Welcome!

Hey everyone!  I'm Lauren, and I love good ole' southern-fried music.  It's as simple as that.

Let me begin by giving you a little bit of my personal music background.  I was born and raised in the northern part of Metro-Atlanta and have been playing instruments all of my life.  I started playing piano officially when I was in 2nd grade and competed regionally and state-wide from my middle school years until I graduated from high school.  I always wanted to learn new songs that sounded cool or had a lot of emotion behind them, but I really loved earning trophies or certificates for my competitions.  When I first started taking lessons, the 60 point cup for the annual piano festival (where you're judged by other piano teachers around the region) seemed out-of reach; by the time I was a senior, though, it was in my hands with my name on it.  Such a great feeling of accomplishment!  I was classically trained, but my heart was really in ragtime and in mainstream music from the 1970s to now.  Journey is my all-time favorite artist to play on the piano, but I also enjoy playing some Lady Antebellum, Elton John, Sugarland, and pretty much anything that has a piano riff in it.

Around my 8th grade year, I bought a drum set with my allowance money and taught myself to play.  I was always told that if you learned how to play the piano proficiently first, you wouldn't have much difficulty picking up other instruments and learning how to play them pretty quickly.  I felt like that was true because it didn't take long to figure out how to syncronize my hand movements with my foot movements to make some pretty sweet beats.  I tell you, playing the drums was definitely a great way to beat out some frustration! 

Then, around my 10th grade year, I found a mini-guitar that my grandfather gave me when I was in kindergarten or first grade and started to teach myself how to play it.  That Christmas, I was able to talk my grandmother into buying me a full-sized electric guitar (lime green strat with pink knobs...  girly, I know!) with an amp, and I haven't quit playing sense.  The guitar fever set-in, so I hope to have a huge collection of guitars one day.  There's just something about a guitar, though, that you really can't explain.  It's such a beautiful instrument that has the capability to create so many various sounds, whether it's gorgeous melodies or hard-core rhythms.  It's just...  great.

So, basically, the purpose of this blog is to give you some insight on some up-and-coming artists in the country music industry.  These artists may have had a break; some might not have had theirs yet.  It's just a way to bring some additional exposure to those who deserve it.  Now, I'm not saying that I know everything there is to know about music; that is definitely not the case.  I just want to share my opinions on those artists and hopefully bring some great music to your ears! 

Of course, I'll probably throw in some of my favorites from the famous artists every now and then.  I mean, good music is good music!

In the mean time, have a great rest of the week, and I hope you enjoy reading my blog!