Six months ago, Macy Todd moved to Tennessee after living in Austin for a few years. After releasing her debut EP in July, she returned to Austin on Saturday for her debut performance at Austin City Limits Music Festival on the BMI stage. The Daily Texan sat down with Todd to discuss Austin and Nashville’s different music scenes and her ACL experience.
The Daily Texan: How was your performance this morning?
Macy Todd: My gosh, it was so fun. We were the first ones to go on at the BMI stage today. Me and my band drove out from Nashville yesterday, and it was a long drive. Everybody’s so excited and amped to be here, and the set was amazing. I saw so many people sing my lyrics back to me. I had a person hold up a banner of one of my songs, which was so sick, and I got to talk to a bunch of fans after, which was really cool.
DT: How does it feel to have fans … singing lyrics back to you?
MT: A couple months ago when I played a couple one-off shows, I would go to the show, and people would be singing stuff back. But when recently Lana Del Rey … announced her next two records, she used my song behind it (on her post). Then I did a show in LA the week after she did that, and every single person knew the lyrics, and I was like, “Wait a second, this is crazy.” Now I’m touring a bunch, and (in) every city, I’m so shocked that people know the words and what the hell is going on.
DT: How do you overcome that fear of being so brutally honest and (putting) your personal experience in your songs?
MT: For a long time I was a little bit afraid to really sing because I didn’t want to just be a singer. I want to be a writer, and, to some degree, it made me kind of pull back and be a little bit more afraid to really say things. When I owned it, I’m like, “No, I am a singer, and I’m a songwriter,” and I own both of them. That honesty of the music came out and … came from that point of view of letting go.
DT: How does the (Austin) music scene compare (to Nashville)?
MT: First of all, I love Austin. It’s like I always say, I wish they would have built a Nashville in Austin. … There’s so many talented musicians in Austin. It’s just fewer and far between. Whereas Nashville, there’s writers, and it’s easier to have a career. … Whereas in Austin, I felt a bit lonelier, which was actually a really great thing for me while I was developing as an artist, because I didn’t really have any voice going on. Then when I developed my sound and really laid into it, it made sense for me to go to Nashville. Austin fed the Nashville for me, but I find Austin to be so inspiring. It’s my favorite place.
