Song 43

Listen in as Laura talks about how she and her family went to Tanglewood (courtesy of Beckie Campbell at B4 Media Productions) to see the Indigo Girls and Brandi Carlile. The show sparked creativity that Laura can't wait to explore in the coming days.  Laura closes the show with a track from her album Simply, called Only Just Begun and explains how its meaning has shifted since having her girls. Download Only Just Begun  Learn more about Beckie Campbell and B4 Media Production

Last week flew by in a blur of responsibilities but Laura was able to play a show and meet new people while doing what she loves. Today's episode finds her in her hotel room at The Palmer House Hotel in Chicago where she did her best to avoid errant room noises and capture a quick update.  The song featured in today's episode is I Dreamed a Dream, recorded in 2003 at Laura's home in Nashville. She recorded this for her dad on a CD of songs called "And Now, For Something Completely Different." Laura does not own the rights to this song but hopes you get a chuckle out of her attempt at musical theater.   

Inspiration can and will strike anywhere. In this episode, Laura talks about how it showed up over the weekend when she sat down to noodle around on the piano. Hear how she grabbed on and rode the wave where it took her, and then hear how sometimes writing can become a self-fulfilling prophecy or an out of body experience. Featured songs: Wallflower  The Dirty Shirt Song I Need You  

In this episode, Laura talks about how not all of her music comes from personal experiences - sometimes she hears stories from her friends and turns them into songs. Listen as she takes you through two of her songs - Beautiful Limbo and When - which were written from the perspective of someone else.  Listen to Beautiful Limbo on Spotify featuring Dave Spak, Chris Cottros and Tim Denbo (from the live album, Leaving Nashvegas) This episode was recorded on the Shure MV7 Podcast Microphone.

This week's episode finds Laura on her couch recovering from hip surgery as she talks through the finer points of pain management, resurrecting old songs and the process of co-writing.  The two songs featured within the episode are 'Please Forgive Me' and 'Ghosts,' both co-written with the talented Dillon Dixon. The intro and outro song is called Cure For You and was co-written with Sheila Greenland and Tim Beezy in a formerly shady motel on Music Row in Nashville which has now become the Comfort Inn. Listen in as Laura decides to spontaneously head over to the piano to play two songs live - flubs and all - and get a real-time look at how this musician's brain works...on pain meds. 

Hear what happened with last week's recording session after a close-call with COVID. Laura will walk you through how it all came together and how she's coping with being away from her family again while in Chicago. Listen to Laura's musical 'journal entry' from 2020 that is a true encapsulation of how she was feeling exactly at that moment. It's not without mistakes, but it is a clear glimpse into how a song is born.  Check out @jaw_productions and @golddiggersla to learn more about the incredible place and people Laura got to work with last episode.

Join Laura from her LA hotel room at the ultra-cool Gold Diggers hotel, venue and studio where she talks about the very real struggle of trying to do everything all at once. Spoiler alert - it doesn't go super smoothly. Find out what happens when Laura gets an unexpected phone call about the shoot she's in LA to film and learn about Atmos, songs for hire and a killer pedal steel player named David Spires.

Last week's gig pitfalls and wins are revealed and Laura shares her anxiety over an upcoming life event. Creativity took a backseat as the responsibilities of work pushed music to the back burner, but there was still a little time to make some music and edit a little bit of a synth track for you to take a listen to. Enjoy, and be sure to leave a comment, rate the podcast or send Laura your ideas for future episodes via @lauraclappmusic or [email protected].

This week's episode finds Laura in a field mixing sound for a new band she's been working with - Outer Island. Their debut show drew a crowd of over 200 people and brought together a mixed crew of musicians spanning 3 generations. Listen in on how the show went, how Laura tried to take a few deep breaths and how she plans to prepare for her next upcoming solo show. The episode ends with a brand new version of her song "Not For Me" recorded on her Steinway while she was down with COVID in February. 

The week took a crazy, wet turn for Laura and the family. Listen to the whole story and a live recording tracked on the fly of two songs with the same chorus. Which one should it be on? Help Laura decide. Gear used: Shure MV7, Shure MV88+

This week's episode talks about a song Laura wrote in 2004 called Don't Call Me Anymore and how it progressed from being an exploration in Drop D tuning to rough tracks to a fully produced track.  This song features Mark Rahilly (producer, bass, organ), Chris Cottros (guitar), Tom Flaherty (guitar), Dave Spak (drums) and me on acoustic guitar. Brian Alex, while awesome, did not play on this tune although I mentioned him.  Laura also talks about a new band project she's been a part of with some local musicians, including but not limited to Henry (lead guitar) and Hayden Ginz (drums). If you have any questions for me throughout this process, email me at [email protected]. To learn how to get your podcast up and running, connect with Molly Ruland at Heartcast Media. The podcast was recorded on the Shure MV7 Podcast Microphone into a Macbook Pro. 

Listen in as Laura describes going to one of her favorite shows yet as well as the mom guilt that came along with seeing said show. She'll also debut a new track called "Hate to Say it" that came as a stream of consciousness and was recorded on her baby grand during her COVID quarantine in February of this year.  

Listen as Laura comes to you live from her hotel room in Anaheim to talk about the NAMM show and what it's done for her career. She'll also chat about how she prepped for the show and the She Rocks Awards where she sang a Dionne Warwick Medley with @heatheryoumans. The episode wraps up with a brief intro and snippet from her new song, "Pretend." This podcast was recorded using the Shure MV88+ Stereo USB Microphone and the MV7 Podcast Microphone. The raw audio clip of Pretend stars Laura's Keurig in the background. See if you can hear it. Also check out @marksuttonrocks, @markrahilly and @jordanwest who played guitar, bass, and drums on the track.

Song 43 began as an idea 4 years ago and has finally been brought to life. After morphing several times, the podcast is now about navigating the creative process as a working mom, wife, singer/songwriter and gear head. Join Laura Clapp Davidson on her first of episode where she talks about where the podcast will go.