Rita Bliss Does It Anyway

With a banjo, a notebook, and a willingness to show up even when inspiration doesn’t, Rita Bliss has built a songwriting practice rooted in storytelling, sincerity, and doing the work.

Rita Bliss is a storyteller, an archivist, a traveler, and a banjo player. Those identities seem to fit naturally together.

For Bliss, songwriting began long before she was thinking about gigs, audiences, or the music industry. It started at home, where making up songs was simply something her family did.

“When I was a kid, going back as far as I can remember, my mom would make up songs about silly things,” Bliss says. “Unloading the dishwasher, running errands, whatever came to mind.”

The songs were playful and spontaneous. Without necessarily realizing it, Bliss was learning an important lesson about songwriting: you do not always have to wait for something profound to happen before you make music. Sometimes, you just do it.

Stepping Onto the Stage Alone

Years later, songwriting became part of Bliss’ musical life through several bands, where she contributed songs while sharing the stage and creative process with other musicians.

Then she decided to try going solo. For a musician accustomed to playing with a band, performing alone meant stepping into unfamiliar territory. There was no group to disappear into, and Bliss wasn't even sure there was a place for what she wanted to do.

“When I decided to try solo gigs, it was an experiment,” she says. “I didn't know if I could even book gigs as a solo banjo player or if people would come.”

Being alone on stage was new. And, at first, a little scary, but she did it anyway.

That experiment became a way for Bliss to develop a performance style that she describes in three words: straightforward, sincere, and stripped-back.

There is something fitting about those words coming from a solo banjo player. Without layers of production or a full band surrounding her, the song itself has to carry the moment.

The Work Beyond the Music

Ask independent musicians about the hardest part of being a singer-songwriter, and the answer isn't always writing the songs.

“The biggest challenge though is not the songwriting or the performing, it's the ‘industry’ bits,” she says.

There are social media accounts to manage, venues to contact, gigs to pitch, and the constant task of putting yourself and your work in front of people.

For independent artists, creativity and self-promotion often become inseparable parts of the job. You can spend hours writing something deeply personal and then have to switch gears and figure out how to market it.

“Doing those things alone can be challenging,” Bliss says.

It is a side of being a working musician audiences rarely see. The performance might be stripped-back, but everything required to get onto that stage can be anything but simple.

Do It Anyway

Bliss has a motto she returns to when inspiration disappears, or the work starts feeling difficult: “Do it anyway.”

When she doesn't feel particularly creative, she doesn't wait around for inspiration to return. She sits down with her banjo and a notebook.

“If I'm not particularly inspired or in the right mood for writing, I just have to sit down with my banjo and a notebook anyway,” she says. “Something always ends up happening.”

Maybe it is a song. Maybe it is the beginning of one. Maybe it is simply a few lines that did not exist before she picked up the banjo.

The important part is showing up. That approach has a quiet stubbornness, one that fits Bliss' music. Nothing overly complicated. Nothing pretending the work is easier or more glamorous than it actually is.

Just a songwriter, a banjo, a notebook, and whatever story emerges. And when the inspiration isn't there? Do it anyway.

Want More Rita Bliss?

Keep up with Rita Bliss, her music, and upcoming performances on Instagram at @ritablissbanjo.