A member of the bohemian East Nashville artistic community, Kashena Sampson has recently released her third studio album, GHOST OF ME. If her two previous records, WILD HEART (2017) and TIME MACHINE (2021), signalled an artist comfortable in the Americana music genre, her latest record explores the darker indie sounds that were closest to her heart during her younger years. It’s very much a ‘this is me’ project both sonically and lyrically, with Sampson’s multi-octave vocals offering torturous reflections on failed relationships alongside textured stories about survival in an unforgiving industry. It’s her most ambitious project to date and also, without doubt, her finest.
Where did you spend your early years?
I was born in Seoul, Korea, and then I moved to Hong Kong. I was there until I was about eight years old, around third grade. And then my family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut. Right before high school, we moved to Las Vegas, where my family still lives. I've lived in a lot of places, including Los Angeles, which is where my parents are both from and then in 2011, I got a job singing on cruise ships. I did that for three years, and after that was done, I moved to Nashville in 2015.
Did you get formal voice training?
Yes, I started taking vocal lessons when I was in third grade, after moving to Connecticut on and off, and then to Las Vegas as well. But it was when I lived in Los Angeles that I found a teacher who changed my life and changed my voice. It was the way he would explain things to me that made me feel like he really believed in me and my voice. I still use the warm-ups he taught me to this day before every show
That work on a cruise ship must have been interesting.
That was my first real paid gig as a musician. I have always sung; I grew up in a musical family; both my sisters sing and write music. In my late teens and early 20s, I was rebelling against it and didn’t want to sing with them. I wanted to do my own thing. I really started taking my singing and music seriously and sat down to teach myself how to play the guitar, because I could play a little, but I never really practised. And I started practising every day and working on writing my own songs. After a year or two, I got the job on the cruise ship.
What music were you expected to perform on the cruise ship?
It was interesting. We did have a set number of shows that we were contracted to perform. We had an Abba show, a Motown show, an opera show, and then a Beatles show, which was my favourite. We also had to do our own cabaret performances, just a solo performance, and I would do a lot of 60s and 70s folk music. It was a small cruise ship, 300 passengers, and it was a very lovely experience. I was supposed to do it for seven months, but I ended up doing it for three years because it was a lot of fun. And I got paid to see the entire world, almost 70 countries or more.
What was the draw from the high seas to Nashville?
I had never really thought about Nashville, but while I was on the cruise ship, many people and guests would mention that I should check out Nashville. So, it was kind of like a nugget in my brain. And then when I went back to Las Vegas, there were a lot of people in Las Vegas who were also telling me I should check out Nashville. I had a friend there with who I was writing songs with, and he was going to be moving out to Nashville. He introduced me to another girl who was writing songs and needed someone to record a song that she had written. They called me into the studio to record it, and the band that was in the studio were the backing band for Olivia Newton-John, because she was doing her residency in Las Vegas at the time. They were all from Nashville, and they were also telling me that I should check out Nashville and that I'd really do well there. And so again, it was a little nugget. Six months after that, the girl who had asked me to sing her song told me she was moving to Nashville and was looking for roommates. I thought, 'Why not? I'll be a roommate.' I'd never been there before.
You ended up in the bohemian musical environment of East Nashville.
Yes, musically, I landed in the exact right location in East Nashville. We were renting a furnished room from her mutual friend, and I've never left East Nashville since then. I didn't really know what to expect, so I went online and saw some actual videos of East Nashville. I remember at that time seeing videos of my now best friend, Erin Rae, and I thought, Oh, she does some nice music. She's in East Nashville. We ended up being roommates. I think I moved in with her about six months after I moved here.
And how did you find being integrated into that community?
Financially getting my footing in and figuring out, how I was going to pay my bills and survive while I'm trying to chase my dreams was a difficult start, but then, I think it was around the same time, about a month or two after moving here, I got my job working at the Basement East and I've been there for 10 years.
Has working in a music venue been helpful for your artistic career?
Yes, having my job at the Basement East has helped me tremendously, as many people have just come in there and recognised my face. I got my first gig at a New Faces night, and the booking agent at Basement East booked me for my first real gig there. He heard me singing to myself while I was working there and booked me.
Did you feel drawn towards Americana in terms of writing and recording, given its popularity at that time?
When I was learning to play the guitar, I used country songs with basic three-chord progressions. My favourite singer of all time is Linda Ronstadt, and I was listening to her and Emmylou Harris, and using their songs in my show on the cruise ship. When I moved to Nashville, at that time in my life, in my 20s, that was the music I was listening to. Previously, during my teenage years, I listened to a lot more rock music, and The Beatles were always there.
If your first two albums, WILD HEART and TIME MACHINE, came from Americana leanings, your new record, GHOST OF ME, has an altogether rockier sound. Is this a more accurate reflection of a sound closest to your heart?
I didn’t want this record to be Americana. I have very diverse tastes in music, and as I was writing these songs, I started listening back to a lot of the music I grew up with. I'm not poo pooing my previous albums, because I think they are both beautiful, and I worked hard on them; they were an evolution of my songwriting and ability as I was learning and growing as a songwriter. I really pushed myself in the songwriting aspect of this record and in my choices in production. With my first two records, I would write a song, but I wouldn't rework it. I had the amazing musicians Jeremy Fetzer on guitar and John Radford on drums for my first two records, and I worked with John Estes, who also produced the new record. They would play music to the songs in the studio, and I'd be like, ‘That's amazing.’ Looking back at the first two records, there were a lot of things that I wish I had pushed more for, but I didn't do that. But now, as I have developed as a musician and a songwriter for this record, I took a lot more time crafting my songs. I reworked a lot of my songs. I would bring something to John (Estes), and he might say to change the chorus, and I might find new chords and chord progressions as well.
In addition to the fuller sound, the songwriting is more direct, hard-hitting, and at times dark. There are few upbeat moments. Was that intentional?
I don't know if it's a conscious choice. I do remember when I was writing these songs, and when I brought them to John, he did say, ‘Maybe write a happy song.’ It's just the emotion of where I was at that time in my life, and sometimes I look at it as therapeutic, in a way, of me writing about how I'm feeling so that I can move forward with my day and have some joy. I do have a lot of songs about relationships, and I guess they haven't been all that great yet. Sometimes I think that if I had a nice relationship, I might write some happier songs.
Despite that, you sign off GHOST OF ME on an upbeat note with the song Thick as Thieves.
I remember sharing this album because I've been sitting on it for two and a half years now with some of my close friends. One of them commented that he loved the record, but it's weird that, suddenly, at the end, there is this nice love song. That's not exactly what it is. It is a love song to a best friend, but it's a love song of reminiscing about that time in our lives, and me driving in my Ford Explorer, and her always being there by my side.
On the opening and title track, you sing ‘Struck in the same place, same routine.’ Is that a reflection of regret or comfort?
I don't know if it's regret or comfort. It's really just frustration. Granted, I have a great job working in a music venue, and you I can learn a lot from that, but it comes from my frustration of working there and watching people on the stage, and me wanting to be on that stage and not understanding why I haven't been able to get the help that I've needed to further my music career.
Your sister, Jolana, receives co-writing credits on a few of the songs on the album. Is she your bouncing board?
Yes. She and my older sister have been writing songs since they were about 10 years old. I didn't start writing till much later in my life, until my mid-20s. We've co-written many songs together for all my records. I also pushed myself with this record to branch out and start co-writing with other people, besides my sister. I met with a few other people in Nashville to do some co-writes, although none of those songs really ended up on the record, except the ones written with Caroline Spence.With her, it just clicked. I’d have these ideas scribbled on a bunch of pages in a journal, and she is structured and get them organised. I love writing with her.
One of the songs you wrote with Jolana, Awakening, is particularly striking.
That song came from an experience I had in a relationship six years ago. It was a toxic relationship, and I learned a lot from it, but there was just a lot of gaslighting and emotional abuse. In a way, I guess that song came from the ending of that relationship and having what I would call a spiritual awakening. It is pretty heavy, yeah, and I'm comfortable because it serves as a jumping-off point for growth. Growth comes from seeing what isn't working and realising that I don't actually have control over anything I think I have control over.
The song God is also powerful. Would you consider yourself religious in any way, or is that kind of like a cry for help?
No, I'm not religious; I consider myself spiritual, and I do believe in a God and a higher power. I grew up Jewish; my family were spiritual, but I don't remember being very religious. That song stemmed from a setup of the Sistine Chapel over at Opry Mills in Nashville a couple of years ago. I went with a bunch of friends to take a look at it. I don't really know much about religions and other religions and what the beliefs are, but some of the stuff they were telling me rubbed me the wrong way, to be honest, like women are born of sin, and then you must work your way through your life to remove that sin. That doesn't work for me. I believe that we are born of light and that the world itself and other people's beliefs get put on us, and as we go through this life, and it's our job to remove them back to that light. So, I wrote that song about a relationship with God.
Finally, how essential is the relationship between fashion and art to you?
I think it's very important. I'm very visual, and I think it is a part of a show. I see the difference even at work when someone gets up in their blue jeans. I’m not saying ‘don’t get up in your blue jeans,’ but, for me, it makes a difference when you have an outfit that goes with your sound. Light the stage lighting; it’s part of the show.
Interview by Declan Culliton