[Photo by Caroline Ruffault]

By Morgan Eisaman, Columns Editor

Local musician Caitlin Kraus was scheduled to open an intimate backstage show with North Carolina-based band Sluice at Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio. The singer-songwriter has released two full-length albums and planned to perform a selection of original indie-folk songs alongside drummer Mark Hellenburg and bassist Matt Box. Due to illness, the show has been canceled. Fortunately, I was still able to talk with Caitlin about her musical inspirations and intersections with mental health advocacy.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

ME: To start, can you tell me a bit about how your passion for music developed?

CK: I think that music has been present in my life through music lessons growing up and listening to music of my own age range that I liked. Also, hearing the music that my parents listened to, it was something that they valued. And I think that in some ways, that got passed down to me, too. I think it was probably in the fifth grade when I started listening to The Beatles and other music that was sort of outside of the era of my peers and I really developed my own relationship with music. I started to use it as a way of expressing myself and writing songs and that sort of thing. 

ME: Are there any particular artists you are influenced by as a songwriter?

CK: There are definitely artists that I can’t deny having sort of seeped into my music psyche over time. I mean, some of these are kind of cliche, especially as a songwriter, but I’d say Bob Dylan or Nina Simone. Karen Dalton is a folk singer and banjo player that I have always really enjoyed listening to. I do listen to songwriters and artists and bands that are more contemporary, so it’s not always 50s, 60s and 70s music. I really like songwriters like Jessica Pratt and Weyes Blood, and especially as contemporary female artists and songwriters. Nick Cave would be another one. I really am inspired by his songwriting, especially in recent years. It’s hard to talk about music and some of the artists that influenced me because – it’s not to pigeonhole and say that those are the only artists I listen to – but they’re definitely ones that I draw influence from. 

ME: What does your songwriting process typically look like in terms of creating melodies and writing lyrics?

CK: Ultimately, they’re not simultaneous. I either start with strumming on the guitar or playing on the piano and then adding some lyrics, or I start with a lyrical idea and then add music. I would say that usually I sit down with an instrument first, and I just start improvising and exploring some chordal or melodic progressions. Then pretty soon after, I start experimenting with words. Most of the time, it starts with a bit of the music first, and then kind of leads into lyrics and whatever imagery or feeling is coming through the music that I’m exploring. Occasionally, I will go kind of the other way around and get a lyrical idea and then find something to go with it musically. So, they’re not completely simultaneous processes, but I would say that one closely follows the other. 

ME: You’ve performed at some popular Athens venues such as Donkey Coffee and Casa Nueva in the past, as well as Nelsonville Music Festival. How did you get involved with this performance at Stuart’s Opera House?

CK: I think that because I played at Nelsonville Music Fest before, with Stuart’s Opera House hosting the festival, that’s probably the main catalyst. Also, I think Athens and Nelsonville are such closely linked communities when it comes to music. I’ve been in the community for a number of years and some of the people that frequent or work at Stuart’s share that same community. That might’ve been a factor as well.

ME: What do you enjoy about the music scene in this region of Appalachian Ohio?

CK: It kind of sounds cliche, but for me it’s the community of it. I first started living in Athens when I was in undergrad at Ohio University. At that time, it was really one of the first times that I’d been branching off and trying to play and share my own music. I felt very nervous and very scared on one hand, and on the other I felt very supported. I did eventually move away from Athens for a bit, but I always miss the close-knitness of the music scene here and the community. I would also say something that strikes me is the range of eras of music in Athens. You know, it’s very exciting. I think that there’s always newer and younger bands and artists playing and kind of getting to know those new artists and bands. There’s also a rich community of artists that have lived here for years and decades and are still part of the music scene. So, I really like that sort of intergenerational kind of aspect of the music scene here at Athens as well.

ME: You mentioned moving away from Athens for a bit, and I think you’re referring to the time you spent living in Austin, Texas. How was the music scene different from what you just described in Ohio?

CK: Well, it’s a lot bigger. [Laughter] I mean, Austin is an amazing place to live, as far as music goes. Very much one of the capitals of music in our country. But I would say that for me personally, I really enjoy not being in such a big scene. Sometimes it feels like there’s just so much and almost a sort of oversaturation at times. That’s not to make it sound like it’s not fun or amazing to live in a city where there’s just layers and layers and layers of music. However, I think that it took longer to sort of find the music community that I belonged to in Austin, whereas Athens is a much smaller place. It didn’t take as long to really build that community. In Austin. It took a little more effort. So that was sort of a learning curve, and I really had to find my niche within all of the music there. One thing that I appreciate about Austin is the even larger variety of music. If you’re in a larger city there’s probably also going to be larger varieties of music, especially from a cultural aspect. 

ME: In addition to being a songwriter and performer, you’re a licensed music therapist and mental health counselor. With burnout being an unfortunate but real possibility within all of these professions, how do you balance your workload?

CK: Yes, I’m a music therapist and I work at Ohio University as a counselor. I do a little bit of both the counseling side and the music therapy side. Then, I play music in the evenings or during the weekends when I’m not working. I’m not gonna lie, sometimes I’m tired and sometimes I’m like, ‘man, I want to play this show, but it’s probably not the best idea.’ Sometimes I also just need to be home with my dogs or just go hang out with friends. Or just make myself dinner and go to bed. Sometimes there is a sense of having to really choose what to say yes or no to, and that’s been a lesson I’ve learned over time. I can’t do it all. I can’t burn both ends all of the time. Especially when you’re playing a show, you’re up late, right? And then you want to stay up even later to support all the other bands that are playing. Sometimes that can be difficult. At the same time, I think that music is one of my coping skills. When things are challenging in life or I am needing some sort of an outlet, music does make my life busier, but it is also that outlet that I’m seeking. Being able to share music with other people by performing live or being able to share recordings, it’s something that busies my life, but it is also simultaneously nourishing or nurturing. Most of the time when I am balancing these things, I’m taking into account that, yes, I need downtime, but also, music feels good. I think, especially in today’s climate, just being a mental health counselor and being a music therapist, that can be quite heavy too. I guess I almost look at these different roles in my life as sort of supporting the other. It’s meaningful to have some space away from just making music, and actually getting to guide other people to use music in their lives in a meaningful way, and to kind of take the back seat. Instead of being the person on stage performing, it’s more about guiding other people to find therapeutic ways to use music in their life. And when I’m not doing that, I’m using it in this therapeutic way in my life.

ME: It’s great to hear about how passionate you are about music therapy and self care! It’s also neat to see how songwriting and music therapy intersect.

CK: Yeah, while I don’t bring the music that I write and perform into music therapy with clients, it’s definitely a part of who I am, and so it’s hard to separate that. I would be lying if I said that one of my favorite things to do with clients as a music therapist is not to write songs. I love it when clients are open to the idea of songwriting, and I do think that my own experiences as a songwriter probably inform some of those processes that I help guide people to engage in, even though I’m not imposing my particular way of songwriting on their processes.

ME: Before I let you go, do you have any new music in the works?

CK: Yeah, but nothing concrete. I would love it if – let’s just be generous and say two years from now – I would love it if I had another full-length album out. In reality, if I sat down and buckled down on it, it wouldn’t take that long. I definitely have enough songs to do that. Right now, I promised myself I’d sort of make more time to just play and create. I think what I’ve found is that between performing, playing and being in the recording studio, that doesn’t leave a whole lot of space for creativity or generating new things. Even though I have enough songs for a new album right now, I don’t know that they’re all as relevant or meaningful to me as they once were. I kind of just need to regroup. I’ll sometimes play some new songs that the band doesn’t do or that I haven’t recorded yet, but I probably won’t do anything brand new at Stuart’s. Anyway, yes, I do see myself having a new album out at some point in the next, you know, year and a half or two years.