We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laurel Sabadosh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Laurel, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
As a songwriter there are bound to be times to keep the creativity alive. To try to overcome any dry spells, I must find different ways to find inspiration. First, I try to always “keep the faucet running” by ensuring I book cowrites at least 3 times a week and schedule one write with myself to flush out any ideas I might want to test out alone. This consistency helps me to keep developing my skills as a songwriter by working with other talent around town as well as keeping myself responsible for working on my skill alone. Since my mind seems to always be in songwriter mode, I find additional inspiration outside of these cowriters knowing I need to wake up the next day with a fresh idea for a song.
I also try to make sure to make time for myself by keeping up with my fitness, hanging out with friends and spending time outside with my dog. As I’m enjoying this time away from music, I am subconsciously looking for inspiration for my songs or stories I can tell through music. Of course, there are times I just want to take a complete break from music and forget about the songwriting completely, but it never fully goes away. Those breaks only inspire more creativity once I’m back in the room. Overall, consistency is key in this business, so I just keep going!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a singer songwriter from Blue Ridge, Georgia. I have released 7 songs as a country independent artist between pop-country to rock-country as well as an original Christmas song. I have plans to keep releasing music that I write, whether these are independent writes or songs I’ve wrote with other incredibly talented songwriters in Nashville.
I grew up singing since as long as I could remember but I never thought this could become a true career until I moved to Nashville and got inspired by the thousands of other incredible musicians throughout town. Now I am writing religiously with these writers and playing all the songs we write out at writers rounds throughout town. I recently began doing live band shows in town where I play the songs I’ve released as well as some new unreleased music! I am excited to continue my focus on being a singer-songwriter and inspiring artist in Nashville and will continue releasing original music.I keep seeing continued growth in this crazy dream I’m chasing and am so blessed for all the people who have supported me by coming to my shows and singing along to every song!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
There have a been a lot of useful skills I have had to learn during this journey. First, it is important to network and find people who are chasing the same dream as you. When I first moved to Nashville, I was writing alone and only hanging out with people who are not in the music business. As nice as it is to be able to write alone and be able step back from music with friends, I slowly realized how important it is to find like-minded people and grow my songwriting skills with others. I didn’t realize how important going to writers rounds and joining groups like NSAI could be to my career and I wish I had gone out to meet people much earlier, but it’s never too late!
Next, figuring out which skill I bring to a writer’s room was important. Whether that was the lyrics, the melody, the production, or just a great vibe. Everyone brings something to the table, and it was important to be to learn what that was and how I continue to strengthen that skill set so I am of value to everyone I write with. There are some writers’ rooms you’ll get one chance to make an impression, so I want to be confident I am ready to be in that room!
The last skill that’s important to figure out when first starting this career is to find a sound that you enjoy playing! For the longest time I was writing songs that I thought everyone wanted me to sound like and not songs that truly resonated with me. It wasn’t until I took a step back and started making playlist for songs that I enjoyed listening to where I realized I fit into a completely different category than what I was putting myself in. Not only did this help me figure out who I want to be as an artist, this helped a lot of songwriters I work with figure out how to help me write the best song that represents who I am. There are a ton of skills that I have learned through this journey and continue to learn every day, but knowing why I started this dream to begin with and staying true to the sounds that got me here is the most important.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
It would be a lie if I didn’t say are times this career path can feel overwhelming and have questions on if I should just give up come to the surface. To get over this, I always come back to the reasons why I started in the first place. I remember that younger me was listening to the radio unable to find a song that was telling the story of what I was feeling inside. I remember the first time I picked up a guitar and tried to write these feelings into a song myself and how that made me feel. I also think about how far I’ve come in such a short amount of time and look to those who have been successful in this industry and learn about their stories and the years of work they put into this dream. Once I take a step back, I don’t take too long before jumping back into things and getting the “faucet running” again for creativity. I will usually start slow by writing alone or with some of the songwriters I am most comfortable with. Usually, the new written song inspires me, and I am back on a roll!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://laurelsabadosh.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/laurelsabadosh
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurelsabadosh
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/laurelsabadosh
Image Credits
Chaz Mazzota Amber Cather Austin Dellamano
