The Sit Down with Lakelin Lemmings
Rising country singer-songwriter Lakelin Lemmings is turning up the heat this summer with the release of her highly anticipated, self-titled debut album which is out now on QHMG / Quartz Hill Records. The west Tennessee native co-wrote fifteen out of the sixteen tracks on the album which was produced by award-winning songwriter/ producer Ash Bowers and includes her debut radio single “Get Around Boy” which British fans will be able to hear live for the first time as she makes her maiden voyage across the pond including a performance at Country Calling Festival in Chelmsford. Ahead of the trip, Lakelin joined us on Zoom to look forward to heading across the pond and talk all about her debut album.
Thanks for taking the time to hang this afternoon, girl.
“Yeah, of course.”
It's getting nice and warm again over here so fingers crossed it will continue in just over two weeks’ time when you get over here.
“I know, I'm so excited.”
Country Calling is going to be your first festival over here, what drew you to wanting to say yes to that and what are your goals from getting to play in my hometown?
“Oh, that's your hometown, awesome. I mean, just saying yes to it was a no-brainer and when they told me that I had the opportunity to go to the UK, I was like, why wouldn't I? Hello? I've never been, I've never even used my passport or anything, so I was like, let's do it. Then then getting to open for Randy Houser, obviously, I'm a big fan of his soo that was another reason, but my goals, I would say are just to meet new fans, meet the people over there, make some connections and just see the way that y'all live life over there. I think different cultures and stuff are so fun.”
Yeah, I live in West London now, but Chelmsford is where I grew up, where I went to college, and we had a really big festival there each summer that Kings of Leon, The Killers, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Beyonce, Eminem and even Taylor Swift played there back in the day so it was a huge festival that ran for over twenty years. Then now, It’s really cool that Donna and Pete have got Country Calling up and running there but when you come over, you got a couple of your own shows as well. You're playing Forty-Five Vinyl in York and a show in Birmingham too, which is going to be really nice change from the festival. I guess you've heard a bit about the UK audience from people and how we are more attentive and those two shows are where you'll really see it because they are proper Nashville style listening venues.
“I'm excited because they say it's almost like listening rooms when you go over there and I feel like country music in the US, obviously, it's very popular and you can go see a concert every other weekend, but it's kind of like a special thing in the UK, so to have an audience that's really attentive who truly just loves country music and appreciates it, that’s going to be super fun.”
We’re going to get to hear some of this wonderful project that you put out quite recently for the first time. Sixteen tracks is quite long for records, particularly a debut record and your first album is your life’s work so far and your way of introducing yourself. With that mindset, when people listen to the record for the first time, what do you hope they take away from it as to who you are and what you have to say?
“I get asked this question and it's always difficult to answer it, like, how do I want people to perceive me? But honestly, I feel like if you listen to this album top to bottom, you will know who I am as a person, as an artist, what I believe in and what I value, so you really just get an inside look of what makes me me. I think that's a really special thing and to be vulnerable with songwriting is something I think is so special and that I have the joy to get to do so I just want people to know that I'm real authentic and that I care about country music. I care about bringing the right message to people and my whole thing is I just want to be a light. I feel like there's so many dark parts of the industry and in the world, so if I can bring a little light and a little happiness to somebody through music, then I've done my job.”
“Yeah, of course.”
It's getting nice and warm again over here so fingers crossed it will continue in just over two weeks’ time when you get over here.
“I know, I'm so excited.”
Country Calling is going to be your first festival over here, what drew you to wanting to say yes to that and what are your goals from getting to play in my hometown?
“Oh, that's your hometown, awesome. I mean, just saying yes to it was a no-brainer and when they told me that I had the opportunity to go to the UK, I was like, why wouldn't I? Hello? I've never been, I've never even used my passport or anything, so I was like, let's do it. Then then getting to open for Randy Houser, obviously, I'm a big fan of his soo that was another reason, but my goals, I would say are just to meet new fans, meet the people over there, make some connections and just see the way that y'all live life over there. I think different cultures and stuff are so fun.”
Yeah, I live in West London now, but Chelmsford is where I grew up, where I went to college, and we had a really big festival there each summer that Kings of Leon, The Killers, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Beyonce, Eminem and even Taylor Swift played there back in the day so it was a huge festival that ran for over twenty years. Then now, It’s really cool that Donna and Pete have got Country Calling up and running there but when you come over, you got a couple of your own shows as well. You're playing Forty-Five Vinyl in York and a show in Birmingham too, which is going to be really nice change from the festival. I guess you've heard a bit about the UK audience from people and how we are more attentive and those two shows are where you'll really see it because they are proper Nashville style listening venues.
“I'm excited because they say it's almost like listening rooms when you go over there and I feel like country music in the US, obviously, it's very popular and you can go see a concert every other weekend, but it's kind of like a special thing in the UK, so to have an audience that's really attentive who truly just loves country music and appreciates it, that’s going to be super fun.”
We’re going to get to hear some of this wonderful project that you put out quite recently for the first time. Sixteen tracks is quite long for records, particularly a debut record and your first album is your life’s work so far and your way of introducing yourself. With that mindset, when people listen to the record for the first time, what do you hope they take away from it as to who you are and what you have to say?
“I get asked this question and it's always difficult to answer it, like, how do I want people to perceive me? But honestly, I feel like if you listen to this album top to bottom, you will know who I am as a person, as an artist, what I believe in and what I value, so you really just get an inside look of what makes me me. I think that's a really special thing and to be vulnerable with songwriting is something I think is so special and that I have the joy to get to do so I just want people to know that I'm real authentic and that I care about country music. I care about bringing the right message to people and my whole thing is I just want to be a light. I feel like there's so many dark parts of the industry and in the world, so if I can bring a little light and a little happiness to somebody through music, then I've done my job.”
You were a writer on fifteen of the sixteen tracks on there, and it’s clear listening to the project that you're very lyric driven, so when did you first start writing songs? Were you writing poems as a child or was it a little bit later once you started picking up guitar or keys and you wanted to add a bit more to it, where did the songwriting bug come in for you?
“Yeah, so I started singing, like doing covers, local festivals and gigs when I was six, then I think from six to twelve, I kind of wanted to start writing my own songs because I loved covering Reba, Dolly and early Taylor, you know, that kind of stuff but I was like, I kind of want my own song. I started coming to Nashville to write songs when I was twelve and that's when I really caught the bug, then started coming to Nashville regularly when I was sixteen so, it’s been a long time coming.”
I mentioned about the length of it being quite long, was one of the reasons not just showcasing the songs and your story but also all of your musical influences because sonically there is a variety on there.
“When we wanted to record these songs, we just felt like we wanted to keep adding more, adding more and the head of my label, Benny Brown was like go cut five more, then another five more, so we were like, okay, sounds good. We actually had to cut some songs off, where we had to narrow it down to sixteen and I knew that each one of these songs had a place on the album and that I just couldn't leave any of them out. I do think it shows different sides of me. You have the upbeat and spunky, sassy songs like “He Ain’t Coming Back” and then you've also got a bluesy song like “I'm Over You” so there's a big change of songs and I think that’s just a really good look into who I am as an artist.”
You’re from West Tennessee originally and you said how you started coming back to Nashville a lot more through your teens. Nashville's obviously the home of country music but when you started singing and doing those covers as a child, was it always country and at what point did you realise yes, this is the fit for me vocally in terms of style, but also in the way I'm writing. When did that come?
“Yeah, when I first started singing, I did a mix of stuff. Obviously, I was six years old, so I did Disney Channel songs and I did all kinds of different stuff, but country was always what I was drawn to. I think the accent helped too.”
We've talked about you writing the majority of the songs, but I kind of want to talk about the one that you didn't write. When you see the credits, you're drawn very quickly to seeing Lori McKenna, you see Phil Barton and Jaron Boyer who are some of the heaviest hitters in the Nashville songwriting scene. When your putting an outside cut on a project and especially on one that’s your debut, it has to be a song that feels really special so how did that song find its way to you and what was it about “Keep the Faith” that you properly connected with and felt it had to be a part of your first album?
“Yeah, so I started singing, like doing covers, local festivals and gigs when I was six, then I think from six to twelve, I kind of wanted to start writing my own songs because I loved covering Reba, Dolly and early Taylor, you know, that kind of stuff but I was like, I kind of want my own song. I started coming to Nashville to write songs when I was twelve and that's when I really caught the bug, then started coming to Nashville regularly when I was sixteen so, it’s been a long time coming.”
I mentioned about the length of it being quite long, was one of the reasons not just showcasing the songs and your story but also all of your musical influences because sonically there is a variety on there.
“When we wanted to record these songs, we just felt like we wanted to keep adding more, adding more and the head of my label, Benny Brown was like go cut five more, then another five more, so we were like, okay, sounds good. We actually had to cut some songs off, where we had to narrow it down to sixteen and I knew that each one of these songs had a place on the album and that I just couldn't leave any of them out. I do think it shows different sides of me. You have the upbeat and spunky, sassy songs like “He Ain’t Coming Back” and then you've also got a bluesy song like “I'm Over You” so there's a big change of songs and I think that’s just a really good look into who I am as an artist.”
You’re from West Tennessee originally and you said how you started coming back to Nashville a lot more through your teens. Nashville's obviously the home of country music but when you started singing and doing those covers as a child, was it always country and at what point did you realise yes, this is the fit for me vocally in terms of style, but also in the way I'm writing. When did that come?
“Yeah, when I first started singing, I did a mix of stuff. Obviously, I was six years old, so I did Disney Channel songs and I did all kinds of different stuff, but country was always what I was drawn to. I think the accent helped too.”
We've talked about you writing the majority of the songs, but I kind of want to talk about the one that you didn't write. When you see the credits, you're drawn very quickly to seeing Lori McKenna, you see Phil Barton and Jaron Boyer who are some of the heaviest hitters in the Nashville songwriting scene. When your putting an outside cut on a project and especially on one that’s your debut, it has to be a song that feels really special so how did that song find its way to you and what was it about “Keep the Faith” that you properly connected with and felt it had to be a part of your first album?
“I'm a big music nerd and when I love a song, I look up who the musicians are on it, who wrote it and just all the different stuff that made the song. I obviously knew who Lori McKenna was and who the rest of the writers were on the song and my producer Ash Bowers showed me the song, where at first I was like, okay, whoa, because Lori was singing on the demo and she's a phenomenal singer. I was like, oh my goodness, I don't know if I can do this anymore justice than she did, so I was kind of nervous to sing it at first and wasn't really sure if it was a fit, but my producer pushed me to cut it. He was like, I think it's a song with a really great message and I thought so as well, so when I put my own vocal on it, I think it kind of started speaking to me more. It's kind of funny how that happens sometimes and I just started thinking about the message of the song and how it applied to my life, so I was like, okay, there's a reason I'm cutting this song and it landed it’s way onto the album.”
You mentioned that Ash was the producer through the project and obviously that's a very important relationship, I know you wrote some songs together as well, but having someone being able to translate the ideas that you've kind of written into how you visualise it wanting to sound is really important. How did you and Ash start working together and what is it about the way that they work which you thought was the perfect fit for this self-titled debut album?
“Funny story, Ash has known me since I was literally a newborn baby. Him and my dad were in a band together back in the day, then he started doing his managing stuff, he went solo and had his own career, then when I started coming to Nashville, he was like, hey, I just want to make sure you're in the right hands and in the right rooms with these people. He brought me in, we started writing together and it just kind of organically happened that he became my producer. He produced my first song “Baby Daddy” that went like viral on TikTok, so I think we knew we were a fit then. He just has a really good understanding of me, obviously, he's known me since I was a baby, so he knows who I am and where I come from. He's also a West Tennessee native too, so he kind of understands my sound and that kind of stuff, so it was just a perfect fit.”
When you play the festival, is it just going to be you acoustic or are you going to be having a band with you or a mixture as you’re doing two sets, aren't you?
“It'll just be me with my guitar player and he sings background vocals as well.”
Oh, nice, so a good little introduction for people, hopefully you'll love it over here and we're excited for you coming over in a couple of weeks. Have you got much planned for the rest of the summer when you get back? Have you got many shows trying to push this album a little bit more?
“I had been on a radio tour earlier this year for a bunch of weeks so am doing a lot of radio shows and pop-up shows here and there, so out on the road a little bit.”
That’s fun, thank you for hanging this afternoon and looking forward to catching you in a couple of weeks where it'll be nice to meet you in person as well so appreciate you for taking the time.
The self-titled debut album from Lakelin Lemmings is out now and available HERE. In addition to performing at Country Calling, UK fans will also be able to catch Lakelin at Forty Five Vinyl in York on August 17 and at B: Music Symphony in Birmingham on August 19 with ticket information available on her WEBSITE. You can keep up to date with all that Lakelin is up to by following along socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
Country Calling will take place at Kings Farm in Chelmsford over the weekend of August 14th to 16th and you can find more details, along with ticket information on their WEBSITE whilst you can keep up to date with all of the latest news on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK or FACEBOOK.
You mentioned that Ash was the producer through the project and obviously that's a very important relationship, I know you wrote some songs together as well, but having someone being able to translate the ideas that you've kind of written into how you visualise it wanting to sound is really important. How did you and Ash start working together and what is it about the way that they work which you thought was the perfect fit for this self-titled debut album?
“Funny story, Ash has known me since I was literally a newborn baby. Him and my dad were in a band together back in the day, then he started doing his managing stuff, he went solo and had his own career, then when I started coming to Nashville, he was like, hey, I just want to make sure you're in the right hands and in the right rooms with these people. He brought me in, we started writing together and it just kind of organically happened that he became my producer. He produced my first song “Baby Daddy” that went like viral on TikTok, so I think we knew we were a fit then. He just has a really good understanding of me, obviously, he's known me since I was a baby, so he knows who I am and where I come from. He's also a West Tennessee native too, so he kind of understands my sound and that kind of stuff, so it was just a perfect fit.”
When you play the festival, is it just going to be you acoustic or are you going to be having a band with you or a mixture as you’re doing two sets, aren't you?
“It'll just be me with my guitar player and he sings background vocals as well.”
Oh, nice, so a good little introduction for people, hopefully you'll love it over here and we're excited for you coming over in a couple of weeks. Have you got much planned for the rest of the summer when you get back? Have you got many shows trying to push this album a little bit more?
“I had been on a radio tour earlier this year for a bunch of weeks so am doing a lot of radio shows and pop-up shows here and there, so out on the road a little bit.”
That’s fun, thank you for hanging this afternoon and looking forward to catching you in a couple of weeks where it'll be nice to meet you in person as well so appreciate you for taking the time.
The self-titled debut album from Lakelin Lemmings is out now and available HERE. In addition to performing at Country Calling, UK fans will also be able to catch Lakelin at Forty Five Vinyl in York on August 17 and at B: Music Symphony in Birmingham on August 19 with ticket information available on her WEBSITE. You can keep up to date with all that Lakelin is up to by following along socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
Country Calling will take place at Kings Farm in Chelmsford over the weekend of August 14th to 16th and you can find more details, along with ticket information on their WEBSITE whilst you can keep up to date with all of the latest news on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK or FACEBOOK.