When people think of songwriting, they think of Nashville, Tennessee. Where songs are born and where songwriters thrive. If you have been to Nashville before, you understand what I mean when I say that the city is bustling with music 24 hours a day. There’s a certain energy in Nashville that no other city really has. There is this overwhelming love for music and songwriters are so hungry and excited to create and write music all the time. However, not all songwriters are born there. A large percentage end up moving there to see what it’s all about. My situation has been a bit different.
My name is Lauren Weintraub and I am an eighteen year old singer/songwriter from Sudbury, Massachusetts. I am a triplet and I just finished up my senior year of high school. I’ve lived here my whole life while making several trips a year to Nashville to record, play, and write music. People don’t tend to think of New England as an area bustling with songwriters, but my take on it is that it is really what you make of it. One of the greatest and most successful songwriters ever, Lori McKenna, lives in Stoughton, Massachusetts. She has written songs for some of the most famous country stars out there such as Hunter Hayes, Little Big Town, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill…and the list goes on and on. Being a successful songwriter in New England is definitely not impossible – just different.
I have been writing songs for five years now. I’ve always loved music and theatre but really found my passion for songwriting in eighth grade and during my first year of high school. Songwriting is so fulfilling. It’s one of the most honest, organic, and pure ways of expressing yourself and it is one of the greatest feelings ever when you finish a song and there is someone out there that can relate to it. The feeling of knowing that I can make just one person out there feel better through a song is so incredibly amazing.
Being a songwriter in high school has been both a blessing and has also been harder at times. Being in high school, there was always material for me to write about! Living life and gaining new perspectives is the most valuable thing a songwriter can do for themselves and I am so grateful for the four years of high school I got to experience, take in, and really use to get to know myself. I wouldn’t have changed those four years for anything. The hard part about music and high school was always the juggling between the two. Trips to Nashville equaled missed classes and homework which stacked up at times and got to be very stressful at some points. However, what I found is that the songs always find you.
I wrote some of my best songs in high school when I was the most stressed out. The songs will find you when you need them to find you. Being in high school, writing songs has undoubtedly become a form of therapy and calming for me which has been amazing.
As much of a bustling songwriter scene that Nashville is, people don’t realize that New England also has a great music scene – it’s just less prominent and more tucked away than it is in Nashville. It is definitely easier to network and meet other songwriters in Nashville. Whether playing my own shows or attending others, when I’m in Nashville I’m always meeting new writers and setting up co-writes all the time. In New England, there is less of a songwriter presence. Shows tend to be more cover-heavy whereas in Nashville you hear way more original songs than you do covers. In New England, there isn’t bound to be a songwriter on every corner – so it can be harder to meet people. But it is definitely still very possible to meet other songwriters in New England and set up co-writes.
I’ve come to learn that the best thing to do is really to just put yourself out there. I play shows three to four times a week all over New England and street perform at Faneuil Hall in Boston. During these shows, I do a mix of covers and originals to really get my music out there. I always love meeting new people and setting up collaborations or co-writes. I’ve learned that there’s never a wasted collaboration. Even if the song ends up being only okay, or you just end up nerding over music for three hours – I always learn something new from every musician I meet. Whatever it may be – I’m always hungry to connect with people about music.
I am lucky enough to be attending Belmont University in Nashville in the fall to major in Songwriting. I am excited to really get to immerse myself in such a musically present city and to really keep learning more about Nashville and the scene there. As much as I love Nashville, New England will always have a very special place in my heart. The eighteen years that I have spent in Boston have been truly amazing and I have found little pieces of Nashville here. However, I am excited to dive head first into Nashville and so ready to experience everything that it is. Here’s to chasing dreams and chasing songs…
You can find Lauren Weintraub at www.laurenweintraub.com
You can also find her on Spotify, iTunes, Instagram, and Facebook.