Clearly, Garrison Starr's figured something out. This Hernando, MS native toured with the first two Lilith Fairs, performed with Mary Chapin Carpenter and Melissa Etheridge, issued seven acclaimed full-lengths on various labels, landed some enviable TV placements and found success with collaborative projects like Among the Oak and Ash.
Despite all that experience, there's an audible sense of discovery in Starr's latest EP Not for Nothing, an all-acoustic affair she released for free download. Starr's songs are paeans to songwriting, drunk on the expressiveness of the voice, the grit of the guitar string. Even her stripped-down cover of The Killers' "When You Were Young" is a minor revelation.
Starr's been active as a singer-songwriter for nearly 20 years. So why the switch to ASCAP now? "A bunch of folks in the office were fans and were invested from the start in what I was up to and what I might want to accomplish as a writer and an artist," she explains. "I feel like ASCAP is a great fit for songwriters, no matter what level you may be sitting in your career." Look for her new LP Amateur later this year.