Andrea Morgan and Zia Blue Kloetzel

[00:01] ANDREA MORGAN: My name is Andrea Morgan, and I am 54. Today is Monday, May 30, 2022. We are here in Missoula, Montana, and I'm having a conversation with Zia blue Kloetzel my daughter.

[00:17] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: My name is Zia Blue Kloetzel I'm 20. It's Monday, May 30, 2022. We are here in the lovely Missoula, Montana. I'm with my mom, Andrea Morgan.

[00:34] ANDREA MORGAN: Zia, I just. There's so many things I want to ask you about, but one of them is, in light of all the sort of fits and starts you've had in terms of launching yourself out of the nest, you know, with the pandemic, and.

[00:54] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I'm already about to cry, high school.

[00:55] ANDREA MORGAN: Graduation, the jobs you've had in between, and then going off to school and the American Idol situation, I just want to know how you feel about launching. Or, I mean, maybe it's not an official launch. How do you feel about stepping out into the world?

[01:13] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I don't know. It's definitely not felt like a standard launch or just like a conventional launch. I think that I launched the second that I graduated high school, and ever since then, I've been launched into what feels like the rest of my life. And what is the rest of my life. I guess I've definitely been insecure about some of the decisions I've made recently about just dropping out and trying to start fresh and start differently because that is the biggest thing that's pushed on. Pushed on. Like a lot of my friends, they just feel pressured to keep going through whether or not they are comfortable where they are and just get that degree and, yeah, so I've definitely felt insecure about that. But it's definitely growing pains and it's felt also very fulfilling to have all the different types of jobs that I have had and experiences, and I obviously wouldn't trade it for a thing. I'm so glad that I had the motivation and the strength and will to move to Nevada and go off for weeks in California and Nashville virtually alone. But, yeah, it's been weird, I guess.

[02:44] ANDREA MORGAN: But do you think launching, but that, in quotes, launching in a typical way is any better than the way that you have moved forward?

[02:58] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Launching in the conventional sense, you mean?

[03:01] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah, graduating high school, boom, go off to college, boom.

[03:07] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Not necessarily. I mean, it's definitely just a mindset and definitely the pressures that society puts on people. And so, no, deep down in my heart, I know that I'm on the right path and I'm going to make it in whatever way that I see fit. And I'm just going to do what I love and end up exactly in the place that I want to be. I know that as a fact, which is really great.

[03:42] ANDREA MORGAN: And taking the side trips on your journey is what makes you an even brighter person. Makes your light shine even brighter.

[03:53] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah, exactly.

[03:54] ANDREA MORGAN: I can say that from the standpoint of being 54 and not being 20 when you're 20.

[04:01] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Right.

[04:02] ANDREA MORGAN: It must feel scary.

[04:04] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: It does feel scary. I'm definitely really scared.

[04:08] ANDREA MORGAN: Aw. But you have so much passion and drive and you have so many open doors.

[04:20] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah, I have a lot of open doors. I can really do whatever I want right now, which is great.

[04:27] ANDREA MORGAN: You can do whatever you want. Yeah. Do you feel like we've given you enough space to find your path? Do you feel like we put pressure on you?

[04:39] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: No. You guys are the best parents. Like, I hope you know that. Like, I see, I don't know. I just watch my other friends struggle with their parents and struggle with, you know, trying to make their parents happy, but I know that you guys are just always in support of me being happy, and that's like, the number one goal of you guys, so it is. That's really special. So thank you.

[05:04] ANDREA MORGAN: You're welcome. I'm not going to cry.

[05:14] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Okay, don't cry. I'll do all the crying. Anything else you want to add?

[05:28] ANDREA MORGAN: A lot of questions. I love having conversations with you and listening. Here's another one that I wasn't planning to ask you.

[05:37] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Great.

[05:39] ANDREA MORGAN: A year ago or more. I remember asking you because, well, because of your desire to be a performer and up on stage, singing and making music is so foreign to me and my personality, which is fine, because we're all different, but I just have a hard time grasping, like, and I remember asking you at one point, why do you want to do this? Like, why would you even want this?

[06:11] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Why do I want it so bad?

[06:13] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah, why do you want to be a performer? Not because I think, why would you. But because why do you.

[06:21] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Because why do I.

[06:22] ANDREA MORGAN: And what you told me was so cool and profound and I thought, I don't know, you were like, 18 at the time or something. And I thought you were gonna say, cause I wanna make a lot of money or, I don't know. Cause I wanna be famous. And you said, cause I wanna make a difference.

[06:39] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[06:40] ANDREA MORGAN: Is what you said.

[06:42] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I think the most beautiful thing about being a performer and making my own music and sending it out into the world is that I just get to celebrate universal feelings with people and then again, it's just something that I've always loved to do. I always tell this to people. I remember one time, I was talking to a friend in town, and he told me that we went to a concert together or something, and he told me that that was the first concert that he had been to, and he was, I think, like, 13, and I absolutely could not fathom. I was like, how is this somebody's reality? Because you just showed me, and you just showed me and Eden both that, like, live music is one of the best things that you can ever see and feel in your life. So, yeah, I think it's definitely just been instilled in us, both of us, at a very young age, and it's mostly just trying to be open and I. And letting a whole bunch of people, or maybe not even a whole bunch of people, but hopefully, in my case, like, a little bunch of people. A little bunch. How? Just, like. I don't know. It's just emotion, honestly.

[08:25] ANDREA MORGAN: Universal. What did you call it? Universal language?

[08:28] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Universal emotion.

[08:29] ANDREA MORGAN: Emotion.

[08:30] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[08:31] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah. Cause it's because we're all feeling it.

[08:35] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. We all feel like. I think why music becomes so popular is because of the message that it sends and the message that it sends and also resonates within listeners. And that's why a song. That's my theory on why a song becomes popular. I mean, there's so many other ways now, like TikTok, and sometimes the true meaning of a song will get hidden, and it's hard to remember at the end of the day that that's why I want to do this, rather than looking at stats on my Spotify for artists.

[09:12] ANDREA MORGAN: But you feel when you perform, you feel that connection?

[09:17] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. I mean, I'm so early in my performing career that I'm kind of a mess, and I'm still, like, finding that way to connect with the audience and, you know, be patient with myself and my mistakes.

[09:35] ANDREA MORGAN: But that's what makes you human, right?

[09:37] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. And then it'll come in the end.

[09:41] ANDREA MORGAN: And letting your light shine through when you're up on stage is so delightful for people that are in the audience. Yeah, in my humble opinion.

[09:51] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: No, it is, it is. It's definitely hard being up there, though. Sometimes I'll look into the crowd, and I'll see someone spacing out, and I'm like, oh, dang it, I need to work harder. Like, I need to do better.

[10:02] ANDREA MORGAN: Are they spacing out, or are they just tapping into something deeper?

[10:05] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Well, there's definitely times in concerts that it's just human like, sometimes you'll just maybe space out and that's okay. But, yeah, I think I've been thinking recently that I should wear, like, a prescription. Like, less than my eyesight, so people's, like, faces fuzz out and so I.

[10:26] ANDREA MORGAN: Can maybe just take your glasses off.

[10:29] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. Well, then I probably couldn't walk around the stage.

[10:31] ANDREA MORGAN: Well, that might be a problem. Yeah, I want to fall down. So how do you make a difference with the universal emotion? Like.

[10:45] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Wow. That's a good question. I guess we'll just find out. I mean, I don't know. I think it's just helping people feel what they need to feel. I think it's very individual in the sense that you can listen to it on a late night drive and think of your breakup or think of something even greater than that. I don't know. I think that lyrics are really amazing. And I think the more vague that they are, you can relate it to, like, the random listener and, like, twelve listeners can all take it different ways.

[11:21] ANDREA MORGAN: Right. Just as with a visual art piece, you don't know what your audience is gonna see in it. And that's kind of the beauty of it, is because everybody can take it and make it their own or make it relevant.

[11:35] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[11:36] ANDREA MORGAN: But with music, it's also even more so than a visual piece of art. It's shared. Like a group of people are listening to it together and feeling the energy together. And that's even more powerful.

[11:52] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[11:53] ANDREA MORGAN: Than a piece of visual art. In a way.

[11:57] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: In a way. I mean, they all have their different strengths, you know?

[12:01] ANDREA MORGAN: I mean, have you always had that, like, creative drive to make music?

[12:07] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Absolutely. I came across this video of me when I was like 13, and I had my braces, and I was wearing this random little tank top that I always wore. It was brown. Yes, it was brown and white striped. And I was playing on my guitar and the lyrics were. And I. Oh, I was so bad. I was really bad. But it was very cute. But the lyrics were. And the sky is falling on my head, and then I strike, like, the worst chord ever. And, yeah, it's just like. I just remember getting taught by Jen Sladen also, and she helped me write the cheesiest songs about the boy that I never had even met, you know, like Zayn Malik from one Direction or whatever. So, yeah, yeah, it's always just been there. And I've had so, so many people supporting me to do that. So.

[13:15] ANDREA MORGAN: Why was the sky falling on your dude? Was that a lyric?

[13:18] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Oh, it was. The sky was falling on my bed.

[13:20] ANDREA MORGAN: On your bed.

[13:20] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: On my bed.

[13:21] ANDREA MORGAN: Was that a lyric that you wrote.

[13:22] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Or was that scrap?

[13:25] ANDREA MORGAN: That's a good memory, though.

[13:27] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[13:27] ANDREA MORGAN: Cause you were psyched to be doing what you were doing.

[13:30] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah, I was jamming, dude.

[13:33] ANDREA MORGAN: You were making beautiful noise.

[13:34] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I was making some crazy, beautiful 13 year old noise. Yeah.

[13:38] ANDREA MORGAN: I mean, I understand that drive to create things. Like, I always want to make things. Yeah, but you've always the same. You've always been a fabulous creative endeavor.

[13:51] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. I want to ask you some questions.

[13:56] ANDREA MORGAN: Are you going to make me cry?

[13:58] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yes. Mmm. Um, what are you proudest of in your life, mama?

[14:17] ANDREA MORGAN: Mmm. You and Aiden. Me and Katie did, yeah.

[14:25] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Aw, that's really sweet. Thanks. Okay. But besides us.

[14:34] ANDREA MORGAN: That'S the biggest thing of all.

[14:36] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. But you're also. You. You have your own personal endeavor.

[14:41] ANDREA MORGAN: Oh, of course.

[14:42] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. What are you most proud of? Cause you have so many things to be proud of.

[14:48] ANDREA MORGAN: Um. You're not supposed to make me cry.

[14:55] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[14:55] ANDREA MORGAN: I am proud of living a good, honest life.

[15:01] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Good, honest life.

[15:02] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah. And listening.

[15:05] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: And listening.

[15:07] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah. I'm always striving to be a better listener.

[15:11] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I think you're a really good listener.

[15:15] ANDREA MORGAN: Thank you.

[15:16] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[15:16] ANDREA MORGAN: I can't wait to listen to your music.

[15:20] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: It's gonna be good. I don't know. It'll come around sometime. You're so cute. I love you. What do you think it is about listening? Like, why? Is there something in your past life that you've. That makes you want to be a better listener or you're just.

[15:46] ANDREA MORGAN: No. I feel like my childhood and my sisters and parents, we all listen to each other, but I just feel like it's really important because everybody wants to be heard and needs to be heard.

[16:01] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[16:01] ANDREA MORGAN: And there's lots of voices that aren't heard.

[16:04] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[16:06] ANDREA MORGAN: And I guess it comes from a sense of humility. Like, I don't have the best things to say. Maybe somebody else does.

[16:17] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: That's really powerful.

[16:18] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah.

[16:19] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. Super beautiful.

[16:23] ANDREA MORGAN: It's a gift, being able to listen.

[16:27] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[16:28] ANDREA MORGAN: Takes some patience.

[16:31] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: It does take some patience.

[16:32] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah. But it also takes curiosity, which I feel like you're very curious. One of the best traits. Yeah.

[16:38] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: You're very curious.

[16:39] ANDREA MORGAN: So are you.

[16:40] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I feel like you're extra curious.

[16:41] ANDREA MORGAN: I am extra curious.

[16:42] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Little dash of curiosity, for sure. Um, what else should we talk about? I want. I want to ask you, what do you think is one of, um, the most difficult times in your life and how you got through it?

[17:08] ANDREA MORGAN: I've had two tough times.

[17:10] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Okay.

[17:14] ANDREA MORGAN: It's pretty tough when your parents die.

[17:17] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. That sucks. I'm so sorry. I think about that sometimes.

[17:24] ANDREA MORGAN: And I had a lot of, like, guilt because I didn't have the time to spend with them because I was busy raising you guys and doing stuff, so that was a tough time.

[17:37] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah, we were super young.

[17:39] ANDREA MORGAN: You were. And then, of course, the other tough time was when Aiden was in so much trouble.

[17:49] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah, that was a bad time for everyone.

[17:51] ANDREA MORGAN: I know. That was a really hard time for you.

[17:54] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. Well, I know that your parents knew that you were doing everything you could and you were.

[18:05] ANDREA MORGAN: You mean with them?

[18:06] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah, of course. No, with them. Like, you couldn't. You kind of just couldn't go off and they were so proud of you. I know. Yeah. Yeah. That's gonna be one of the toughest times for me too.

[18:29] ANDREA MORGAN: Well, we don't have to talk about that.

[18:30] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I know. It's just my existential dread kicking in.

[18:35] ANDREA MORGAN: Well, it's also part of life.

[18:38] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I know. I know that. I do.

[18:41] ANDREA MORGAN: And you have. One of the best things, I think, about having siblings like you do and I do, is that you can carry on together afterwards.

[18:57] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[18:58] ANDREA MORGAN: And share stuff and have tons of laughs.

[19:04] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[19:05] ANDREA MORGAN: And I think it is so fabulous that you and Aiden are close. You're not, you know, intertwined, but you're close enough that you'll always have a relationship together.

[19:20] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[19:21] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah, very sure. So fear not, dear one. You will be okay.

[19:27] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I know, but it'll suck for a little while.

[19:29] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah.

[19:30] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. I wish Aidan and I were closer. For sure. No, I'm gonna blow my nose.

[19:39] ANDREA MORGAN: Do you think if you were biologically related, you would be closer or just gender or age or what?

[19:50] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: No, I don't know. I think definitely. I think definitely struggles is what brought us apartheid.

[20:01] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah.

[20:01] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[20:02] ANDREA MORGAN: So you've got time.

[20:05] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I know. It doesn't feel like time.

[20:07] ANDREA MORGAN: Why?

[20:09] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Because I'm about to go off and do so many crazy things and I don't know where that's gonna lead me, so I don't know.

[20:15] ANDREA MORGAN: But that's okay. That's so exciting.

[20:18] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I know it's exciting for me, but not necessarily our relationship.

[20:23] ANDREA MORGAN: But he will always be here.

[20:27] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[20:28] ANDREA MORGAN: And so will we. Maybe he'll leave Montana, I don't know. But we aren't going to leave. But we will always be here.

[20:40] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[20:41] ANDREA MORGAN: For you to have a touchstone, only you guys can bring your relationship closer.

[21:01] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I know, it's crazy. It's all in our hands. Everything is always in your hands, which is so powerful.

[21:12] ANDREA MORGAN: Mm hmm. Well, unless in a relationship it takes two.

[21:18] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Well, right. I mean, there's other. There's other things, but there's always something that you can do to change things.

[21:29] ANDREA MORGAN: But you guys getting together in Nashville might be really cool.

[21:34] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah. It's gonna be really fun.

[21:35] ANDREA MORGAN: Yeah. Someday, I hope you go on tour together. It's been a lifelong.

[21:41] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: I know, mom. We're so defensive about that tour. Oh, no, mom. We don't listen to the same music.

[21:48] ANDREA MORGAN: Oh, no.

[21:50] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: But it could. It could happen if he loosened his grip on bluegrass and I fly. Loosened my grip on. I mean, we could meet in the middle with some folk, but. Yeah.

[22:04] ANDREA MORGAN: Well, I'm proud of you.

[22:05] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Thank you. I'm proud of you, too. You're the best.

[22:10] ANDREA MORGAN: You make me.

[22:11] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: How you make me.

[22:15] ANDREA MORGAN: Symbiotic relationship.

[22:17] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Yeah.

[22:21] ANDREA MORGAN: Good. Good. Okay.

[22:25] ZIA BLUE KLOETZEL: Mm hmm.