Have you ever met someone, one of those people who are bubbling over with, well, everything; the kind of person who causes you to look at yourself in the mirror; the kind of person who just glows? On a warm summer night, a few weeks back, wandering merrily into The International in Knoxville, TN, I had the pleasure of a few minutes with Laura Reed. I’m a positive person, bursting with ideas and chasing them, and Laura…she was simply in the clouds. Besides self-releasing her new album, “The Awakening,” she has started her own record label (Five Foot Giant Records), and is putting together an epic release party at 12th and Porter in Nashville on Friday, October 3rd. When we caught back up with her, she had just finished a day long photo shoot and was still, to quote our favorite festival Bonnaroo, “Radiating Positivity.”
On Friday, October 3rd, 2014, Reed will put on an extravaganza that will leave even the music frenzied Nashville spinning. The event will be held at 12th and Porter, a staple in downtown Nashville, and will be filled with all of the best parts of the best parts of live music. Check out the video here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0RgSZm8Dag). “It’s actually going to be a pretty amazing show, because I will be using the guy who produced the album. He produced India Aire’s album, toured with Sade, worked with John Legend, Robert Randolph and Marc Broussard, a crazy list of people. He is going to be playing organ, B3 and keys and actually MDing the show. He doesn’t MD for anybody but me, India Aire, and Sade. The band is super tight. He is like Joe Jackson. We’re going to have a string section, horns, and the rhythm section is great Nashville players who did some stuff for the album. It’s going to be cool. It’s going to be a big party. There is going to be lots of confetti (laughing) and lots of production. 12th and Porter has one of the best production systems in town, as far as lighting goes.”
“Awakenings,” will be released on October 7th, 2014 by Reed’s Five Foot Giant Records. Reed’s ability to both craft and deliver her highly delectable music is mesmerizing. Her deep, rich, continuously driven and positive lyrics are simply delightful. When she digs deep, the content hits so close to home that it sends shivers up and down the spine. “It’s that soul thing. It’s being uninhibited with your emotions. My intention is to pull emotion out of people with something they can relate to, where they feel like the song is written about them. I know that for people to completely let go and actually be impacted by music, you have to hit them in a bunch of different ways. You’ve got to make it where they let go and dance. You’ve got to hit them where they are, like’ you just totally expressed the last beak up I went through’ and then you’ve got to hit them with some stuff where thy think, “maybe I want to quit my job because I’m reevaluating my life.’ You want them to think. You want them to not think. You want them to dance and you want them to feel.”
Reed tackles an array of organic elements in her venture. In “Faith Not Fear,” she states “The only one that can defeat me is me.” The song is a constant reminder that we can choose how we live. “That was about me leaving Atlanta and coming to Nashville and not really knowing what to expect; not knowing if it was a good decision or bad decision. It was totally a leap of faith. You know when you’re really facing a big decision and you almost have to talk yourself into it? Sometimes you have to inspire yourself. That is where some of these songs come from. Sometimes it’s the advice I need myself. Maybe it’s cheesy, I will hear some of these songs and it doesn’t even feel like it’s me. I will hear “Faith not Fear” and it will re-inspire me. If I heard it right now, it would inspire me. I don’t know how to explain it. Sometimes when I’m writing, especially that song…it’s like the whole song fell on me. I was staying at Paul Worley’s house. I had just moved to Nashville. I didn’t even know how to play piano and I wrote the song on piano. It was like I was struck by lightning. Some songs are just like that. It’s almost hard to take credit for the lyrics, for some of the energy behind it. It’s like it just hit me and it’s what I needed at that time, because I was doubting myself. That song was about me being re-inspired and realizing that the only one that can defeat me is me, that I have to have faith not fear and that I’ve got to follow my fire. I’ve got to inspire people and trust that this is my purpose and go with it.”
“Killin Em with Kindness” deals with backstabbing and the shameful ways that people can treat one another. “You’re going with the original version. There is the version on the album and the one I just released on YouTube. The original was more of a personal…people back stab you and you’ve got to let it roll off. I sent that to Shannon, my producer, and he said, ‘I love it, but how do we make it bigger?’ How do we make it global on a humanity level? That song is all about being able to see through and zoom out.
In the midst of shopping her new album, Reed became dissatisfied with the ideas and suggestions that were coming her way. “The climate of the music industry is so single based and no one wants to get behind a project. I said, no, this is a body of work. We chose these ten songs and put them in that order for a reason. I don’t want to put out a single. I want to put out an album. I was getting frustrated. I remember Shannon (producer) said, ‘Why don’t you put it out yourself. Start a label and call it Five Foot Giant.’ I refer to myself as a five foot giant because I’m five foot and I’ve got a pretty good personality and I’m pretty feisty. It’s literally a mom and pop label operation, but we’re getting some traction. This morning I went to a music meeting at Lightning 100 in Nashville and out of all the songs that were pitched today, my song “Wake Up” was the only song that was chosen across the board. If you’re like me, I work hard and I know how I want it done. (Laughing) I’ve never had a record label, so why not. Bucket list? Check!”
For all things Laura Reed, including tickets to this Friday’s show at 12th and Porter in Nashville, TN, check out www.laurareed.com.
