On the next episode of KRWG Music Spotlight, airing Saturday night at 10 on KRWG-TV, the musical guest will be singer-songwriter Era Snow, a singer/songwriter originally from Ruidoso who has been singing live for 14 years but started gigging in 2014. Her music has been described as sultry, soothing, and hypnotic. Here’s a preview of her conversation with host Scott Brocato.
Scott Brocato:
Talk about your musical and songwriting influences.
Era Snow:
I usually say my grandmother when I answer that question. Of course, I think that every song I've ever listened to, every live show, has been an inspiration, and I appreciate that aspect of art. But I think the most constant inspiration has been my grandmother because she's also a singer-songwriter and she's who got me into it, or saw the interest when I was young and gave me the tools.
Scott Brocato:
Where did you first learn to play the guitar? Or was that your first instrument?
Era Snow:
Well, I learned piano very briefly when I was probably in first grade or something. Guitar was around fifth grade. I was in a singing competition, and it had a few different levels: the semi-finals and whatever. And so for the finals, you had to sing the same song, and I was kind of getting bored of it. And my little kid brain was like, oh my God, what if I learned how to play the guitar? And I played this song for the final, to make it a little bit different. Of course, I didn't know how hard it was to learn the guitar, so I didn't end up learning the guitar for that final, but it kind of started the cogs turning and eventually, yeah, I got into learning guitar and it changed everything for me.
Scott Brocato:
What about songwriting? When did you first write songs?
Era Snow:
I think because my grandmother was a singer-songwriter, and that was just a concept that was so normalized for me. It was something that I started doing immediately. I have little stories about--there's a song by George Strait and something about a firefighter or whatever--
Scott Brocato:
"The Fireman.” (sings) “That’s my name...”
Era Snow:
Right (laughs), and I jammed to it too, I guess, when I was little. And then I wrote like a song back about it, and it was like,(sings) “ I don't know why they call him the fireman, because there aren't any fires.” And it was like this weird little kid song, but just, I have stories of little...I think I've always written things or come up with things and stuff like that. But I think I probably got serious with it around middle school, high school.
Scott Brocato:
And do you have a process now--lyrics first, music first, or does it vary?
Era Snow:
It very much varies. I think because I've been doing it so long, I notice in different periods of my life I'll get introduced to different ways or...but yeah, I like to juggle between lyrics first or if a guitar catches...like a guitar part that I'm noodling with catches my ear, I'll put the lyrics around that. Or sometimes it's very story-based, so usually I'll pick one of the things that's kind of leading the ship, and then everything else is kind of just in support of whatever I choose to be the captain for that specific song, if that makes sense.
Scott Brocato:
You're from Ruidoso. You still have family there? Let's talk about last year: the fires and the floods. How did that impact (your family)?
Era Snow:
Yeah...it's one of those things growing up you hear about: these natural disasters and it's devastating and it's very surreal when it happens to your community. And to have seen natural disasters on screens and then to see them with identifiable places that you've been and loved...
And the day that the fire started, I was at my favorite little spot at this coffee shop that I used to always work at, and there was this beautiful little stream there always. And I was standing there and looking at the smoke and it just, I thought it was...because we do get fires and they're always devastating. I didn't know what this was going to eventually turn into, but I saw the smoke of the beginnings of that fire. And just standing there, it felt very...it was very tragic. I didn't know the extent to it. But now that same spot, I couldn't even stand in the same place that I was standing in because it's just been torn apart by the flooding this year. But, due to the fires, my mom's lost their house and so many other family members and friends lost their houses. But then now this year we have more people losing houses and different things because of the flooding. It's been horrible.
Scott Brocato:
Let's talk about new music. Do you have new music coming out, new music out already?
Era Snow:
Yes, I've been putting things out more regularly. I've been a little...technology and I don't always get along, but I've been really trying to...you know, nowadays, if you're a musician, you also have to be, try to be some kind of online persona.
Scott Brocato:
And you have a lot of videos.
Era Snow:
Yeah.
Scott Brocato:
How important is that for you and your music?
Era Snow:
I think It's very important, because it does help with accessibility for music. I can have friends and family that can listen in other places. So I love that aspect. I just am learning how to do all of that because I'm not the best at that side of things. But I love the aspect of the accessibility.
