Local Artist Spotlight: Carrie Hinkley
Hinkley has made her way through life with her values at the core of every decision she makes, notably, her love for making and sharing music, and surrounding herself with a welcoming, caring community.
By Frankie Pelletier
Carrie Hinkley, who regularly plays shows in and around Floyd County, happens to possess the most important characteristics of a stellar artist: she has a meaningful relationship with music, a compassionate, driven soul, and the mind of a storyteller. She is also playing live shows in local venues across Southwest Virginia nearly every weekend, often with free entry.
Hinkley was born and raised in Montgomery County and currently resides in Dublin. She started playing guitar in high school and entered a music program in college. Despite loving music, she wanted to play her own music on her own terms, and switched her major to physical education. Now, Hinkley has been teaching physical education at Auburn Middle School in Riner for 20 years. “I’m very, very lucky to work there…” she said. “Don’t think I’d want to work anywhere else.”
In addition to teaching, Hinkley performs at venues throughout the New River Valley nearly every weekend. Though she says she is an introverted person, she seems to know how to push through that kind of discomfort to enjoy the things she loves, especially with the support of other local musicians, her loving partner, and a few pet cats.
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Hinkley has made her way through life with her values at the core of every decision she makes, notably, her love for making and sharing music, and surrounding herself with a welcoming, caring community.
Hinkley said making music has become a part of who she is. “It’s a way that I express myself, it’s a friend, it’s a therapist,” she said, “the guitar, it’ll speak to you. You pick it up and start playing it, you don’t have to say anything. You can hit a chord… and it’s got that emotion to it.”
Debbie Warren, Hinkley’s longtime partner, has been along for the ride since Hinkley first started performing, and eagerly shares her observation of Hinkley’s relationship to making music: “It’s like her one constant throughout everything in her life. It’s the one thing that is always there for her. It’s also her means of communicating with people.”
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Hinkley’s music primarily blends the country and classic rock ’n’ roll influences she grew up hearing on the radio with her family throughout the area. Ever the storyteller, she shares specific memories about the artists who influenced her as she began learning to play and write her own music.
Hinkley first committed to learning guitar when she heard “Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old" by Garth Brooks on the radio. Immediately, she loved the sound of the guitar part, and knew she needed to learn to play it herself. Martina McBride, or her CDs, at least, were Hinkley’s vocal coach of choice, “I got better at singing harmony with Martina McBride playing in the car, going down the road, just singin’.”
Garth Brooks was a consistent source of inspiration as Hinkley began writing her own music. ”One of the first songs that I got under my fingers, that I put my own words to, that had part of his chord progression in [it], was his rendition of Billy Joel’s “Shameless.” So, I took part of that chord progression and I wrote, what I considered to be, y’know, my first pretty good song.”
Some of Hinkley’s first original songs as a teenager were stories of navigating crushes and longing for love, though, she noted, she also tried writing a few “typical country cowboy themed songs.”
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Despite picking up the guitar in high school, Hinkley describes herself as a “late bloomer” when it comes to performing live. She remembers years of playing around the campfire or at home with friends before her first live set in 2014, at an open mic at Dogtown Roadhouse. She can still remember the three original songs she played that night, she said. Despite being so nervous that she thought it would be her first and last live performance, she recalls the experience with a smile:
"You get up there and you do it, and you’re so nervous, but you get through it. And I remember this lady — after I got off stage, put my guitar away, and I scurried back to my seat — this lady with long silver hair, she came over to me, touched me on the back, and said, 'made it through it honey!', so I started going pretty much every weekend with original music.”
Hinkley became a frequent performer at open mic nights at Dogtown, where she first entered the community of local musicians.
Unafraid to admit that she is a shy individual, it is a natural assumption that Hinkley’s favorite place to play is in the comfort of her own living room, but suggesting that just makes her laugh. “No,” she said. “I love my cats, and I love my partner, Debbie…but I really like an audience.”
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Hinkley is a great performer and a charming, well-spoken character on stage. Part of this is the care with which she treats her music. It is also because, whether she knows it or not, she views performance as a conversation. She understands her audience’s connection and attention levels throughout her set, and is consequently able to understand the symbiotic relationship between a performer and their audience on a deeper level. This artist to audience connection is a major factor in fostering a confident performer and a good show, and it is well-maintained by Hinkley’s observant nature and deep love for making and sharing music.
Nowadays, Villa Appalaccia Winery, Radford Coffee Company, and The Floyd Country Store are a few favorite venues Hinkley frequents in Southwest Virginia, both as a solo artist and with her band, Virginia Hollow. She also loves playing at listening room style venues such as 3rd Street Coffee House, Draper Listening Room, and the Bower Center. In this setting, the audience’s attention is focused on the music, and it becomes easier to feel the energy as it passes between the artist and the crowd, but Hinkley finds a meaningful experience in every venue she plays.
“When you’re playing a bar or a restaurant where everything’s loud, and you’re playing this intimate, emotional song, and all you hear is the chatter of the crowd, it’s like…Well, I hope somebody’s tuning in — and there always is somebody that is tuned in, no matter how loud the room is.”
Visit Hinkley’s website www.carriehinkley.com, to learn more about her, view her extensive photo and video library, and check her show schedule, which is always up to date with upcoming performances.
Hinkley’s self-titled album is available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music, as is Virginia Hollow’s first album, “Backroads.” You can also keep up with Hinkley on Instagram @carriehinkleymusic, and watch dozens of live performances on her YouTube channel @CarrieHinkley.
This article has been updated to correctly reflect Hinkley's Montgomery County roots and note that she currently lives in Pulaski County.
