With her own special songwriting skills, Lauren Shera brings stories to life with a blend of West Coast vibes and authentic songwriting together to craft what many call “California Folk.”
 
Coming from a musical family where her father was a professional drummer, music is in Lauren’s blood. She started writing poetry at a young age without any instrument behind it, but after picking up an old guitar, her poetry turned into a talent for songwriting. Her skill was noticed by man, including Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons, who asked her to join the first U.S. tour of his record label Communion Music.
 
Now, Lauren begins her new journey with her family in Nashville, the most musical city in the United States, where her career as a singer-songwriter will only flourish.
 

 
Songfinch: How did your venture into music begin?
Lauren: I grew up loving music. My whole family is very musical. I went to play the guitar when I was a young teenager, maybe twelve or thirteen years old, so I could fit in these circles with my dad and his friends. I had always written a lot of poetry, so the evolution of songwriting for me was kind of like a natural next step from writing poetry to learning to play guitar to writing songs.
 
Songfinch: How would you say you have changed from your poetry and beginner songwriter days to where you are now?
Lauren: I’ve grown up a lot. I started playing and writing between ten and fifteen years ago. Now I’m married and I just had a baby earlier this year, so there’s always something new to write about if you grow as a person. Your outlook on life kind of changes I think as you get older, at least mine certainly did. I know a lot of my earlier songs were more about heartbreak and longing. I think when you are younger, when I was younger at least, I was just kind of yearning to be older, or to rush ahead, or always kind of wishing I was in another place or another time. I think as I’ve gotten older as a songwriter, I’ve become a lot more comfortable being present and enjoying my surroundings and just trying to make the most of what’s happening in my life right now.
 
Songfinch: Would you say having a baby has had an effect on your music career?
Lauren: Yes, it’s taken me off the road because I used to tour quite a bit, right up until I had my baby actually. I was touring until I was eight months pregnant. And so now I haven’t toured since January, which is the longest break that I’ve ever taken from touring, so that’s been crazy just to be home for this long and it’s been really nice. I’m not getting as much writing done as I’d like, but that’s actually where Songfinch has come in for me. It is this amazing opportunity to continue writing music while staying at home, and it kind of keeps the songwriting muscles in shape while I’m off the road.

[Songfinch] is this amazing opportunity to continue writing music while staying at home, and it kind of keeps the songwriting muscles in shape while I’m off the road.

Songfinch: That’s great to hear! What would you say inspires you to write music?
Lauren: I’ve always been inspired by my surroundings. I’ve always felt that if I want to write new songs, the best thing for me to do is travel or just go to a different place or go outside or like just kind of get out of my head a little bit. I love writing about my surroundings and nature. I love to write about people and kind of make stories up based on certain personalities or things that I’ve been through with certain people. I just kind of elaborate a little bit about around their stories.
 
Songfinch: What influenced some of your previous work?
Lauren: Once I Was A Bird is my second out of the three full length-albums that I have, which I wrote when I was living in Chicago. I was like 19 and 20 when I wrote that album and I had just been through my first major heartbreak, so a lot of the songs are about that and feeling like I was unsure of my place. I had been living in Chicago and taking music lessons at this really neat place called the Old Town School of Folk Music and I didn’t know if I was going to stay there or move back home to California. All of these plans that I had for my future were suddenly changing, so a lot of inner-turmoil influenced that album. My newest record is Gold and Rust and I wrote that when I was moving from California to Nashville where I live now. It was kind of about saying goodbye to that previous chapter of my life where I had been a little bit younger and a little bit more up in the air and unsure of myself. By the time Gold and Rust came out, I was living in Nashville. I was feeling much more settled in myself and in the direction my life was going and feeling like I had made peace with a lot of knots in my past.
 
Songfinch: What does the future hold for your music career as an artist?
Lauren: Right now my priority has been to stay home with my baby. […] Hopefully a new record in the next year, that would be my first goal. I have so many new songs and I would love to share them with my fans and new listeners. And in the meantime I’m really just enjoying songwriting at home and not necessarily having deadlines or feeling like I have to stress about what I’m doing with my career. I’m actually enjoying being kind of relaxed about it right now while I enjoy my baby and enjoy, you know, my home and being in Nashville and just taking a little bit of a break. I’m really enjoying working with Songfinch while I do that. It’s really made being home seem more feasible because I still feel like I’m being productive.
 
Songfinch: How is writing for Songfinch different than writing your own music?
Lauren: Well, I guess the biggest difference is I’m not choosing the subject matter. That’s actually what I like the most about writing for Songfinch. Sometimes I can get so stuck and caught in my head trying to come up with new ideas and trying to think of things that I haven’t written about before, and it’s so nice to just have a storyline presented to you and say, “Here is your subject, come up with the most artistic and eloquent way of telling the story about this person or these people.” That’s been my favorite part about writing for Songfinch.
 
We can’t wait to hear the new music Lauren releases in the future! Until then, get a personalized song crafted for your loved one on songfinch.com.