Jan 9, 2024
We begin Part 2 with my asking
the question everyone wants to know: Is "Meredith Edgar" her real
name or a stage name? You'll have to listen in to find
out.
Then she shares the various day
jobs she's had over the years, some worse than others. She worked a
little retail,
then got an esthetician's
license and worked in
dermatology. Meredith says that she's always wanted to help people.
That work eventually drove her
to go back to college, which
she did at St. Edward's in Austin, where she earned a degree
in psychology.
While in Austin, she worked at the
SIMS Foundation, a mental-health non-profit for musicians in the
area. An internship there led
to a job, one she describes as one of her favorites to this day.
Then, thanks to my propensity
for chatter, we dive into a sidebar on Austin and whether folks in
that city do a good job of taking care of their own.
Meredith is quick and correct in
pointing out that, like here, Austin artists and musicians often
get priced out of a city that's always becoming more expensive to
live in.
After that, Meredith tells us
about her time in Italy for a stint, which inevitably leads to
another sidebar, this time on Spain and Italy. And finally, after
all that set up, I get to share my story of discovering Meredith.
Meredith was married, but then
divorced. She had lived in
Venice, but after Italy,
she moved back to The City
she was born in ... just before COVID hit. She managed to
find a job and an apartment just in
time, though.
When the pandemic did take
hold, she started doing live streams on Instagram. She had
really wanted to give her
music a push, and like many musicians, took to streaming as a way
to continue connecting with audiences. Once it was safe, Meredith started playing masked
shows in outdoor places, something she says "really saved" her,
both socially and
creatively. She had been living alone and feeling that isolation that the
pandemic exacerbated for so many of us.
Now she says that she's got
herself to a good point. She's summoning patience and has managed to find community here.
Meredith recorded an album at
Women's Audio Mission in 2021 and hopes to record again this year. She says that
among writing, rehearsing, recording, and playing out, the latter
is her favorite.
We end Part 2 with Meredith's
response to our theme this season: "We're all in it."
The songs you hear after our
conversation ends are: "Louisiana Rain" and "Blue."
Catch Meredith at any of the
following upcoming shows:
Jan. 11 at Rite Spot (I'll be
there!)
Jan. 21 at Spec's
Jan. 25 again at Rite
Spot
We recorded this episode at
Royal Cuckoo Organ Lounge in the Mission in November
2023.
Photography by Jeff
Hunt