Photograph by Evan William Smith
Singer-Songwriter Lucy Isabel has a unique voice, at times reminiscent of a young Joan Baez. Although she feels herself more akin to Bruce Springsteen, who also hails from her native state of New Jersey and who, as she says, "just gets it, he understands." Here she talks about musical theater, acting, Billy Joel, 70's folk rock, Superstorm Sandy, and the struggle of being a starving artist, the importance of staying with it, no matter what, in pursuit of the art of the song and the creative passions that drive us to continue our calling. AHC: What has this musical journey, so far, been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what life lessons do you feel like you may have picked up or absorbed along the way? Lucy: My musical journey so far has been relatively short, but not without its triumphs and pitfalls. I had never really planned to pursue a career in music. I always sang. Always. But I was an actor. I did musical theater, and I planned to be on Broadway from the time I was a very little girl. Songwriting came into the picture for me while I was in college, after I taught myself to play guitar. And it became what seemed like the "easy" path in a strange way when I began to question whether or not I really wanted to immerse myself in the New York theater scene as it was at the time. I've enjoyed my journey with music so far, but it can be hard. There's times when you feel invincible, like you're doing everything right, and there's times when you start to question if all the effort you're putting forth is actually productive in any way. Even so, for me, when I'm feeling low about music it's never a matter of quitting or not quitting; it's only ever a matter of recalibrating. It's a matter of taking a step back and seeing what changes I can make to feel like I'm accomplishing my goals. In a way, that's one of the best life lessons I've picked up so far: giving up is only the answer if you allow it to be. AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them? Lucy: The thing that really drew me to music initially was how ingrained it was in my family. My mom had been a singer and and actress, my uncle is a singer and an actor. A couple of my aunts also sang, though they didn't pursue it professionally. My older sisters sang. There was really no escaping it. My dad isn't much of a singer, but he's always had a deep love for music. He could turn on the radio and know the words to almost any song. As a young kid, I don't remember a specific song that got me (though I was a huge fan of Disney movies and "Colors of the Wind" was my jam). As I got a little older, though, there were a couple of artists that just had me the moment I started listening to them. I got really into Billy Joel when I was 12 or 13. REALLY into him. His music is the reason I decided to learn how to play piano when I was 14. And when I was in high school, Bruce Springsteen changed my world. I felt like he got it, he understood. He knew me. AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote or the moment when you first took to writing and realized that it was something of immense and irreplaceable value to you? Lucy: I would make up little ditties when I was young. In high school I would write half a song and then get stuck and not worry about it. I'd just let them fall to the wayside. I can still remember some of those partial songs, though I don't think I'll ever finish them. I like the incompleteness of those ones. The first full song I ever wrote was a song called "The Voice." I'm from the beach in Jersey and Hurricane Sandy (or Superstorm Sandy, as it's officially called) just decimated the whole area. I was up at school when the storm hit, but I had just been at home a few days before on fall break. And I remember talking to my mom on the phone and she just said "Sea Bright is gone." And I said, "What does that mean?" And she said, "Sea Bright is gone. Buildings are gone. The ones that aren't gone are destroyed. There's water up to your waist in the street and they're trying to get the people who stayed for the storm out of the buildings." I felt so helpless. So I picked up my guitar and I wrote a song about it. I spent much of the rest of that school year alone with my guitar. AHC: Who are some of your major musical inspirations? Which musicians have you learned the most from? Lucy: As I mentioned above, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen had a huge influence on me when I was growing up. I would say Bruce has also been an inspiration to me in my writing. He writes a lot of story songs, and that's really my bread and butter when it comes to writing. Others that have inspired me greatly are Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, James Taylor, among many others. I listen to a lot of 70s folk rock. When it comes to more current artists, I'm a huge fan of Brandi Carlile. Her writing is hugely inspiring to me. I think each of those artists have taught me a great deal about crafting a good song. All of them really put weight on the words they use and that's an important part of the writing for me. AHC; What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak? Lucy: I've got a few songs that I don't feel particularly attached to that people love. I've got a few songs that I love that people don't really seem to click with. It can be really interesting to see how different people interpret music, but the one thing I always strive for is songs that are well-written. Even if a song of mine is not someone's cup of tea content-wise, I try to make it so that it isn't flawed structurally. That makes it seem like I'm far more surgical about my writing than I am. The bottom line is that you can tell if a song is structurally sound without even thinking about it. When syllables don't line up, or the melody feels like it makes no sense that's when you can get yourself into trouble. But avoiding those troubles is pretty instinctive. Sometimes I know from the first line that a song is going to be a favorite of mine. Sometimes I write a verse or a chorus that I feel is very strong, but I can't make the rest of the song work. It's all a crapshoot, but that makes it more fun. You can constantly surprise yourself. AHC; How has your music evolved since you first began playing? Lucy: When I first started writing I wasn't really sure of my voice. I would try to tell stories in my songs, but I would feel like they were rambling, so I would scrap them before I finished them. The third full song I ever wrote is called "A Hero's Welcome" and it was the first time I really felt like it was an accurate depiction of the songwriter I wanted to be. I still play that song out at gigs. Since that song, I've written countless more, and some of them have been very bad and some of them are okay and many of them I feel very good about. The biggest evolution in my music since I began playing is that I can now write music that's deeply personal to me without being alienating to an audience. I struggled with writing music that was too specific for a while, but I've moved away from that and I'm better for it. AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing art, the perfect vehicle through which to translate a feeling, a state of rupture, hope lost and regained? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener? Lucy: Writing a song can be very cathartic for me, but I find that the most healing part of the songwriting process is in performing new music. When I'm writing I can get lost in the technicality of it and become sort of blind to what I'm saying. But when I perform a song, there's nowhere for me to be but with the song. It allows me to really feel whatever it is I was trying to feel when I wrote the song. AHC: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town? On-tour, on-the-road? Lucy: One of my favorite musical memories is the first time I played a show back home, in the area where I grew up. Because I was late to the game in terms of songwriting and music as a career, most of the people I know back home had never heard one of my songs. I graduated college, moved to Nashville, and spent about seven months living and performing there before anybody back home had the chance to know that version of me. So, when I played my first show back home it was really nerve-racking. It went very well, though, and I felt like all of these people that I knew for much of my life were finally able to see a very important part of me. AHC: What would be your dream gig, if you were asked to go on tour and open up for one of your musical heroes or heroines? Lucy: I would love to open for a number of people, but I think top of the list would have to be Brandi Carlile. Her music has been so present in my life since I began pursuing my own career, and she really has the ideal amount of success in my eyes. She's so well respected and admired by her fans, but still able to be authentic in her songwriting. She doesn't appear to pander in any way with her art. AHC: Do you have any words of advice for other musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are just starting out and trying to find their voice and their way in this world? I know that you're starting out yourself but what are the kinds of things that you remind yourself of when you begin to have self-doubt or frustration with the creative process? Lucy: My biggest piece of advice is to not give yourself the option to quit if this is what you really want. It's going to be very, very difficult. It's going to suck sometimes. People are going to ask you what your back up plan is. Don't give yourself a back up plan. There have been times that I've been thinking about how little money I have to buy groceries, or pay bills, or any number of things. The starving artist trope is real. But it's okay to be a starving artist as long as you're actually producing your art. You have to work at it. Constantly. And in regard to the kind of art you're creating, be open to input, but don't let it define you. You are the one telling the story, so make sure you haven't got a ghost writer pushing you in directions you don't want to go. Because it feels incredible to want to say something and then be able to do it. And it feels even more incredible to have someone in an audience understand and identify with that. AHC: Do you have any new projects in the works you'd like to tell people about? Lucy: I am working on a little something at the moment, but I'm not quite ready to make any announcement at this time. I released my debut EP, Along the Way, back in June and that's available on all major online platforms. And, of course, I'd always love to see new faces out at my shows! For more information visit www.lucyisabelmusic.com/ To purchase 'Along The Way' visit lucyisabel.bandcamp.com/
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