Honesty

“I use
every part
of my life no
matter what.”

Lauren
Pritchard
Songwriter’s Monthly - Dec. ’10, #131 http://www.scribd.com/SongwritersMonthly
 Lauren Pritchard started writing songs
when she was just 14 years old. Shortly
after, she left her hometown of
Jackson, Tennessee to give it a shot in
Los Angeles, California. Even with
steady gigging, things got hard. Lauren
was about ready to return home when
her friend’s mom, Lisa Marie Presley,
insisted she stay because leaving would
be a mistake that Pritchard would
always regret. Lauren took her advice
and kept at it with a renewed vigor. The
week of her high school graduation,
Pritchard auditioned for and dazzled
Duncan Sheik with her remarkable
voice. She landed a starring role in the
then new musical entitled S PRING
AWAKENING and moved to New York
City. The show went on to win 8 Tony
Awards and Lauren remained part of
the cast for two years. Pritchard left the
show to focus on her own music.
Eventually she wound up in London
signed to Spilt Milk/Island Records. Her anyone and I had to find a way to stand
boldly honest and soulfully grooving on my own two feet — musically
debut album is entitled WASTED IN especially — because that’s what I
JACKSON. came here to do, to make the record.”

WASTED IN JACKSON is a revealing diary Pritchard’s career had been moving

spotlighting many of the more intense
emotional moments of Lauren’s life.
Though there are several darker tracks
which explore such topics as the pain of
personal lows, bad relationships, and
loneliness, overall the album has a
positive message of strength and
growth.
“Yeah, I think the album comes across
that way,” Lauren agreed, her voice
soft, easy-going and relaxed. “A lot of
the reason for that is because when I
moved here, to London, I was
completely by myself, I didn’t know
Songwriter’s Monthly - Dec. ’10, #131
forward back in New York City, but not
in the direction she wanted it to be
going. In order to get to where she
knew she needed to be, Lauren had to
make some drastic changes.
“I was in the show [SPRING
AWAKENING] in New York before I came
here [London], so back then my time
was split between writing and singing,
plus I was still auditioning and doing
some acting,” Lauren explained. “I had
agents — I still do — but at the time, I
was fresh out of the show and my
agents really wanted me to make them
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 some money and do some work! I split the difference as far as the actual
finally just had to say to them, ‘I’m work that had to be done. But now, it’s
really sorry, but I have to draw the line just me.”
somewhere and I just want to focus on
my music.’”
“Whether you write
“A n d t h e y ’ ve b e e n i n c r e d i b l y it yourself or you’re
supportive,” Pritchard related. “I think
everyone around me understands that
just a listener,
this is what I’m concentrating on. It everyone has a
feels good to be fully committed to one special connection
thing . . . especially since it’s THE thing
that I’ve always wanted to do.” with music.”
The focus has forced Lauren to “grow “In November, I actually had my first
up” and better understand the week off this year . . . and I didn’t
commitments she has to make in order know what to do! I was really bored.
to be successful in her endeavor. Then I ended up getting really, really
i l l .” L a u r e n l a u g h e d . T h e n s h e
“It’s a lot of work,” she expressed. “It’s considered, “I think everything about
even more work than what I did in New me and my life copes much better
York. There were at least ten other when I have something to do.”
people in the show, so we could kind of
When she was
growing up, Lauren
listened to artists like
Marvin Gaye, Billy
Joel, Carole King, and
Joni Mitchell. “They
would write very
honestly and that’s
why I fell in love with
their songs,” Pritchard
stated. “They wrote
about their lives and
even though I didn’t
“I’m not trying to go through those
be anybody else exact same things, I
could find ways to
but myself.” make their songs
apply to my life.”

“When I started
writing my owns

Songwriter’s Monthly - Dec. ’10, #131 http://www.scribd.com/SongwritersMonthly

 “Just because
you think
someone’s
okay, it
doesn’t mean
that they are.
You don’t
know.”
songs, I wanted to be able to do the
same thing. Music is such a personal
thing for everyone. Whether you write
it yourself or you’re just a listener,
everyone has a special connection with
music. My fans have told me they know
exactly what I mean when I’m singing.
They weren’t in the exact place and
time that I was in which caused me to
write a song, but they have
experienced something similar so they
can relate. I get that kind of feedback a
lot and it makes me happy because
that is what I’m trying to do.”
Lauren continued, “Take ‘Wasted In
Jackson’ for example. That song uses
very specific details like the name of
the street that I grew up on or
references to my family. But everyone
has a street that they grew up on,
Songwriter’s Monthly - Dec. ’10, #131
everyone has an uncle, and everyone
has a place where they’ve felt really
smothered. The song is descriptive
enough so people know it is me
singing, but they can take out the word
‘Jackson’ and insert whatever town
they grew up in or whatever place
makes them feel like that. That
definitely is the goal in my writing.”
Lauren is able to include specific details
in her lyrics while keeping the focus of
her songs on the larger, more general,
emotions. Her fans relate to her music
because she understands how to
position an extremely personal
experience in a light that makes it a
universal sentiment. The town
“Jackson” is not nearly as important as
the feeling of being smothered and the
need to get away.
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 London
“I’ve done a lot of
traveling. I’ve lived in
22 different
apartments in 7 years
and I don’t really want
to have to move
again.”
“I was completely by
myself, I didn’t know
anyone and I had to
find a way to stand on
my own two feet.”
Songwriter’s Monthly - Dec. ’10, #131
“London is not as crazy-mental as
living in New York City — which I like
— but it’s still got so much going on.
Also, I just really love the people I’ve
met. I came over here for a few
months for what I thought was just
going to be some recording and I
really fell in love with the place . . .
everything about it from the weather
to the history.”
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 Pritchard also pointed out that she is really bad and everyone I knew around
not a big fan of rewrites. “I rarely find me was really suffering . . . I was
that the rewrites ever work for me,” suffering, we were all suffering. Just
she admitted. “The only song I’ve ever because you think someone’s okay, it
done where the rewrites actually doesn’t mean that they are. You don’t
worked was the song ‘Pain Killers.’” know. Everyone has to try a little bit
harder.”
“Pain Killers” is a rather detailed song
about an overdose incident. When “WASTED IN JACKSON is a really honest
asked if it was taken from a personal record that I wrote from my heart,”
experience, Lauren replied, “Mmm Lauren concluded. “I’m not trying to be
hmm. I am very honest and I use every anybody else but myself. People always
part of my life no matter what because ask me, ‘Are you trying to be pop? Are
I think it’s worth it to be honest.” She you trying to be country?’ I’m just tying
went on to note that she resorted to to be myself and write the music that I
the rewrites only because she felt the think captures that.”
verses kept coming out a “little bit
harsh.” For more information on Lauren and
her music, visit:
Such unflinching honesty is not unusual
in Lauren’s writing, in fact, it’s pretty www.laurenpritchard.com
much standard fare. In
another track called “Bad
Time To Fall,” Pritchard writes
openly about a particularly
rough relationship period.
The lyrics state, “You’re not
gonna get a happy song
t o d a y f r o m m e ,” y e t ,
musically, it is one of the
most upbeat, fun tracks on
the album. Lauren explained
the juxtaposed moods thusly:
“I was trying to find a way of
being positive, but still being
honest.”

The song on the album called

“ Tr y A L i t t l e H a r d e r ” i s
Pritchard’s personal favorite.
It is meaningful to her
because of the song’s http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?
id=hyTjEIK1pMo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid
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message. “I wrote it at the

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time when the recession was

Songwriter’s Monthly - Dec. ’10, #131 http://www.scribd.com/SongwritersMonthly