Amy Speace works on a diaper change during AmericanaFest 2019. (Photo by Laura Schneider)
This gallery is a slice of my week at AmericanaFest in Nashville. As a new mom with a new record (and a husband who teaches middle school and can’t take time off to babysit while I run around town), I’m having to find a new way of doing these things.
You don’t see the poo-splosion that happened upon walking into the Westin to pick up festival credentials. Hand-shaking had to wait …
Squeeze band rehearsals in between naps and daycare, write a set list, run through the music, and off to the next thing: coffee powwows with the team with enough time to spare to make daycare pickup. Then, back into the frenzy to the AMA-UK party to the tune of 1,000 reps of “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Never gets old. Okay, sometimes it gets old.
Load the kid and the diaper bag, take advantage of free parking on the East side and walk across the pedestrian bridge with chunky baby strapped on, and pretend like it’s not nine million degrees in Nashville.
Ever entertained a toddler during an industry showcase? It’s a juggle. But having a Mary Poppins in my life helps. And having my kid in the audience watching intently and clapping after every song — well, that’s priceless.
Since baby, my filter is, well, non-existent. So the polished show banter of yesteryear has given way to “Mom Brain Stream of Consciousness” banter. My management team seems to love it. They call it “11 p.m. Amy.” I call it “Joan Baez meets The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” I’m pretty sure it’s funny. I hope it’s funny. Because my songs are sad. I figure some R-rated truth-telling is good for the folk soul.
And in a nutshell, that’s why I’m sharing this with you. The no-filtered version of my behind the scenes. It’s not a solo act. It takes a village. Because what may look easy or effortless in a photo most definitely is not. We are all juggling, all of us out there on stages of any kind, and this is mine.
Photos of Amy Speace at AmericanaFest 2019 by Laura Schneider:
Amy Speace was No Depression‘s Spotlight artist for September 2019. You can read our feature story and other dispatches from Speace here.
