On her latest endeavors, she said, “Lucky me, I can be creative while at home. I am smack in the middle of writing a new album. I’ve kept very busy. Also, I have a new book, Peaceful Like a Panda, that will be coming out at the end of December. It’s on children’s mindfulness, and I finished it up at the beginning of quarantine. I decided to write a complimentary album, which is a companion piece to the book. Every mindfulness exercise in the book will have a corresponding song. It is all geared to ages three to eight.”
Regarding her daily motivations, “I have always been a lifelong musician. I started playing violin since I was five. Music is always coming into my head, so I’ve had no problem coming up with songs. When I started teaching children’s yoga 15 years ago, I naturally started singing my instructions and everything, and that actually became my first album. I really loved incorporating music and yoga-based movement with children.”
On being an artist in the digital age, Willey expressed that she is really grateful for it. “Like many independent artists, it was hard when people stopped buying physical CDs. Everyone had to figure out what to do, as a result. There are a lot of advantages to the digital age since you can do so much from home and you can market yourself and you can connect with people all over the world. You can create and send out music from wherever you are so the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages of it,” she said.
For young and aspiring artists, she encouraged them to “work really hard and work on your craft” and “make sure you have an excellent product.”
Willey defined the word success as “having a happy and healthy family; serving as wide an audience as I can with these tools of music, movement, and mindfulness, which are beneficial to all children.”
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she said, “Creativity in place.”
For her fans and supporters, she concluded, “Thank you so much for your support. There is more really good music and books to come, to support you and your families. I hope it helps them move and breathe, and be as healthy and happy as they can be. It’s important to help kids use very simple mindfulness tools. Look for a couple of new products from me coming out this year.”
Peaceful like a Panda is available for pre-order on Amazon.
To learn more about award-winning children’s artist Kira Willey, check out her official website and her Facebook page.
