All she wanted to do was sing and dance.
But they stopped her. And they shushed and silenced her, whoever those ushers were at the Capitol Theatre 20-some years ago, and, goodness, Carly Greer was even reprimanded for dancing to her favorite tunes performed that evening by country music star Jo Dee Messina.
But – HA!! – the then-four-year-old Greer got the last laugh.
“I remember being so upset because I wasn’t allowed to go on stage,” she recalled. “I guess I thought back then going to the show meant that I would be allowed on the stage with the woman performing the show. I know I was only four years old, but I was really upset.
“So, after the show, I went home and I sang every Jo Dee Messina song up on my coffee table in the basement, and I sang them to my Barbies all night long. All. Night. Long.”
Messina returned to the Capitol Theatre in early February, and guess who was hired to be the opening act. That’s right – good guess.
“And then, a bunch of years later, to get to open for Jo Dee Messina and meet her was a dream come true,” Greer said with a smile. “She was so gracious and so kind. I shed a lot of tears.
“Opening for her was the best moment of my music life thus far, I know that, and I could cry just thinking about it,” she admitted. “That was a big moment. On that stage? In my hometown? Big moment, for sure.”
But was it “making it”? After all of the Crandall Creek shows and the Carly & The Hooch performances? Was the gig on the Capitol’s historic stage Carly Greer’s dream come true?
“I know I want to ‘make it’ in music, but what that means in my mind changes every single day. My definition of making it a year ago was having one of my records on vinyl, and now I have a record on vinyl,” Greer said. “And that is so exciting, but now I wake up every morning and I have a different definition of ‘making it’.
“I’d love to do something like host ‘SNL’ someday or perform in front of thousands,” she explained. “I really don’t know if anyone really makes it, though, because once you reach one goal, you always make a new one. So, I just want to be able to do what I love to do, so I am taking my chance, moving to Nashville, and I’m going to find out.”
‘Music City’ Dreamin’
For the past couple of years, Greer has been up front with the bluegrass band Crandall Creek as the group lead female vocalist, and she’s also performed in Carly & The Hooch – most recently with Jeff “Smokedaddy” Tappe and Gregg Molnar.
Moving forward, though, the bluegrass genre will be in the rear-view mirror as she takes the next step in your career.
“My main reason I’m leaving Crandall Creek was that the band had signed 30 extra dates onto the end of the schedule at Snowshoe this winter, and I had different plans for that time,” Greer explained. “I loved working with them, and I wish them the best. Their music is amazing, and I loved singing with them.
“Jerry (Andrews) is an incredible songwriter, and he was absolutely great to work with. We wrote a few really good songs together,” she said. “Anyone traveling to Snowshoe are really going to enjoy them, but it’s time for me to move on and to take my chance.”
Moving to Nashville, known for decades as the world country music capital, is her plan, and thankfully, “Music City” musical palate has evolved through the years.
“Nashville is known for country, sure, but there’s a lot of music down there now,” Greer explained. “I want to see what’s possible at this point in my career, and I feel I’m ready. I’ve already worked with great people there, so that’s something I’m looking forward to after I move down there.
“I know how to write songs that will make you move when you hear it,” she said. “I like to say that the best thing about being a songwriter and the hardest thing is being able to succinctly tell a story in three to four minutes or less.”
So, what will it be? Will she compose country? Rock? Pop? Or what?
“That’s a tough question,” Greer admitted. “I do love pop music. That might disappoint some people, but pop music is what I started writing first. I like how it gets in your ear, and that’s what you hear for a while. You can’t help but listen to it because it’s an earworm.
“No matter what, the simplest songs are the hardest to write. ‘Crazy’ by Patsy Cline was written by Willie Nelson, and if you read the lyrics, it’s not that difficult. But to come up with a concept that can touch that many people with that few words is, I think, something that every songwriter strives to do,” the performer added. “There’s something that happens sometimes that makes it magical, and I’d love to be able to do that for the rest of my life.”
