INTERVIEW: Lucy Isabel
Singer-songwriter Lucy Isabel is at an exciting time in her life: finishing up her first year living in Nashville after graduating from Yale, and releasing her brand new EP of original music, Along the Way. She was kind enough to answer some questions for Runout Number so we could get to know her better. Be sure to check out Along the Way over on her Bandcamp page.
RO#: Walk us through your musical journey. Where did it all begin, and what has brought you to this point?
LI: I started singing when I was a kid. I was one of those kids that you couldn't get to shut up. Just constantly singing. I'm actually still like that. But I started singing in a performance setting in musical theater productions, and at my church. I saw my first show on Broadway in New York when I was 6 years old and from then on that was all I wanted. I did a ton of musical theater as I was growing up and majored in theater in college. I was so sure that it was the only path for me, you know? All of my energy went toward that. And when I was a senior in college I started thinking about the fact that I didn't really want to live in New York. And that I really just wanted to sing all of the time. I had been writing my own music for a couple years and I knew that I loved Nashville. So I took a leap of faith and ended up here!
RO#: What do you hope a listener takes away from Along the Way?
LI: I wrote almost all of the music specifically for the EP, so I wanted all of the songs to work together cohesively. I wanted them to paint a full and clear picture of who I am as an artist, while also being objectively enjoyable. I think the most rewarding part of writing the EP was seeing how differently it turned out from what I expected. And that's not to say I'm disappointed because of that difference. It was a labor of love and I hop that my audience can hear that in the music. I hope that they know there's a part of me in each song.
RO#: How do you think your theater experience and training informs your performance and songwriting abilities?
LI: I think the biggest benefit of my work in theater has been the emphasis on story-telling in play and musical writing. When I was growing up, any time I was going to perform, my mom would say to me, "Just tell the story." I remind myself of that any time I sit down to write, or any time I play a show. It helps me get out of my head a little bit. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the logistics of trying to have a successful music career, so I'm grateful for all of the experience I've had with theater and it's ability to help me see the power of telling a good story.
RO#: If you could ask one artist to come out on stage and sing with you, who would it be?
LI: It's tough for me to choose just one person that I'd love to have come out on stage and sing with me. There are so many artists that I admire and I'd love to sing with any one of them. A big one would have to be Vince Gill, though. There's something about the way he sings. Not just his voice, but his whole demeanor. You can tell it's just what he's meant to be doing. It's really inspiring to me.
Congratulations to Lucy Isabel on the release of Along the Way! It is a five song EP of original music available on her Bandcamp page
