Today we’d like to introduce you to Sally Vee.
Hi Sally, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My career in music started back when I was working on my undergraduate degree in Music Performance. I was, of course, enrolled in all the required courses needed to earn a degree, but there were many additional performance opportunities to join ensembles which allowed me to play various instruments.
My primary instrument is the french horn, but I would also spend a lot of time in the practice room teaching myself to play guitar, bass guitar, drums, bass clarinet, and several other instruments just for fun. Many of the colleges and universities in the U.S. require instrumental music majors to enroll in private voice lessons in addition to several vocal ensembles such as choirs, musicals, operas, madrigal groups, etcetera. I enrolled in as many music courses as my schedule would allow and jumped on any performance opportunity that came my way. In the past eight or nine years I’ve even taken up songwriting.
Currently, my musical direction is mainly focused on songwriting and recording my next album “Volland” which I should have finished up towards the end of summer 2026.
Much of my musical time has been devoted to songwriting and performing in our Folk-Americana band “Sally and The Hurts”. We have Megan Hurt on the fiddle, Jamie Lee on the musical saw, and myself on guitar. We’ll often have our buddies Andrew Ramaley or Brody Wellman join us on the upright bass.
We attend the Walnut Valley Festival down in Winfield, Kansas each September and we absolutely love playing the campground stages. We’ve even been hosting our own campground stage called “Thursday Night Under The Lights” that showcases performances by eighteen festival bands. If you love live music and camping, I highly recommend you make the trip to Winfield for this festival. It’s fantastic!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I believe that, for every human, the roads aren’t always smooth and there will always be struggles. The way you respond to those rocky roads and struggles will determine how they affect you.
I used to think that I had to be on my A-game one hundred percent of the time. I would work my boring forty hours at the nine-to-five, then go home each evening and spend another six to eight hours practicing, writing songs, emailing and calling venues to book shows, working on album designs, playing shows, attending jam sessions to hone my skills, and networking with other musicians. Megan and Jamie write their own instrumental parts and vocal harmonies for our songs. They also book most of the shows for our band and do a lot of networking, as well as design and order our merch. We also plan rehearsal times to get prepped for shows. Then of course there is quite a bit of back-and-forth communication between the three of us as we work out details for those kinds of things. Being part of an independent band is a very time-consuming activity!
Without knowing it, I had become a full-fledged, badge-holding member of the “hustle culture”. But for all the hours spent doing those kinds of things, I felt like I wasn’t making an acceptable amount of progress. Most of the time, it felt as if I were just treading water. So, I decided to simmer down.
I’ve always been aware that I am the type of person to burn the candle at both ends, so making the decision to step back a bit was completely out-of-character for me. I no longer work nine-to-five for “The Man”. I’m self-employed now and I love it. In addition to performing, I teach private music lessons and I have a little side hustle gig proofing audio books. I work when I want to and take vacations when I want to. It’s great!
Nowadays, I find myself more interested in just taking it easy and letting things happen organically. Instead of chasing a muse and trying to force myself to write songs every week, I wait patiently and let inspiration find me. Instead of emailing and calling the same venues multiple times trying to book a show, I’ll send out a message and wait patiently for a response. If I don’t hear back from the venue, I might try again in a couple months. But I no longer spend hours upon hours of my week trying to force these things into existence.
I believe a lot of independent musicians feel the same way I do. We wear many, many hats in order to make things happen. We write our own tunes and are heavily involved in recording with the gracious help of kind friends in the local music scene (like David Moore from The Hearers!) We do our own marketing, branding, and merch design. We develop our own websites. We create content for and run our social media accounts. We manage, book, and promote our bands. We rehearse and we play the shows. It’s a lot of work. The financial compensation of playing shows doesn’t (and is not meant to) compensate musicians for the multitude of hours spent doing the behind-the-scenes work, but we all do the work because it’s necessary in order to make the performances happen. It can definitely start weighing you down with stress.
In stepping back from doing those kinds of things so intensely, I’ve found that I’ve acquired the gift of time. Time to take my dog on adventures and to work on leather projects. Time to do some ink sketches and take a vacation every now and then. Time to participate in Artist Residencies that provide me opportunities to focus on the calming act of creating art. Time to relax.
Y’all. It’s okay to relax.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I love the simple act of creating. In addition to songwriting and performing, I make leather goods. I craft custom, hand-stitched creations that are aesthetically rustic and functional. I also enjoy creating small sculptures from objects I’ve found in nature. Bones, sticks, seed pods, crinoid fossils – it’s all fun to work with! When I need to decompress from a particularly long day of work, I enjoy doing pen and ink sketches. I think what sets me apart from others is that I don’t own a television and that enables me to focus quite a bit of my time on creative projects. John Prine sang “blow up your tv” and I wholeheartedly believe folks should give it a try. It’s liberating.
What does success mean to you?
For me, happiness IS success. I have a roof over my head, food in the pantry, musical instruments to play (and friends who want to play music with me), a reliable vehicle to get me here and there, and some art supplies to make stuff and things. I’ve also got Mowgli Gmork, my adventure dog, who absolutely loves to go kayaking with me. I live a charmed life and I’m very fortunate to have the opportunities I do to create in so many different ways.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sallyvee.com and www.sallyandthehurts.com
Image Credits
Jamie Lee
Russell Thomason
David Moore
