By Jodi Hochstedler
Working with what’s available: this is a theme of Pittsburgh
singer-songwriter Heather Kropf’s latest project, and her
life.
It was during junior high that Kropf first became a recording
artist as she wrote her own songs, picked them out on the piano
and recorded her own harmony with two tape recorders. Since those
early makeshift recording days, Kropf has slowly and intentionally
evolved her music.
In 1992, as a second-year student at Goshen College, Kropf heard
about a project for student singer-songwriters called “Rooftop
Songs,” a taped collection of original music and coffeehouse
performances to promote it. A friend pushed her to audition and
she landed a space on the recording. Kropf considers this her
“official beginnings” as a singer-songwriter.
“That is where I got started, at least beyond playing for
my best friends,” she said. “GC is a great environment
for people who want to try things, especially in the creative
area. If you get on stage, people will clap for you. I didn’t
love performing, but I liked playing my songs and the encouragement
of being well-received.”
After graduating from Goshen with a visual arts major, Kropf headed
to Pittsburgh with the Pittsburgh Urban Leadership Service Experience
(now known as Mennonite Urban Corps, for which Kropf serves as
co-director) and interned at WYEP. Her job at the local public
radio station was to listen to submitted music and decide what
went on the air. “It was a hard job because I wanted to give
everyone a chance,” Kropf said.
In this position she had many opportunities to observe singer-songwriters
during recordings, interviews and performances, including Patty
Larkin, Joan Baez, Dar Williams and Vonda Shepard. With insight
into the business, she thought, “My songs might be good enough.”
Kropf continues to wrestle with music as her vocation. “I
still haven’t totally committed to being a singer-songwriter,
because it’s a huge risk, but I am striving towards that,”
she said. Like many other singer-songwriters, the daily reality
of living, loans and house payments keep Kropf from having the
security to pursue music full-time. “If a person follows
their bliss, it’s an act of faith. If you don’t, you
are expressing that you don’t have faith in God,” Kropf
said.
As assistant tutor coordinator for East End Cooperative Ministries,
and with her work with Mennonite Urban Corps, Kropf struggles
to find all the time she would like for writing, performing and
recording. In the future, she said, “I hope my music and
work will become more unified and I don’t have to be so scattered
in my focus.”
Kropf writes three to four new songs a year, though she always
has five to 10 songs needing final notes or lyrics. “I wait
for inspiration. The more disciplined I am about journaling, reflecting
on life and practicing piano, the faster the writing comes,”
she said.
Though
she appreciates the writing style of musicians such as Simon and
Garfunkel, Sting and Suzanne Vega, Kropf looks inward for musical
inspiration. With rich poetic word choices, Kropf uses her songwriting
to flesh out her thoughts about her life and thought processes,
as well as observations about the natural world.
“Songwriting has been an internal thing for me, like a journal
entry,” she said. “Songwriting is a spiritual discipline
for me – I don’t do it for fame or money. I don’t
have an agenda.” Kropf’s music, an unassuming vocal
style mixed with bits of jazz, pop and folk, isn’t overtly
religious or Christian, but, “religious imagery is interesting
to me and it shows up in my songs,” Kropf said.
Since her first self-produced recording (2000), a collection of
songs she wrote over a long period of time, songwriting for Kropf
has undergone a transition. After seven years in Pittsburgh and
six different places of residence, Kropf recently bought a house
in Pittsburgh, passed her 30th birthday and feels more settled.
At times this is “less inspiration” for her writing,
but she has found new depth to her music. “It’s hard
to write songs when I’m settled because so much seems resolved,”
Kropf said. “So, I have to look outside myself for stories
– a good thing – or look closer at what I’ve got
– also a good thing.”
Kropf averages between two and five performances a month, primarily
in Pittsburgh, but performing isn’t her favorite part of
being a musician. “What I like doing is writing songs and
recording music. I know there will always be musicians better
than me, so I surround myself with high quality players,”
Kropf said. “But, I wrote the song, so I get to be on stage.”
Her latest project is still in the beginning stages, but Kropf
describes it as “very different” from her first. Kropf
and a band of four others will record in a building that used
to house the Aspinwall Ladies’ Social Club. Instead of playing
her keyboard, she will perform on an old Steinway piano. And the
group will be operating under the assumption that, “If we
can’t make the sounds, maybe they shouldn’t be made,”
said Kropf.
There is a counterintuitive line in one of Kropf’s new songs,
“Compass Rose,” that says, “dive deep to breathe.”
Like the lyrics, Kropf is finding that “working with what’s
available” to her is opening new doors, taking her deeper
and moving her to where she can really be herself.
To
contact Heather or to book a show:
solarsister@hotmail.com
To order a cd:
www.cdbaby.com/kropf
compass rose
I’ve got this love like the month of June
steals all of my afternoons
my afternoons for sleeping
my afternoons for dreaming
I’ve got this love like the coming tide
sometimes I wonder if we will survive
survive all the demons
survive all the reason
shipwrecked in the sun
my compass rose has come undone
I know this time it’s real
the planets all lined up
the hand of God or Lady Luck
I know this time it’s real
I’ve got this love and it waits for you
what else is love supposed to do
the hours, they pass silently like
strangers on the sidewalk
shipwrecked in the sun
my compass rose has come undone
I know this time it’s real
the planets all lined up
it fills me then it tips my cup
I know this time it’s real
oh, the world in each hand weighs
to care or to be free
but I’ve blown it’s cover
I’ve discovered a love where
I dive deep to breathe
dive deep to breathe
my fingers trace each fragile thing as if I had
been blind
as if I had sight for the first time
I’ve got this love....
