“Hello, World.” — An Interview with Ian Munsick
Ian Munsick creates music for people. Based out of Nashville, Tennessee and raised in the mountains of Wyoming, Ian is pursuing his fearless passion of artistry in the heart of Music City and around the globe. His homegrown influence fused with a unique modern flare is sure to set country music ablaze in the coming years.
We are incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to interview Ian. As you’ll read, his passion is infectious. Be sure to follow him and check out his music on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. And be sure to check tonight when he drops a very special piece of music at 9/8 Central.
Every now and then you meet someone you know is going to be special, even though they are still on their way to getting there. Ian Munsick is one of those people.
Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about Ian is the way he jokingly started our interview: “Hello, World. My name is Ian C. Munsick.”
He didn’t introduce himself to our readers, or Nashville, or America. He introduced himself to the whole damn world. Because he’s about to leave his mark on it.
“Weakness” — Ian Munsick
Growing up Wyoming
Ian grew up in Sheridan, Wyoming. From the start, he was surrounded by music.
“I was born into a family who had a passion for music. My dad had a band out here and brought us up in a world where music was always something we could turn to in order to express ourselves and to escape. I have two older brothers who also play and I’m very grateful to have had that, especially during my childhood. It made a huge impact on the rest of my life.”
There was one more aspect of how Ian grew up that set him up for success in music — there wasn’t a hell of a lot to do.
“There’s not a whole lot going on… You’ve got to create your own entertainment. Wyoming is the least-populated state in America, which means that Wyoming people are the most special people in America.
I was very, very lucky to be born in a place like Wyoming because the community has supported me in everything I’ve done since I was 10 years old.”
Falling in love
Ian attended a boarding school in Colorado Springs for high school. There, he met talented people from all over the world.
“While I was there I met a lot of talented people, not just from around the country but around the world. We had kids from Germany, Korea, Mexico, all over the place. I fell in love with recording because I wanted to capture the languages and music of all these different cultures.”
While he gained experience with all types of music in high school, Ian fell back in love with country music once returning home.
“After high school, I came back to Wyoming and I fell in love with country music all over again. It was like a whole new rebirth for me.”
Once that happened, Ian knew he needed to make the move to Nashville.
Making it happen
“If you really want to do something, you have to go to where you’re going to make that happen. I knew that Nashville was where I had to be to make it happen.”
Ian moved to Nashville at the age of 18 to attend Belmont University and pursue a degree in songwriting and music business. Even more than the education, he knew the people he would meet during his time there would pay dividends.
“More than just the school, you pay for the people you meet at Belmont. You know that a lot of your classmates are going to go on and make an impact in the music industry.”
Ian spent time playing bars up and down Broadway, the most famous street in all of country music.
“I played in bars throughout college and I learned a lot. My good friend, Carlton Anderson, and I… we played everywhere from sitting on barstools to times when the place was packed. We really got to experience the highs and lows of being a struggling artist, or a starving artist as they call it.”
Traveling the globe
Coming out of school, Ian was given the opportunity to join the band Blackjack Billy, playing bass and performing vocals. He spent the majority of the past two years touring with the band all over the globe — Australia, Mexico, the Caribbean, and coast-to-coast across the United States and Canada.
The time touring taught him that country music is everywhere, not just in America.
“It was really cool to see that country music isn’t only popular in America, but it’s found around the world.”
While with the band, Ian noticed that people were responding more and more positively to his own music. In the past year, he has turned his focus to making music as a solo artist.
“Nothing has ever felt more right”
Ian currently spends the majority of his time focusing on creating his own music, a process he says comes naturally for him.
“I feel like I can create music without having to try too hard. The music just comes out of me. It’s obviously something that I hold very, very, very close to my heart. It’s crazy though — once you put it out there, it’s out there. It no longer belongs to you in a way. It belongs to the people who are experiencing it and who are listening.”
As Ian explained to us, the music writing process never really stops. You are never not working.
“Pursuing music full-time, your job never ends because no matter where you are, you could always be writing a song. You can write a song literally anytime, anywhere, so you really never stop.”
Added to this, being in a music town like Nashville, you always need to be at your best because you never know who could be watching. And that can weigh on you.
“You have to be on point all the time, because you never know, especially in a town like Nashville, who could be listening to a conversation, listening to you play a show, or hearing one of your tracks… it’s a grind.
You always have to be on point in terms of your music, but also who you are as a person. Rumor gets around fast if you’re truly not a good person, which is a good thing because you don’t want bad people to influence the world. And that’s the kind of industry that I’m in, influencing the world. Music truly is a universal language and has a ton of influence on culture.”
Despite the insane hours, the tours, the travel, the grind, Ian knows he is exactly where he is supposed to be.
“I’ve got to tell you, nothing has ever felt more right in my life, which is a great feeling.”
“Country Grammar” — Ian Munsick #OneMinuteMonday
“Teamwork makes the dream work”
Ian has enjoyed growing success, particularly with his weekly “#OneMinuteMonday” videos, in which he drops a 60-second cover of a song, racking up hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of shares from his near-cult following of fans.
Despite his distinction as a “solo artist”, Ian credits not himself for his success, but his outstanding team.
“The ‘#OneMinuteMondays’ have only been as awesome and as successful as they are because of my friend, Greywood. He’s a very, very talented videographer and audio engineer. He has a knack for what people want.
My manager, Caroline Rudolph, has really helped me in terms of connections, my confidence as an artist, and my presence in Nashville. She actually hooked me up with my first touring gig… that was huge. She has been a big part of my career ever since moved to Nashville.
The truth is that there are so many people behind one person. It makes it so cool, that so many people could have that amount of belief in one person. It’s a dream come true… teamwork makes the dream work.”
Struggling for your passion
Ian’s advice to young people setting out to pursue their passion is that you need to love it. And you need to be willing to struggle for it.
“Whatever you want your career to be, or whatever your passion is, you have to be sure that you f*cking love it. You have to be sure that you are willing to spend all of your time and put all of your blood, sweat, and tears into it.
If you really want it, you will go out there and you will achieve it. That’s how it’s always been and that’s how it always will be.”
If you are willing to put everything you have into your passion, to struggle for it, to pursue it when it doesn’t make sense — that’s how you know you are doing what you were meant to do.
“You have to experience those struggles in order to truly appreciate when you are finally able to provide for yourself with your passion. You’ve had times when your passion was not providing for you and you’ve felt that frustration.
That’s when you know, if you’re still pursuing it, that is what you were put on Earth to do.
And I truly believe that I was put on Earth to create music.”
