By: Rick Landers
Laura Lee
There seem to be an enormous amount of singer-songwriters finding their paths that begin with open mics, gaining some traction and moving along their roads to professionalism by writing songs, and pushing along their ambitions to where they find their way on tour, as well as into recording studios.
Laura Lee is on her own life journey, that demands financial assets in hand to get to yet another milestone, her third album. Enter crowd sourcing platforms where friends, family and fans support songwriters’ dreams by donating bucks to help those talented folks realize their dreams.
By working paid gigs, pursuing a separate career, along with such business soliciting strategies, musical artists of all kinds can help augment or provide all the bucks to pay the expenses and other associated costs, to record songs and produce their work as downloads, or more tangible media, like CDs or vinyl albums.
Like many performers she took a break, but not before she tested the waters by releasing two albums: Spotlight (2006) and, A Little Something, in 2009. In 2010, Laura Lee took off on a West Coast tour in 2010, and was invited to make several appearances on KOOP Radio, in Austin, Texas from 2013 to 2017.
So, Guitar International decided to speak with a singer-songwriter on this path, the path of many, to dig into her dreams, and business strategies that she and others might employ to help maximize their opportunities to get her music “out there” and make things happen. It’s a competitive and tough business and getting that big break doesn’t just land at your feet, it takes work, persistence and talent. Laura Lee is writing the songs, performing and doing the road work to help her build a stellar career.
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Rick Landers: Listening to some of your songs, I catch glimpses of Ricky Lee Jones, a hint of Joni Mitchell and other writers who write songs in traditional styles, but also have been comfortable with songs that work around the edges, sound a bit more quirky, with lyrics that are creatively crafted. How did you develop that style as your own and who’s influenced you the most?
Laura Lee: I guess the first thing that comes to mind is, I really never had any songwriting training, so to speak, so I’m not confined by the rules as it were. I listen to everything from pop to hiphop, folk, jazz… I love jazz. I’ve had Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong on repeat lately, but I spent teenage years locked in my room listening to songwriters like Ryan Montbleau, Deb Talan, and Ani DiFranco. I’ve got to have my hands in everything to keep it fresh and fun.
Laura Lee
Rick: Have you found you need a quiet space to write your songs, or might you be anywhere when an idea for a lick or catch phrase finds you?
Laura Lee: I most definitely need a quiet space, no one can be within earshot, or even in the house. I get so self conscious and can’t have anyone around. It’s a process for me to write, but when it hits, I lock myself in a room and go!
Rick: Do you jot down notes to yourself, a kind of old school way of remembering your lyrics, or do you find a place to sing into your cell phone to help you remember them when you get back to them?
Laura Lee: My songwriting process is very unusual. Other than going into hermit mode, I’ll kind of doodle with the guitar first and just start singing. They don’t have to rhyme or flow. I just keep working through it in a stream of consciousness kind of way. From there I start tweaking.
When I finally get a line or two that works, then it gets written down with old fashion pen and paper. I keep adding until the next line works. I don’t really start writing until after I’ve worked out, as if writing it down solidifies it too soon. I can’t explain it. Sometimes I won’t even ever write it down. I’ll have memorized the whole song and it’s committed to memory.
Rick: Do you generally seek gigs within your personal home-base or have you tried to build a larger audience by working beyond your comfort level?
Laura Lee: Both. I admit, lately I’ve been looking to build a larger audience by going beyond my comfort level. I’ve been all about pushing myself out of my comfort zone. If you’re comfortable, you’re not growing or challenging yourself. I’ve been so driven to just go for it! Bring on the festivals, big venues, awkward events… whatever it is, I’m so pumped that I’m getting paid to do what I love. Can’t beat it.
Rick: Your music has a certain feel of nostalgia to it – at least to me – When listening to music outside your own style, do you listen to music outside the typical songs that are in rotation, like music from Africa, Ireland and other cultural spots?
Laura Lee: Of course! I’ve been listening to a lot of cello music lately as well as Joao Gilberto. Some flamenco too. I love having it on in the background for by subconscious to chew on. It comes out later in subtle ways when I write and the fun part is I don’t realize it right away.
Rick: You’ve found yourself in the recording studio, did you find that intimidating or more exciting, and what have you learned that might be of interest to those who have yet to begin to professionally record their songs?
Laura Lee: Oh man! This has been a learning experience. I’m self taught for the most part, I can’t read music, I know nothing about measures and bars. Heck! I barely know the names of chords! So, I always struggle with this feeling of not being a “real musician” or not good enough to be in a studio like the one I’m recording in.
It’s intimidating, frustrating, exciting, I feel awe struck… I couldn’t recommend it more! What I’ve learned… don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t forget to have fun! I take myself too seriously sometimes… and if you do that, it comes through in your music. Don’t do that… have fun and do what you love!
Rick: It can be a mighty step of faith to begin to not only write your own songs, but performing them in front of an audience of strangers takes a degree of confidence in yourself and your songs. And typically, at things like open mics, you don’t get a lot of time to present yourself, so it can be pretty normal to avoid songs that have yet to get a thumbs up? Your thoughts about pushing that envelope a bit?
Laura Lee: Open mics are an amazing tool to practice, learn from your mistakes, learn from others mistakes, get feedback and build community. If you hold back and avoid songs that you think might not get a thumbs up… then the only person you’re hurting is yourself. Find someone that you can confide in and get constructive feedback from. Push the envelope. That’s what open mics are for! Oh yea… and have fun.
Rick: What other endeavors do you pursue to keep your creativity moving along? Art, pottery, math puzzles etc.?
Laura Lee: I pull so many of my songs from my relationships with people, not necessarily romantic, but human interactions are a big component of my writing… so spending time with people I love is a huge inspiration. It keeps me feeling loved and validated. I also have a canning business. While making jams and pickles doesn’t sound creative… I play with flavor profiles, I get so much joy out of feeding people and growing my food. It’s real, authentic, and nourishes me in so many ways.
Rick: Oftentimes, musicians don’t get a lot of support from others who suggest you get a “real job’ relegating music to some kind of hobby, one that you can’t survive on – How do you respond to those kinds of remarks?
Laura Lee: Oh… I lost count how many times I’ve heard… “You should give up playing music, it’s not a career.” “Get a real job” “This is not responsible of you”.Performing makes me so happy. I love sharing my music, meself, with the my audience.
I’ve been a self employed musician before, when it got tough, I got a part-time job, I’m back to being a full-time artist again. It’s terrifying, it has it’s ups and downs, but I want that life.
I love being self employed, I make it work, and you can too if you go about it the right way. Honestly, music has been paying me more than my day job, so I left and quite frankly, the new boss is pretty awesome.
Laura Lee
Rick: Do you sneak in a few cover songs in your sets, to give your audiences something to hang on to, to sing along, or do you stick to the knitting and entertain with just your own compositions?
Laura Lee: Ah yes, the cover vs. originals… for over a decade I’ve been such a stubborn little brat about only doing originals. A year or two ago, I caved. I added a couple covers… I’m glad I did. It’s caused me to use a different part of my brain, I put my own spin on them, because the audience has heard them before, but they haven’t heard my version. It gets them thinking differently and has helped me on writing new songs of my own. I was so stuck on originals, but at the end of the day… it’s not about me, it’s about the audience so I’ve started taking requests and adding to the list, slowly but surely.
Rick: Are you working on some new songs now, or possibly an album?
Laura Lee: I’ve always got a few songs in the works, but yes… I’m working on a new album with a fantastic studio in Boston, called Plaid Dog Studios. I’m loving it.
Rick: Any other projects on the way for us to look forward to?
Laura Lee: Well, the album is my main focus right now, but I am beginning to work with a video producer for the singles music video. So, that’s exciting as well… talk about getting out of my comfort zone!
