Skyler Day made her festival debut at Austin City Limits Festival, marking a new adventure in the young artist’s life, and a source of new inspiration.
By Monica Godinez, Photos by Cy White
Skyler Day, actress, singer, songwriter and most recently producer has officially made her ACL Festival debut during weekend one. Many know her for her recurring roles in shows like Parenthood and The Resident. Now they get to see her in an entirely different element. Day’s taking the music industry by storm as her relatable lyrics captivate her audience’s attention.
ACL Debut
Her festival debut was such a riveting experience that despite an hour having gone by since her performance Day remains ecstatic. “I am so happy and so excited. I am still stuck in such a daze,” she excitedly expresses. Her debut came about two years after she first submitted her music to the Empowered by Bumble Bizz contest. “This entire experience came about when I submitted my music to this contest on Kacey Musgraves’ Instagram that was connected with Bumble,” she explains. “The competition was about empowering women in music and putting more women on stage at music festivals.”
This immediately spoke to Day. Next thing she knew she “threw her hat in the ring.” The rest, as we know, was history. Musgraves chose Day and her music.
Later that same year, Day got the chance to go backstage before Musgraves’ 2019 set at ACL Festival and “pick her brain about everything—touring, music, songwriting, and it was incredible.” On Saturday, Oct. 10, that opportunity culminated in her procuring her own festival showcase. The entire journey leading up to her ACL debut has been an exhilarating experience that Day has eagerly anticipated
Quarantine Project
Of the COVID-19 pandemic, Day shares, “[it]honestly shifted everything for me. As soon as everything was happening for me, I was [immediately]cut off [from the world].” While Zoom and other virtual outlets were available, that was not an ideal situation for Day. “I am very much a social being,” she reveals. “I like being in a room with someone and creating in that way. Not being able to do that and having to do that through Zoom didn’t really sound great to me. So that’s really why I started producing.”
The solitude the pandemic created for Day artistically allowed her to realize how important it was for her to work independently as an artist and not rely so heavily on others to create her music. Granted, she admits, “I love to collaborate and will continue to do so. But learning to produce my own music was the best thing I could do for myself.” This experience has given Day a newfound respect for producers and their craft.
Post ACL Fest
After the ACL festival, Day plans to get home and get back to her “little studio” and work on “the next big thing.”
She released her latest EP, Songs From the Greenhouse, on Sept. 3. This EP was her lockdown project, along with learning how to produce her own music. “So that’s my plan,” she says. “Get back in my studio and make some more music.”
