Molly Jewell 6 Song EP $0.15

About Molly Jewell 6 Song EP

"I tell people I’m too stupid to know what’s impossible. I have ridiculously large dreams, and half the time, they come true." ~Debi Thomas

If you were to reach into the back of our family’s television cabinet, dust off a video tape labeled “Molly 1991”, and pop it into the VCR, a chubby little girl draped in dress-up clothes and wobbling in her mom’s high heels, would appear on screen. She would command the camera-man (her grandpa) to focus exclusively on her, claiming she was going to sing a song for everyone. The camera-man would grant her the floor, and for a moment, just a moment, a wave of shyness would pass through the little girl. Her little hands would cover her eyes for a second, she would giggle, and any ounce of remaining timidity would disappear. She’d stand tall and proud like the Shirley Temple she dreamed she’d someday be, and she would sing her song like she owned it. While you watched her, you’d probably laugh a little bit and smile a lot, and remember when you were that fearless. Well, at least that’s how I feel when I watch it, because that little girl was me.
I’ve grown up a lot since then. I don’t wear my mom’s high heels anymore, I wear my own, and I have role models other than Shirley Temple. I’ve also performed in many places since my first debut on my grandpa’s home video. I began studying classical piano at age 6, and have had many incredibly talented teachers. They were all very different; one from Russia, one grandmother, one church organist, one from Taiwan, one rock star, one college student…and the list goes on. They each added something different to the musician I‘ve become, and each allowed me a glimpse into the great treasure music can bring to life. I guess it’s true that music is a universal language.
I became a really quiet, painfully shy person in middle school. I was nervous speaking up in class, and if I ever had to speak, no one could hear me because I had such a soft voice. Almost all of the brave little girl that I once was had vanished, swallowed up by adolescence…until September 11th happened. Our church called my home asking for my mom and I to sing for a special remembrance service. I was expectedly hesitant. I sang in the chorus at school and knew I had a nice voice, it was quiet, but on pitch; however, I couldn’t fathom singing in front of the whole church, especially next to my mom’s beautiful, powerful voice…but I also couldn’t fathom saying “no” to a September 11th service simply because I couldn’t handle it. So I did it. And the congregation loved it; most of them were crying. I listened to the tape of the service, and to my surprise, I was actually pretty good. That day, a bit of confidence was born in me. I guess God really does have a plan, because right then, he saved the brave little girl that was almost lost inside of me.
A year later, I was singing everywhere. I sang for my eighth grade graduation, then on to several choruses and shows at my high school. I was invited to sing in regional and State-wide choruses, too, and was amazed to see how many kids there were out there that loved music as much as I did. By the end of my freshman year, I began writing songs for piano and voice, and I really loved it. My songs became a place for me to say what I really meant to say in real life, but couldn’t find the words. For some reason, they came out better in a song. I began to perform these songs for my school, which took perhaps more courage than any performance before because I worried what my classmates would think. Original songs are so personal; they’re about sadness and happiness, life and its heartbreaks, and if someone doesn’t like these songs, it’s like getting your heart broken all over again. Much to my surprise, my high school embraced my songs. Random people, who never spoke to me before, began to come by my locker to ask for a copy of my songs, confessing that they hear me sing at a show and that my songs were stuck in their head, or that my words spoke to them, or they had been through something sad and my song brought comfort. That little girl had found her voice again!
In my Junior year of high School, I enrolled in an apprenticeship program at the Musician’s Development Institute where I began taking guitar lessons, learning how to arrange my songs, adding different instruments to my compositions, and working in the recording studio. I began recording my own compositions, adding my own vocals and instrumentals. It was so cool to hear something I’d written sound so real and professional. It was kind of like being absolutely complete for about two minutes and thirty-three seconds (the length of my first song). I am so thankful for the hours of patient care and invaluable life-lessons I learned from all of the amazing musicians at MDI..Bob, Chip, Paul, Kevin, Greg …You are like Dads to me!!!
Nowadays it is hard for me to look up from the pile of papers on my desk and stop thinking about my mental calendar of deadlines, papers due, and tests. I thank God when the time of day finally comes for me to sit at the piano and find my center. (I also thank God for bedtime.) I am a freshman at Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tennessee. I am studying Music composition at the Blair School of Music here and although I had a lot of amazing colleges to choose from, I felt that this place was where I was called to. I met an amazing professor here the day I auditioned. I actually had a major allergy attack five minutes before my appointment with him…and as I stood in the bathroom, looking at my mess of a self in the mirror, wondering what in the world I was doing applying to this school filled with wicked smart people, I contemplated running as fast and far away as I could before anyone noticed I was gone…but then I met him and he spoke my language, at a higher level and I knew I needed to learn from him. When I was filling out my course schedule, I noticed a familiar name on the Blair faculty list, which turned out to be that rock-star piano teacher I had so admired a lifetime ago in North Carolina. And when I auditioned in my keyboard class, I found another connection to an old family friend and fellow song-writer, who is here on the piano faculty as well. As I wrote a while ago on my MYSPACE…I am obsessed with destiny…I most sincerely believed that Nothing happens Randomly. And when you want something and are supposed to do something, the universe lines up to help you create that something. Alright sometimes, somedays, when it gets hard, I don’t believe…I get tired and lonely and I just want my Mom. I need help!!! But maybe God sent help already…I just didn’t recognize Him..or Her..or Them!!!

"I used to think as I looked out on the Hollywood night, "There must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me, dreaming of becoming a movie star. But I'm not going to worry about them. I'm dreaming the hardest." ~Marilyn Monroe