Today we’d like to introduce you to Angie Boger.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was involved with music since childhood, constantly singing Disney songs probably or whatever was on the radio. My mom got me into piano lessons but I quit in late junior high/early high school (a pretty big regret). Later on in high school, I discovered a band that brought me back into needing to play the piano and sing at the same time. All I wanted to do with pursue music for a degree and luckily (and unfortunately) no one tried to convince me otherwise!
I got a Bachelor’s in Music Education and although I wasn’t too eager to think of myself as a music teacher, I learned to quite enjoy teaching music to kids because I just loved music so much. I taught in public and private schools and taught private lessons after school and during the summers to supplement my income. I met my first band-mates in Paris IL where I was teaching and we had an acoustic cover band. It was the best time ever. I thought I was living out my rock and roll dreams! Then, I moved to my second teaching job in a town over an hour away and my time with my first acoustic band was over. I moved to St. Louis in 2017 and continued teaching.
After teaching for 7+ years in IL and 5 years in STL, teaching had got to a point of critical burn out and I let my principal know I wasn’t coming back the following year. He had asked what I was doing next and I shakily said, “I have no clue”, but I had a plan. I took a course designed for teachers leaving the field of teaching and pursuing jobs geared for the private sector. I love courses that give me a path! I took the course and landed a job doing customer success at a small St. Louis Merchant Processing Company. I met some great people there and loved being out of teaching. It was so refreshing, but I began to feel the burn-out after 2 years of answering phone calls and emails that were largely negative vibes. I was trying really hard to find another job. I sent out so many resumes and got largely crickets. The burn-out from staying in that job was torture and so was looking for a different (but similar) job. In March 2025, I hit another critical point of no return and left the job again, this time without any plan.
I panicked for a while because I knew my luck with finding a similar job in Customer Success or Instructional Design or anything hadn’t produced much of anything. I really wanted to land a gig at an area non-profit because it was really important to me that I CARED about the big picture of that company I worked at and the work I did (crazy, right?) When I am passionate about something, I will work as hard as I can to achieve what needs to be done.
As I brushed up my resume and got some career coaching, I amped up my side hustles, which at the time was gigging! I pursued more endeavors to gig and perform. I started singing at funerals, senior living communities, birthday parties, and any bar that would have me. I also did some photography and videography for some friends’ projects. I did whatever I could to bring in some money while I was still pursuing my next career move.
As I type this, I realize that the one year anniversary of my leaving my last “W-2” job is quickly approaching. Reflecting on it now, I am grateful that all my resumes that I sent to be another customer success agent or working at a corporate entity went unanswered. I feel I would’ve been burnt out again in another couple of years.
Now, when people ask what I do, the very short answer that I give is “I’m a musician”. And there are almost always follow-up questions. When that happens I say “I am in two bands (shout-out to Sonic Scarlet and Blackbird Katy), I sing and play at bars, restaurants, birthday parties, corporate events, nonprofit events, special occasions like weddings, etc… anything!” But I do have just a few side hustles. I recently got back into teaching. It is part time and some assistant teaching, but I really do enjoy teaching. This time, it hasn’t come with any of the heavy burdens that it has in the past. I also help a local arts education non-profit with their Social Media.
My biggest passion, however, would be to commit more of my time to songwriting. I just wrote my first song (yes ever) almost one year ago and have written nearly 8-9 others by now. The joy and satisfaction I get when I write and create something myself and share it is hard to put into words. When someone says they’ve listened to my song and they specifically tell me what they took from it…. I feel incredible! I don’t like to draw attention to myself on a normal basis. For most of my life, I have never felt confident enough to speak my mind, but when someone tells me what they valued out of a song I wrote, I am floored. Someone took the time to listen to what I was saying. I haven’t written many songs, but every song I have written is me putting my whole heart and emotions right out there.
Songwriting does get shoved onto the backburner because I feel the pull of hustling. Hustling for more gigs, promotion of my other projects, teaching, etc. The stress of not having that full time W-2 income is always there, but I am happy doing what I LOVE and what brings me fulfillment.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road hasn’t been smooth. Lots of uncertainty involved and second guessing. I really still don’t know what I am doing and struggle to value progress that I have made. Everything is unknown and no income I have is steady which really stressed me out. BUT I am driven and I work hard, so right now, the plan is to trust my own two feet.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Being a musician and educator is currently paying the bills. I gig a lot with my bands and I do solo gigs, and I also teach.
I bought a camera in 2009 and love taking pictures. I didn’t take any for the longest time and then I started bringing it to my monthly STL Soundhaus gatherings and noticed that people love the pictures. A good friend of mine hired me to come with her and her Taylor Swift Tribute band to shoot photos and video for them and I LOVE That. Since then, another band hird me to do that, so while I wouldn’t say photography and videography is what I am known for, I am not UNKNOWN.
Creatively, I love to write songs and come up with fun covers with my bands. Although I describe myself as an introvert, I do love to perform and connect with an audience. When I notice audience members are paying attention, I tend to do what I can to involve them or connect with them in some way to what I am doing. I want to know what they want to hear, what they like. I love to tell them about the songs I am doing and why I love singing them. I feel that music should be a community experience. I don’t want to just perform AT you. I want to involve you.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Passion will always be what keeps me going. My work ethic and drive will be the vehicle that gets me there.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.angiebogermusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angiebogermusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angie.willenborg.5
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@angiebogermusic
