Artist Spotlight: Leah Lawson

The Appalachian Preservation Project is proud to present Leah Lawson as this week’s artist spotlight.

Pictures courtesy of Leah Lawson

Tell me about your background. Who are you at your core? Why did you become a musician?

I'm Leah Lawson, I'm an indie musician living in Asheville, NC. I've been singing since I was a kid. My mom told me when I was a toddler that she'd often pass by my crib at midnight, and I'd be awake singing to myself! I always knew I wanted to sing, and I picked up the guitar at age 12 and discovered I loved writing songs, too.

How long have you been recording/gigging?

I've been playing out, writing, and recording since I was 15.

Why did you begin pursuing professional music?

Delusion mostly. Plus I couldn't imagine doing anything else, so I knew music was something I wanted to pursue.

What is the most challenging part of recording/gigging? The most rewarding part?

I think the most challenging part of music, in general, is finding the motivation to keep going when nothing seems to be working. Of course, you're going to hear more no's than yes's, and it can get pretty lonely and discouraging out there. You don't get to just be a musician anymore; you have to be a content creator and a marketing expert, and you probably also have to have a job, so it can be really exhausting, and the whole thing can feel pretty pointless sometimes and you constantly have to fall back in love with it in order to keep moving forward. Recording specifically is pretty cost-prohibitive as an indie artist, so it's always an additional challenge to save up to record the next thing and the next thing after that. The most rewarding part is when a song really connects with someone, and you get people saying things like, "This song healed a part of me" or "I feel like you're telling my story." That connection is just everything, and it's not something I take lightly. It feels really special to be able to tell my own stories that feel super personal and specific and find out that other people can relate to them and find them meaningful.

What artists inspire your songwriting the most?

I consume a ton of music, so It's hard to say exactly what's getting stirred up in there, but right now, it's probably Penny and Sparrow, Samia, Dan Reeder, Leith Ross, and Taylor Swift!

What life experiences inform your music?

It's no secret I write a lot about the impact of growing up evangelical and leaving religion, so I would say that experience probably finds its way into my writing the most out of everything. It's gotten to the point where it's tough for me to put together my live sets because all my favorite songs of mine are about religious trauma, but people don't necessarily want to hear 7 songs about it in a row haha.

How do you hope your music impacts people?

Mainly, I just hope people feel less alone when they listen to my music. My music tends to be a good bit darker than I actually am as a person, and my family always asks me why I don't write more positive songs, but for me, at least when I really need music to connect with it's when things don't feel so simple or positive, so I hope it can be there for other people when they need it. I hope it can validate their feelings and help them process their experiences.

What has been the most personally impactful moment in your career so far?

It's always been a dream of mine to have a song in a movie or TV show, and a song of mine got used in this indie movie trailer and end credits back in 2016, and it's still one of the coolest moments I think I've had in my career. Because before, it was just a pipe dream, and I couldn't even really tell if my music could work in that way, so seeing it used and how it added to the moment was really validating for me. It made me think, okay, my music could work in TV/movies, and that's still something I'd love to pursue. More recently, one of my religious trauma songs had a little viral moment on TikTok, and that was the first time I realized other people felt the way I did and could relate.

Who or what inspires you most?

We have a ton of great artists and music venues in Asheville, so I'm always out seeing shows, and I'm constantly blown away and inspired by the talent of folks in my community! I find the environment really inspiring too. Every day my dog, Bones, and I spend about an hour walking around, and the mountains and the environment here just don't get old. I consume a lot of books and TV shows as well, so I try to find inspiration there too.

How does your deconstruction journey affect your music?

Once I started writing about deconstruction, it was like the floodgates opened, and I really couldn't stop. I'll sit down to write about something totally different, and more religious trauma music just comes out, so It's definitely provided a lot of inspiration. It's also been a healing experience for me. When you're talking about religion or critiquing your own experiences with it, you're always going to have some people who absolutely hate it, but once I started putting it out there and realizing the reaction to it was more positive than negative, a lot of that fear went away, and I've found a lot of freedom in just not hiding that part of myself anymore.

See more of Leah on her website, and listen to her on Spotify!