My Story
What’s the story?
As a child growing up in the Midwest, April Eight was surrounded by music. The youngest of five, she listened to everyone from The Beatles, to Julie Andrews, Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Dolly Parton, and The Supremes. Her family gathered around the piano to sing from The Great American Songbook. Her deep Celtic roots are in there too. Always exploring the lakes and woods near her home, she fell in love with the natural world around us. April pours these Americana roots and the love and magic of Nature into the songs and stories she shares with her audience on The April Eight Songs & Stories Podcast. April has toured across the United States and Europe, Performed a Peel Session on BBC Radio One, played Lalapalooza, and recorded at Prince's Paisley Park and John Mellencamp's Belmont Mall. April is also an experienced Waldorf and traditional school teacher.
How did she become April Eight?
– One night, not so very long ago, I was reading a book to my sweet little daughter. Suddenly, a band of Pixies wandered right across our page. I wondered what they might sound like and then, just like that, I knew. I could hear them perfectly. And that is when it all happened – in that moment I could hear the songs and see a whole new world of joyful, delightful ideas to sing and write about – and that’s how I became April Eight. –
April lives by the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio with her two daughters, her bossy dog, Roxie, and her dear husband. When April is not creating audiobooks and albums, leading workshops, or performing, she researches traditional Irish and Appalachian music and writes songs for grown-ups as Goldenthread.
“When I was little, I would sit on my father’s lap after dinner and he would tell me stories. He used all sorts of silly voices and funny singing. As the youngest of 5, I got little of my busy parents’ attention, so that memory means everything to me. The love that I felt, sitting on his lap while he created something from his imagination that he knew would make me giggle, is the reason why I write my stories and songs for you. I named Tom Gnome after my dad, Tom Combs.”
Since 2016, April Eight’s charming original fairytales and songs for the whole family on her podcast April Eight Songs & Stories. Her podcast is in the top 5% of podcasts for downloads and listens across all categories.
Listen together as a lovely green world of wonder full of humble gnomes, sparkling fairies and grouchy trolls, mischievous woodland creatures, and magical butterflies who are more than they appear, take you on adventures where everyday kids, tricky witches, lost crowns, and fearless friends encounter enchanted potions and wondrous journeys. In April Eight Songs & Stories, unexpected heroes take the day in pursuit of life’s simple truth: Love conquers all and will always find a way.
Here they are, the original inspiration for April Eight Songs and Stories, April’s daughters Lyla and Mia.