Rowan Carrick: she’s a 19-year old Puget Sound freshman with curly blonde hair, an interest in English studies, a spot in the S.U.B. work force and a near constant ball of workload-related stress festering in her stomach. She’s also a professional recording artist.
“When I was growing up, my dad used to play the chanter and sing me songs—the chanter is the reed instrument that connects to bagpipes—so I started singing with him,” Carrick said. “We’d make up little jigs. I wrote my first song when I was three.”
The song, called “Some Washing Hanging Up,” was about laundry being hung out to dry.
Since this first piece, Carrick has written and recorded hundreds of songs ranging in subject from love and heartbreak to explorations of dreams, nostalgia and death.
She began piano lessons at age six, and has since learned to play guitar. She also plays some more unique instruments. “I play the ukulele, the plastic button accordion, recorder, harmonica very humbly, only within the safety of key ranges, and a little bit of the chanter,” she said. “Oh, also the kazoo.”
Carrick describes her music as “very Kimya Dawson,” but with more of a pop influence. “And then there are the good old heartfelt piano ballads,” she said with a smile.
When asked what other artists she sounds like, she said, “I always feel weird answering that because all I can think of is I sound like me—but I have been told that my voice is similar to Edie Brickell or the singer from the Cranberries. I always liked to think [that] I sang like Jenny Lewis or Emily Haines, but I mostly just want to marry both of them.”
While in high school, she recorded her first studio album at Altered State Records, at the recommendation of a family friend.
“Their studio is called Strawbale Studio, and it’s made out of straw bales,” Carrick said. “They are the friendliest, most helpful people.”
The CD, entitled Staying Dry, for one of its tracks, was made available both on iTunes and as a physical disc. It features 14 tracks, with all lyrics and music written and performed by Carrick.
Since the release of Staying Dry Carrick has juggled academics with her music career (limited to writing and recording in private), performing at open mics and advertising her album.
“I’ve been so busy since college,” she said. “But [during] spring break, I plan on recording at least 500 songs…or five.”
She is optimistic about the summer, and plans on going back to the studio.
The greatest difficulty is promotion, she claims. “It’s hard to be like ‘hey, go buy my CD’ randomly,” she said. “I still have like 400 physical copies [of my first CD] sitting around my house.”
More information about Carrick and her music career are available on her web site, http://www.rowancarrick.com.