Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Burns.
Hi Leah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m originally from Massachusetts. I was the quiet, shy kid who somehow came alive the second there was music involved. I was constantly putting on pretend concerts in my living room, singing at the top of my lungs, and I was convinced from a young age that I was going to be a rockstar. It never really felt like a dream so much as something I always knew I simply had to chase.
I spent 15 years of my life dancing, found musical theater in middle school, and was lucky enough to have some incredible opportunities performing at various places for some pretty important events all before I graduated high school. I made my way to New York City freshman year for college before eventually transferring to Belmont University in Nashville—a city that’s been my home ever since.
Nashville was where everything shifted. It was the first time I started playing gigs regularly, writing songs, and realizing how incredibly fulfilling it is to not just play music, but create something that’s entirely your own. Finding my sound didn’t happen overnight. Surprisingly, I thought maybe I was meant to write country music coming here, but having grown up on classic rock my entire life, my sound started coming to me and eventually everything started to click. Don’t get me wrong, it came from years of writing songs that missed the mark, second-guessing myself, living through heartbreak, growing up, and slowly learning to just trust my own voice instead of chasing who I thought I was supposed to be.
Now, I finally making music I am proud of, that gets stuck in my band’s head the day after showing them a new song and it feels like I’ve finally found my sound, the one that I always heard inside my head-honest, a little gritty, vulnerable, and unapologetically me. It took me a long time to get here, but the journey is just starting to get exciting now.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being an artist comes with even more bumps in the road than I ever expected, so to say it’s been smooth sailing with be a lie. Toss in a few toxic relationships, seasons of wondering if I was enough, and ever other possible uncertainty that comes with chasing a dream that has no guaranteed path, needless to say, there have been plenty of moments where I’ve questioned absolutely everything and thought I should take an easier route. But every fiber of my being loves it and I always find my way back.
Music is the one thing that makes me feel completely alive. It’s the place I lose track of time, where everything else gets quiet, and where I leave smiling ear to ear, genuinely happy. That’s a feeling I can’t walk away from.
Every setback has been worth it because there are these little moments that remind you why you started in the first place. You play a show and watch someone singing your lyrics back to you. You write a song that just falls out of you in twenty minutes and it becomes the best thing you’ve ever written. Or someone you’ve never met reaches out to tell you your music made them feel seen. Those are the moments where everything else disappears and you think, “Oh yeah… this is why. This is why I keep doing this.”
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a singer-songwriter that is creating pop-rock music. I’ve never been the person that needs to be the loudest in the room or have all attention on me. In fact, I’m probably the quietest in the room unless you catch me onstage; that’s where I fully come alive. I am known to have a very girl next door kind of vibe to me and I think that’s something that sets me apart from others. I’m quiet, I write from a really honest and vulnerable place while still trying to make it catchy and something people will sing along to. All my favorite songs are the deep cuts on records that just kinda stab you in the soul and make you feel seen. That’s what I want my songs to do for people, make them feel seen and know they aren’t alone. I want them to feel like we are walking side by side learning and figuring life out together.
I am most proud of staying to true to who I am and not sticking myself in a box saying “I have to sound like this” or “I have to write songs like this” or “I need to look like this”. Especially in society today, it’s hard to actively choose to stand own and be exactly as you are or speak up about how you are feeling. But I try my hardest and write wherever the wind takes me. It’s been incredibly cool so see how I have allowed my music to change and grow with my while I too am changing and growing. And letting those ups and downs of life pour into my songs.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I think success for me is waking up getting to look at and be proud of the life I’ve created while knowing I haven’t lost myself chasing it. Being unapologetically who I am and never losing sight of that. And an added bonus of people hopefully relating and connecting to the words I write and have lived.
All the fame and fortune in the world sounds amazing, but if I can make people feel something, THAT is all I’ve ever wanted. So many of my favorite artists, big or small, have made me feel so many things and have come into my life exactly when I needed them. If I can be that for someone, then I’m winning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.leahburnsmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leahburnsmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leahburnsmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@leahburnsmusic
