Speaking a universal language

With no attachment to Korea to fall back on and having never even been to Asia before, independent American singer-songwriter Audra Connolly decided to leave her home in Idaho and take a short-term position as an English teacher on the outskirts of Seoul.

Nearly three years later, Connolly is still living and working in Korea ― much to her surprise.

“I thought I would come here for a year, and then I thought I would be here for two years,” she said, laughing. “I’ve kind of made this life here.”

But despite currently working as a full-time teacher, Connolly is and always has been a musician at heart. In the U.S., she was an aspiring folk singer, touring the country and independently releasing her first studio album titled “Dear Friend” in 2009 on her independent label “Hole Heart Records.” However, the musician found herself struggling financially and faced with the difficult reality of having to find a “real job.”

After seeing an ad about teaching English in Korea, Connolly decided to take the plunge. And despite being in a completely different environment and culture, she is determined not to have this new life stand in the way of her doing what she loves most ― making music.

“I’m not going to let the language barrier keep me from doing what I want to do,” said Connolly. “I thought, I can do music anywhere and I can have experiences that will lend to my songwriting ... I came here to have an experience.”

The 34-year-old musician continues to write songs about her experiences, insights and struggles surrounding her life in Korea. Although she cannot speak Korean, Connolly has still managed to make connections and find gigs at clubs and bars around Hongdae. While she was initially worried that her not knowing Korean would be a big obstacle to her being able to communicate with her audience, but she found that music was all she needed to express her message.

“I feel like the music can speak more than I could say in Korean even if I learned Korean,” she explained. “I think music is universal and the experiences that I’ve had playing in front of these audiences have just strengthened that belief.”

Connolly will soon be releasing her first EP since moving to Korea. She is currently in the final stages of independently producing her newest album, titled “Slowly,” which is a six-track EP comprised of five original songs as well as a recording she made of some of her young English students singing a Korean folk song called “Seollal.”

All the songs on the upcoming album have been written in Korea, “So they have all been influenced by something that I’ve done here,” she explained.

The lead track is titled “Cheoncheonhi” ― the Korean term for slowly ― and was inspired by the ongoing political and social tensions between the two Koreas. The song talks about how a society should slowly begin to love, breakdown borders and rebuild what has been torn apart.

“I didn’t know how to write about it because I’m not Korean and I don’t want to assume anything and don’t want to put out the wrong message,” she explained. “But I think universally, people eventually want to rebuild.”

“The record is a personal memoir which tells a story of living abroad and the themes which accompany that experience, such as culture shock and homesickness,” added Connolly. “I will always look back and be glad I was here.”

The release is tentatively set for Jan. 21 and will be distributed digitally by Mirrorball Music. For more information on Connolly’s upcoming EP and performances, visit http://audraconnolly.com.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)