Caitlin Canty returns for concert

Singer-songwriter Caitlin Canty returns to Sisters for her third time for the last installment of the Winter Concert Series. Rose Cousins will also be performing on Thursday, March 23 at Sisters High School.

Canty is an Americana/blues/folk artist from small-town Vermont. She now lives in East Nashville, Tennesee. This is Canty's third visit to Sisters. She came for the Winter Concert Series alongside Darlingside last year, and participated in the Sisters Folk Festival's Americana Song Academy at Camp Caldera.

"It's awesome to be around other song-loving people in such a lovely setting, I'm always willing to talk to someone about music or songwriting because it is an art," said Canty.

She also then came as a solo performer for the Sisters Folk Festival.

"I love Sisters; it's always nice to return," she said. "This tour is the major metropolis tour, so it's nice to come to Sisters, you've got a great theme there with the folk festival and Americana Project. It's always on the list when I play Portland, Seattle, and other cities in the Northwest and California."

Music had always been a hobby of Canty's, but she worked in the sustainability field at a desk job with the clean-tech company GreenOrder before deciding music is what she wanted to do. She had never anticipated becoming a full-time musician.

She took a songwriting class in college and fell in love with the art. During her time working in sustainability, she found that she "didn't have enough time to develop my art, and music became a powerful force in my life," so she quit her job and pursued music.

"It's dangerous to make your passion your job," said Canty.

She dove into the singer-songwriter career, which can be hard to break into. Once she found her perfect trusty guitar, which she still travels with, she knew she couldn't give it up.

"I fell in love with songs and songwriting," she said.

Canty loves to travel - which is a big part of her job - and believes that travelling and seeing the world can help songwriters with their craft and can help someone become a more empathetic person and reflect all they see in their songs.

Canty has her own measure of success: "I think any musician is happy when they get to do what they want to do, which is tell stories through song."

The greatest advice Canty could give to up-and-coming musicians is to "build a good life, and travel and explore in different ways to hone your craft and have life experience to portray in songs."

Canty then quoted the late writer and poet Jim Harrison, a quote she has lived her life by: "To write a poem you must first create a pen that will write what you want to say. For better or for worse, this is the work of a lifetime."

Canty believes this encapsulates what artists must do in order to write their story - have a life that will tell it for them through the paper and pen.

Canty is now working on sequencing her upcoming full-length album, set to drop in August. She is touring music from "Reckless Skyline" and her EP, "Lost in the Valley."

This third and final installment of the 2017 Winter Concert Series kicks off at Sisters High School at 7 p.m. For more information visit www.sistersfolkfestival.org.