught her biggest break after a final four finish in the popular reality competition, Nashville Rising Star. Megan gained a loyal following and the opportunity to perform for more than five million people on NBC’s Today Show. Recently, she released her debut single, #41 (number 41) which offers a firsthand look at the reality of chasing a dream amongst a city of dreamers and here she answers her Essential 8 and talks about the song, internal struggles, Stagecoach, and more. With any particular song, was there an “a-ha” moment when you knew the song was completed and perfect? I actually had an awesome “ah-ha” moment with my new single “#41”. I started writing “#41” during one of my first nights in Nashville while I was waiting to play at an open mic night. I had a piece of paper with me and I just started writing down everything I saw like the guitars lined up, and people name dropping - so I just listed these things out in my notepad and I just let it stay there for months. I was super sick one day and I decided to go back through one of my notebooks for inspiration. I found what would eventually be “#41” and I started laughing at all the different people and their stories and I thought to myself wow this is Nashville, this is the Nashville dream — which is where the chorus of the song came from. The “ah-ha” moment didn’t come until I had brought the song up a couple months later in a co-write with Jason Hamor. I showed him the song and I just felt that something was missing. It was his suggestion to then just change “It’s the typical Nashville dream...” to “It’s the typical American dream...” and it was just that moment of....YES! That’s it! That little word change brought so much more meaning to the song. Even though the song is about my experience in Nashville, anyone trying to live their own version of the American dream can relate to the feeling of wanting to be #1, but sometimes, just like me, you’re #41. Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? I started writing songs when I was twelve years old because I was struggling. I was being bullied in school and didn’t understand why I didn’t have a lot of friends. Songwriting was a healthy way for me to let out those emotions. To this day, I still think that some of my best written songs come from my experiences in life and the honesty of emotions that come from that. I think it was a little difficult when I first moved to Nashville and first started co-writing to continue this same emotion in the songs. After a while, I found that if you can revisit the same emotional stages and pull those emotions out in the co-writes. What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out? My biggest advice to a new musician starting out would be to love and accept your uniqueness. This is something I struggled with for years when I was growing up because I wanted to sound or look like the people who were on the radio or on TV at the time. Especially as a female artist, it is so easy to be put in a box and categorized as every other singer who you might slightly resemble. For me, when I stopped looking around and I started looking in — that’s where I found what type of artist I wanted to be. My only other piece of advice would be to surround yourself with people who challenge you in every way possible and spend less time with “yes people” who will just tell you what you want to hear. Only those who truly love you will want to push you to succeed to a level you didn’t even know was possible. What has been your biggest struggle so far?
I think we all have our struggles as artists. I have found that my biggest struggles have been internal ones. I moved to Nashville not knowing anyone and not knowing anything about this city. I have always been very close to my family and to move to a city not having anyone that I knew was really hard. On nights when I was feeling lonely or was looking out into crowds and not having anyone there for me, it was an internal struggle to keep asking myself did I do the right thing? Was it the right decision to move across the country to pursue a dream that is so hard to attain? These struggles are the ones that make you not want to get up in the morning. This makes you not want to give it your all. You just have to push through the pain and the hurt and believe that everything happens for a reason. Favorite (or first) concert you have ever attended? My first country concert I ever attended was Shania Twain. I went with my mom and my friend Callie and her mom. I think I was in 5th grade and all I can remember was looking out on the stage and seeing Shania and thinking wow… I want to do that. It was one of those concerts where everyone in the crowd was up and dancing and singing along. Shania gave everything she had on that stage. My mom and I couldn’t stop talking and singing the whole car ride home. It’s a memory I will never forget. Do you have a favorite gift from a fan? I used to sing weekly at Universal Studios CityWalk back in California. The summers were always such a fun time because it would bring people from all over the world. One night, a group of students from Brazil came through and watched me sing for a bit. Their energy was infectious and made my night up there. Once they were leaving they gave me a flag from Brazil that they had all signed. I still have it and would love to take it back to Brazil someday if I ever get the opportunity to play there. Is there a recent release you cannot stop listening to? “Cry Pretty” by Carrie Underwood, such a good song by the queen! I’ve gone through a lot of highs and lows these last couple months and this song is really an anthem for anyone who is struggling. Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off? One of my biggest bucket list items would have to be to play the Stagecoach Music Festival in California. Being a California girl myself, Stagecoach was one of the first places I experienced that amount of country music live. There is just this feeling when you are at Stagecoach of sheer love. Everyone is there because they love country music. It also was my first time I realized that people in California really do love country music and being from California didn’t have to stop me from pursuing it. It would be such an amazing opportunity to play that festival. Website/Facebook/Twitter/YouTube
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