Recording Artist Troy Petty: Using Music to Speak to the World

by Cyrus Webb

With my schedule I am not able to attend as many live events as I would like, but when I discovered the music of Troy Petty and James Tristan Redding in 2013 (and learned they were coming to my home state of Mississippi), I know that was one event I had to attend.

Petty is a artist that definitely bares it all in his music, and the listener is better off because of it. His album FAIRY TALE PEN is one that you will find yourself listening to again and again---and each time you will discover something unique and mesmerizing about it.

"I put myself through some tests to see if this was really what I wanted to do," Petty told me after his appearance in Mississippi. "I started pretty early on (about 8 years old) and growing through my teenage years I was pretty isolated. I imagined being on stage and carried on with my life. Music has been a form of therapy, something that became a part of me. It was something I could always rely on. As I was getting into my adult years I knew I was going to do it for the rest of my life regardless."

That is how I know that Troy Petty is an artist in every sense of the word. "I don't know what it would feel like to not have music," he confessed.

I can tell you from experience that he gives a part of himself away to the audience with every performance---and his project FAIRY TALE PEN is probably his most personal to date.

"I had a group of songs that I couldn't get out of my head," he explained. "At first they were just for my own personal satisfaction. I was feeling kind of vulnerable... I can't not be honest. I went for broke and picked the ones (songs) that moved me the most. FAIRY TALE PEN tells the story of what it's like to be an artist. I dug deep and really put myself out there."

Instead of feeling afraid, Petty says the release has had an opposite effect. "It was very liberating and like a renewal," he says. "A lot of times when I hear certain songs it's like a reminder: 'Look at what you did.' Everytime I hear it (the album) I am very grateful."

Stay connected with Troy Petty on Twitter at www.twitter.com/troypettymusic as well as on Reverbnation at www.reverbnation.com/troypetty. Information about his album and current projects can also be found on his website www.troypettymusic.com.