Kayla Schureman taps into Laurel Canyon roots
By Scott Mervis
It’s no coincidence that Pittsburghbased singer-songwriter Kayla Schureman has a touch of that Laurel Canyon folk rock sound.
The 27-year-old grew up in California’s San Fernando Valley, and even if it she was on the young side then, having moved up near Sacramento in high school, it was part of her DNA.
“Yeah, I had no concept that I was influenced by it,” she says. “I was just a kid. I didn’t know what I was hearing or influenced by was specific to an area. But my parents’ music collection had a lot of ’70s California-vibe records, a lot of Fleetwood Mac and Jackson Browne and the Eagles.”
Ms. Schureman, who’s just released her solo debut album, “Kiss the Ground,” started writing songs when she was about 16, drawing from some of her own influences as well like Josh Ritter, Ryan Adams and Kathleen Edwards, who clearly had a big impact on her writing and vocals.
“Her album ‘Failer’ made me want to start writing songs,” she says.
She started out in California playing in the folk rock band All on Seven, which became a duo in the Gillian Welch-Dave Rawlings vein with Ms. Schureman and guitarist Evan Palmer. In 2011, they decided to move back to his hometown and settled in Pittsburgh. She introduced herself to this scene via the AcoustiCafe at Club Cafe on the South Side and the open stage at the former Eclipse Lounge in Lawrenceville.
“That’s what pushed me to write,” she says, “because I wanted to have new songs every time I went out to the open mic. So without really thinking I was writing for an album, I was just writing to perform fresh material until one day I looked down and realized I had 40 songs to work with.”
In late 2015, she assembled a band with Mr. Palmer, pedal steel/keyboardist James Hart (of The Harlin Twins), bassist Nate Campisi (Drowning Clowns) and drummer Rich Kawood (Triggers, The You). They spent a week at Mr. Smalls studio in Millvale, with Mr. Campisi producing and everything tracked together except for the vocals.
“I wanted to come out of the studio with something I would recognize that day, and 10 years later, I would know how it felt to play the songs in real time with those guys. I didn’t want something that was too layered, that I wouldn’t recognize later on.”
The songs, ranging from the newly written “Rose” to others that date back four years, showcase her confessional lyrics, pure country folk vocals and the band’s tender, melancholy touch.
“The songs,” she says, “are all derived from personal experiences, and sometimes I’ll change the location or I’ll sort of amplify the situation because I have a different perspective on it being in the midst of it.”
Naturally, she’s going to have to take these songs to Nashville.
“I’m doing a local push now for it but plan to spread the word to places down there. That one part of the country I haven’t toured.”