Daily Discovery: Lauren Marsh, “Promise”

Photo by Laura Desantis Olsson
Photo by Laura Desantis Olsson

ARTIST: Lauren Marsh

Videos by American Songwriter

SONG: “Promise”

HOMETOWN: Hopewell, New Jersey

CURRENT LOCATION: Hopewell, New Jersey

AMBITIONS: Writing songs and performing live are the two things I am most ambitious about on this planet, next to ice cream cake.

TURN-OFFS: Getting splashed by a car driving through a puddle in the rain, as I walk through the city to my next gig carrying my keyboard on my back. Menus that include the calorie count, as if I’m not going to order that Mac & Cheese with bacon… as I always do… with a beer. Insects – They are my nightmare!

TURN-ONS: All animals! (Highlights: Dogs, Cats, Llamas, Alpacas) Whenever I go to the zoo or aquarium, it’s like system overload. Theme park rides! From the teacup rides to the roller coasters, I’m always game! Parks on a sunny day – that’s dream living right there.

DREAM GIG: My favorite performances are the ones when I really feel connected with the audience. There’s just an amazing vibe in the room and everything is electric. My performance style is very interactive, I share a lot of personal stories and I love to hear the reaction from the crowd as I reveal some of my life’s greatest mis-steps. My dream gig would probably be that on steroids; a sold out theatre or ballroom where the energy is just infectious. I’m all about the connection we experience via music.

FAVORITE LYRIC: “Feel heavy like floating at the bottom of the sea” – Some Devil by Dave Matthews. These lyrics got me through a very hard time in my life. Hearing Matthews sing these lyrics, made me feel like my feelings were understood.

CRAZIEST PERSON I KNOW: One time I performed with Earl Slick from David Bowie when I was in School of Rock. It was an unreal experience. He was actually smiling on stage when we performed the live version of Changes together. He is such a humble and inspiring musician. I don’t know if he would remember me, but! I will never forget that experience.

SONG I WISH I WROTE: Blackbird by The Beatles. Whenever I hear that song it’s like the rest of the world goes quiet and everything is just that song. To write a song that does that would be one of my greatest accomplishments.

5 PEOPLE I’D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Larry David, Sara Bareilles, Amy Poehler, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Wonder

MY FAVORITE CONCERT EXPERIENCE: When I first started out I had this performance at a local bar on a very slow Friday night, the place was mostly inhabited by the few family and friends of mine that came out. A man came up to me after my performance and wanted to tell me how much my performance of my original song “For A Moment” meant to him and his son, since the recent passing of his wife. If there’s one dream I could ever have for my music, it would be to help anyone going through a rough time. Knowing that one of my original songs reached someone going through such a hard time that night meant the world to me. Maybe it’s because music is my own solace that when I can do that, give that feeling to someone else, there’s really nothing better.

I WROTE THIS SONG: Promise” is about living fully and not holding back. In life, we have to take the good with the bad and we can’t let the bad deter us from living. The people in my life who stuck with me through the bad times mean the to world to me. After bad experiences like a hostile stalker, being followed in a parking lot, a car accident, and being hospitalized after someone deliberately drugged my drink in NYC,  I had to learn how to focus on the good, focus on my dreams, and focus on the amazing parts of life. I couldn’t let the bad things that happened to me keep me from living. Living fully and celebrating the good times with the people who mean the world to me, makes it all worth it. Never give anything the power to hold you back.

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