Making Her Own Way

Musician finds her sound

Kansas City, Mo., native Lauren Anderson has taken a leap off the safe path and into the artistic world of music — now calling Nashville, Tenn. home. That’s not to say the “safe path” of music therapy is anything bad, but when “music is something you can’t ignore,” and “it’s like it’s in your blood,” as Anderson says, a person must make creating music priority No. 1. “It’s like I couldn’t not pursue it full time,” she says of when she decided it was time to leave the world of music therapy.

At a young age, Anderson was drawn to music. Her two earliest influences she can remember are The Pointer Sisters and Ace of Base CDs she had as a kid. “I used to listen to those CDs and want to be them. You know, it was the stereotypical singing in the hairbrush.”

In college she enjoyed opera, but she knew that wasn’t the right way to go. So she took the time to find her own voice — which is ever-evolving from a bluesy feel to the more recent rock/soul genre heard in her latest single, “Box Wine Blues.” Anderson aims to continue the development of her sound, as she plans to get back into the studio to record songs that can be compared to a more rock/pop feel, like Grace Potter’s work.

“It’s a new city and I love traveling — you kind of have to when you’re a musician — but I love going to new places,” Anderson says of her upcoming visit to Fayetteville. “I’ve never been to Arkansas at all. I’m excited to see what Fayetteville has. Hopefully we’ll get to spend a little time the next morning to see around the town.”

If you’re looking for something fun, which Anderson is all about, you can catch her performing July 28 at Mojo’s on Garland Avenue in Fayetteville.

COURTESY PHOTO Nashville rock/blues artist Lauren Anderson makes her first visit to Fayetteville with a show at Mojo’s Pints & Pies on July 28.