Kyrsta Rodden Interview by Carol Wright Photographer: Grace Hill Images
Kyrsta Rodden knows a thing or two about self-love and empowerment, and that’s exactly what she brings to her singing career. The Dallas-based singer and songwriter exemplifies these qualities through her country music, including her newest song, “Rock Bottom”. Though much of it is personal, she shares her work on YouTube, creating a safe community that encourages others to feel comfortable in their own skin. When did singing turn from a hobby to a passion for you? I have always been that kid that has done different things growing up and been involved in different activities. I did a lot of soccer, basketball, volleyball, and even a little bit of dance class. But nothing really stuck out to me and made me want to commit to it. Throughout my whole childhood, my parents had cookouts at our house every weekend and the house would always be packed with our closest family and friends. At the end of the night, I would put on little shows where I would get together an outfit and put together a few dances and some songs to sing. I will admit, back then, I was not a good singer at all. But I was pretty good for someone who had never taken a class before. So I begged my parents to sign me up for lessons but they were a little unsure due to the fact that I never really followed through with any of the other sports or activities I had done up until that point. Eventually, they caved and signed me up for lessons and within that first lesson, I knew this was something I was really passionate about and something I really wanted to do. From that moment on, I dedicated everything to my music and making myself a better artist! You post covers on YouTube. Did you feel nervous the first time you uploaded and decided to put yourself out there? Having to upload to YouTube is probably something I struggled with the most when I was first starting, and it is something I still continue to struggle with moving forward. I have always kind of been that loud and outgoing personality within every group, but just like everyone else I still get really self-conscious and crave approval from others. There is always going to be someone out there that doesn’t like what you do or always has something to say about you and that was something I really struggled with when I started out. YouTube is such a huge and amazing platform where you can reach so many people, and that used to be hard for me to take in. That is why I honestly waited until I thought I was ready to get knocked down by people to actually start posting YouTube videos of me (by myself). But something I think that helped me get used to people judging me online was the fact that I used to be in this girl group and we would post videos online. They really helped me stop 19
