Ep. 17 | Ava Earnhart: Healing, Identity, & Defining Success on Your Own Terms

In this episode, Bri sits down with Nashville singer-songwriter Ava Earnhart for an honest, vulnerable conversation about her childhood, her artistry, and the experiences that shaped her voice. Raised in Arkansas and spending over five years in foster care before being adopted at age nine, Ava shares how instability, trauma, and survival shaped her early years—and how music became the first place she ever felt safe.They discuss her introduction to singing through nursing homes, her first gigs at seventeen, learning guitar by feel, and the teachers and mentors who helped her transition into classical vocal training and music studies. Ava reflects on the artists who influenced her—Patsy Cline, Wynonna Judd, Demi Lovato, Kenny Rogers, Adele—and how each shaped the emotional honesty in her sound.The episode also explores Ava’s experience writing about trauma, the tension between vulnerability and audience expectations, and the healing she’s found using music to advocate for foster and adoptive families. She and Bri talk about creativity, authenticity, comparison, body image, cultural identity, and navigating Nashville as a young woman in the country/Americana space. Ava shares openly about surviving abuse, learning to rebuild her confidence, and discovering her voice—both artistically and personally—on her own terms.Follow Ava on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/avaearnhartmusic/Follow on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/AvaEarnhartMusic/Stream her music on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/5l0gOCGHakeDxdy6j3jfA4?si=OdAZ1TMZQIGNn66umK_U7A