By: Shelby Lum
Bonnie Bishop isn’t afraid to tell it all–at least now that she’s older. The Nashville based Americana singer funnels her personal life into her music.
“I write music about the personal struggles, and my music is very emotional,” Bishop said. “I find that most of the things that I go through in life are things that other people are going through.”
Last fall the singer released “Free,” her most recent album, and the record is dripping with stories of her life.
Told like a story of her struggle through divorce and subsequent recovery, her album picks you up and takes you on the journey with her.
“That record is a story of my emotional healing and rebirth after a very pinnacle time in my life and they are all true stories,” she said. “The collection of songs is written after a very painful time in my life.”
Yet “Free” (as the title implies) may not be as sad as it sounds.
“I really wanted to tell the upside of that journey. There were a lot of sad songs written at that time obviously,” Bishop said.
After years of touring, singing, and making music, Bishop redirected the struggle life threw her way and pushed it into her music.
“This is the joy that I found after the pain,” she said.
But opening herself up to the public via her songs wasn’t always on the to do list for Bishop. “When I was younger I was holding my cards closer to my chest,” Bishop said. “In the beginning I hadn’t had a lot of life experience and I was writing about things that I wasn’t able to put the emotions of the human experience into as honestly as I was with this record.”
Bishop is no stranger to Eddie’s Attic either. The singer has played at the venue before, but this time she is bringing her band with her, which she has never done at Eddie’s Attic.
“The band shows are really what I look forward to most,” she said.
Through the years, she has moved all over the south from Texas to Mississippi to Tennessee, and each area has had a different effect on her music. “When I moved to Nashville the game is trying to make music that relates to everybody because it’s the commercial music capitol,” she said.
And nearly anyone with emotions with relate to her music.
Bishop said she put the emotional experience of life into words.
Don’t miss her playing at Eddie’s Attic with Nik & Sam and The Baron Sisters for BMI’s Girls Night Out! on Friday, March 29th.
