Lauren Anderson is a creative, soulful, rockin’ female, originally from Chicago, has had a passion for singing throughout her entire life. Growing up in a household that was rich in music, her influences were widely varied from artists such as Susan Tedeschi, Bonnie Raitt, The Pointer Sisters, Eva Cassidy, Etta James, Joss Stone, Jason Mraz, Black Eyed Peas, Christina Aguilera, and many more.

Lauren released her first, full-length CD titled, “Truly Me” in August 2015. And two singles, recorded in the legendary Ocean Way Nashville Studios, a year after this. She moved to Nashville in February 2017 to continue her music career.

In this interview spotlight, we chat with Lauren about her influences, the new project, navigating the digital age and more.

Full Q&A along with links and the video for What Good Is A Bad Boy? below.

Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)

I’m originally from the Chicago area. I lived in Kansas City for awhile after college and am now based out of Nashville. My music is influenced by a wide-variety of artists, such as Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, Lauryn Hill, Christina Aguilera and Grace Potter. Soul creeps into my music no matter what I’m singing, so I’d say the best definition is to call it rock/soul.

What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?

I went the “smart” route and went to college and then only graduate school. I got a great job working as a music therapist on a pediatric unit and in a school for at-risk youth. I loved it, but my desired to sing, perform and write never went away, and the more I put off pursuing a music career, the stronger the desire became. It really is true: you don’t choose music, music chooses you.

How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?

I released 2 singles at the end of 2016. Both of them were produced and recorded in Nashville at Ocean Way Studios. My previous release in 2015 was recorded in Kansas City and was self produced. One of the singles in particular was written about Box Wine and I intend on pitching it to box wine distributors, etc for advertising purposes. More details coming soon!

Do you face any challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? On the flip side, how has technology helped you (if it has)?

The digital age has made music much more accessible. This unfortunately means that there’s much more of it out there, so there’s more competition, and less money. On the plus side, it’s much easier to share your music with people anywhere in the world. Just today I did a FaceBook Live stream from my house and someone from Sweden tuned in.

Where can we follow you online and hear more music?

Of course! Here are all the links to my sites and music:

• https://www.facebook.com/LaurenAndersonBand/
• www.LaurenAndersonMusic.com
• https://twitter.com/LaurenAndersonM
• https://www.instagram.com/laurenandersonmusic/
• https://open.spotify.com/artist/3AoeCSG1zkka1T0WO3dPUJ
• https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/truly-me/id1025491064
• https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/box-wine-blues-single/id1166417535

Anything else before we sign off?

Here’s my music video for “What Good Is A Bad Boy?” Thanks for listening! 🙂