LA-based singer Kimberly Dawn’s newest country music single, “93,” is a nostalgic look back at the pre-smartphone age of the ’90s when times were simpler and worries few. It speaks to any generation who harken back to the good old days.
Dawn’s career has taken a different path than the typical music star, beginning after the birth of her fourth child—her children are now 15, 17, 20, and 22—proving it’s never too late to follow a dream. I asked about her experience and for her advice to other moms with a big dream.
Kimberly Dawn. Courtesy of Kimberly Dawn
The Epoch Times: When did you first dream of becoming a musician?
Kimberly Dawn: When I was 4 years old, I remember seeing the movie “Grease.” I was so fascinated by that movie.
The Epoch Times: You began piano and guitar lessons after the birth of your fourth child. What inspired you to take that leap at that point in your life?
Ms. Dawn: I took up piano lessons after the birth of my fourth child because I was feeling this pull back into music. I didn’t know at that moment that I was going to jump 100 percent back into that world but I knew that piano brought peace to me. I actually started taking guitar lessons about a year ago. I’ve always loved the guitar, and since I’ve been playing piano for so many years, I thought, now is the time for me to pick up another instrument, and I’m having a lot of fun learning the guitar as well.
The Epoch Times: How did you hone your craft and begin your career while managing the demands of motherhood?
Ms. Dawn: I will tell you it has been a juggling act. It hasn’t always been easy. I am very blessed because I have a husband who has been completely supportive of my career and so we tag-team with schedules. I definitely would say in the past five years I’ve been able to dive in even deeper into music. I will leave for Nashville for a week each month. It’s definitely getting easier for me to leave the family when I need to, now that they’re getting older. It obviously was very hard when they were younger because as a mom I just wanted to make sure that I was always present. I still plan my schedule around my family, because at the end of the day, my family does come first.
The Epoch Times: What was the most challenging part of embarking on a new career as a busy mom?
Ms. Dawn: It was a lot of balancing my schedule with my family schedule. With the kids being in school and all the extracurricular activities, it was a lot for me. If I had rehearsals or a show I was relying on a lot of different people to step in to help with the kids. There’s a lot of mom guilt that comes with that. I’ve always tried to make sure that I was there for the important things. Sometimes I would miss out on a dance show or a baseball game. That was hard. My kids know that Mom is a musician and sometimes I am working and I couldn’t be there. I feel like they are understandable most of the time.
I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to go about following your passion in the music business. I will say, for many years I was hard on myself because I felt like I did everything backward. I got married and I had my kids and then I started really pursuing my music career. As I look back at it, I was always doing music. It just took until I had all my kids to realize that’s really what I wanted to continue doing, so essentially I just put my dreams on hold for a period of time and then went back to pursuing them.
The Epoch Times: What is your life like now as you juggle it all?
Ms. Dawn: Life right now is still very hectic and busy. We’re living in a different time right now especially with kids doing school remotely. I am home a lot right now too because everything has been shut down. I’m writing on Zoom versus being in a room with writers. I’m doing virtual shows. So cooking dinner and then excusing myself to go put on a show in my studio is the new norm in our home.
The Epoch Times: What advice would you give other moms who have a big dream that they’ve put on the back burner?
Ms. Dawn: I would tell any mom out there that any dream that she has, to go after it. You’re never too old or too young to do what you want to do. You will never succeed if you don’t try.
