Not only does singer/songwriter and Kenyon freshman Caroline Fenn come across as gracious and appreciative of recognition, she has talent—and not the kind of predictable, one-hit-wonder talent that comes and goes so frequently. No–Caroline, whose first album is set for release on January 2, is something special. Almost entirely a result of her own work (she did have a little help recording some of the instrumentals), the music on Fragile Chances is simple yet distinctive and a pleasure to listen to. But don’t just take my word for it, support a Kenyon artist and check this girl out! If you like what you hear, Fragile Chances is available on iTunes and Amazon.
HC: Let’s start at the beginning. How did you get interested in music?
CF: My parents actually forced me to play piano against my very strong will—I think it was the ages four to nine. Finally after five years, they were like “alright, you’re no good at this and you hate it so much.” So, I picked up guitar and it was automatically so different from piano because I just fell in love with it and all I wanted to do was play guitar. I’ve had like this love affair with guitar since then, but I never considered myself a singer because I didn’t make the junior choir when I was in middle school. I thought “I’m obviously the worst singer ever, so I’ll never try that.” But I guess that’s how I got started.
HC: So, when did you start writing music?
CF: I think I started when I was 15. There was this boy—and it was my first intense crush—and we were friends and I was just playing guitar and all of a sudden there was this song on a piece of paper. I was like “where did that come from?” I think it just came out of necessity; I feel so strongly about something and I need to get it out there.
HC: When did you start thinking about recording your songs?
CF: Actually my guitar teacher at the time, who’s name is David Cloyd, had recently moved from New York City, where the label that he is assigned to is based out of. His label is called ECR Music Group and he approached me after I’d showed him some of my songs. He said “I’ve been looking for somebody to start my own label with for a long time and I’d really love for you to be the first artist on my new record label.” So, that’s how it happened; I was totally blindsided. Now it’s called Hook and Ladder Records.
HC: Once you agreed to do this, what was the process?
CF: It was so hard! It was finishing the rest of the songs; I already had a couple done, but after you get the initial idea there’s a lot of editing that goes on, just making sure that every word is right and every melodic pattern is correct. Then you take it into the studio and generally the way we did it was I would record the acoustic guitar first and that would probably take about four hours. Then I’d come in another day and just do the vocals and that would take another four hours.
HC: How much is your own work?
CF: It was just me and David. I wrote all the music and all they lyrics. I did the acoustic guitar and the vocals for everything and he did piano and bass and electric guitar and the other instruments.
HC: Where do you get your inspiration for writing?
CF: I don’t really think about what I’m writing as I’m writing it. After I’ve practiced it for a long time—weeks later—it kind of comes to be. It’s kind of like a revelation like, “oh I was writing about this person or that situation. I had no idea.” Generally I just start with a feeling or a chord that sounds cool or even just a word.
HC: Do you have a favorite song on the album?
CF: That’s hard. I really like the ones with fun picking patterns. I like all of them, but I really like “What is Gone is Gone,” “Monsters.” All of them are just really fun.
HC: Why did you choose to call the album Fragile Chances?
CF: It doesn’t really have to do with what the song “Fragile Chances” is about. It’s kind of about wanting something really badly but just being so afraid that if you [get it] that everything could just shatter, that everything is just really uncertain. Putting an album out is really putting yourself out there. It’s a big dream and you have to rely on so many other factors for it to work out.
HC: What are you doing to publicize the album?
CF: It is on iTunes right now for pre-order and the official release is on January 2nd. It’s on Amazon right now to order and have shipped. I have a Twitter and a Facebook page. Besides that it’s just word of mouth. It’s great; everyone’s super supportive…I’m planning on having a concert on campus somewhere in January.
HC: Do you perform many shows?
CF: It was a lot easier in high school just because my school was really receptive, so I did performances in the morning. In June of this summer, I was able to do a big concert at a really large coffee shop; that was kind of the first time I sold my CDs. I have YouTube videos and stuff.
HC: If you could go on tour with anyone, who would it be?
CF: James Taylor, probably…James Taylor is just a legend. Or Jason Mraz; he’s an awesome songwriter.
HC: Are they also some of your musical inspiration?
CF: Yeah. I listened to James Taylor in the car when I was growing up because my mom loves him as well. Jason Mraz just has the most intricate lyrics that are just so thought provoking, so he’s kind of an inspiration if you pay attention to some of his more obscure songs…It’s hard to say where you get your inspiration from. I think it’s kind of subconscious.
HC: Where do you see yourself taking your music?
CF: I hope that it has enough success that I can continue writing and performing because those are the things that I love to do. If people like hearing it, then I’d love to continue. Of course, I’ll always keep writing, but the next album is kind of dependent on the response from this one.
Photos provided by Caroline Fenn