Meet Leann Vardiman-erving

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leann Vardiman-erving. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with LeAnn below.

LeAnn , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

I really don’t have any way. that I keep it alive. I feel like my creativity is its own living organism. At times it lays dormant and I feel like I don’t have any more music in me left to give. But then all of a sudden, I will here a beautiful piano riff and all of a sudden I’m back at my table, creating a beat, I let my creativity speak to me and I don’t try to force it

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Creatively I wear several hats. I am a caterer, a photographer, a music producer, as well as a songwriter. For the purpose of this interview, I will focus on my music production business. I’ve been producing music for about eight years, but just really started to take it seriously within the last 2 to 3 years. During that three-year timeframe, During that time frame, I lost my mentor Beatnerd Hub. He is the one that persuaded me to take my talent seriously. To him I would be forever grateful. Upon his passing, I promise that I would make him proud since then I have released one EP with several different artists as of tomorrow my collaboration with my new mentor Original Soul will be dropping. The title of this album is the JL Soul lounge and then I also have a project that will be dropping at the end of September.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

My top 3 would be:
1. Singing – there is really no way to develop a singing voice. Either you can sing or you can’t. But you can improve vocal quality by taking voice lessons (YouTube is a great resource to get started until you can find or afford someone locally)..
2. I’m a fanatic.- I am a fan of music. So I immerse myself in it. I cover myself in it like a blanket. Get to know it inside and out. This will help you understand structure and flow.
3. Be persistent and consistent:

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

My mentor, Original Soul. He has taken me under his wing and given me constructive criticism, filled in knowledge gaps and provided guidance when needed.

Image Credits

LeAnn Vardiman
Andre Erving