Behind every mic that a musician picks up, is a pen that helps guide the words inside a recording booth. Such is the life of a professional country songwriter, a life that Lauren McLamb knows all too well.
McLamb was born in Erwin, in neighboring Harnett County. Her dad, Scott, is a resident of Salemburg. At an early age, McLamb was very invested in music, learning how to play the guitar at the age of 11 and later in her life, the piano. She’s written songs for country artists such as Dierks Bentley, Caroline Jones and Spencer Crandall, among many others over her career as a songwriter.
“I had grown up playing music,” she explained. “I would play around at small town festivals around Erwin and Dunn. Dunn Days, NC Cotton Festival and Coats Farmers Day. I had always been a huge fan of country music, especially the storytelling aspect of it. My favorite song when I was little was ‘Concrete Angel’ by Martina McBride, which is hilarious because it’s a very heavy song for a 5-year-old to gravitate towards. That was kind of the beginning of where my interest in songwriting came from, just being inspired by the storytelling in country.”
The first ever song that McLamb had written herself was “Here’s To Us,” highlighting her feelings of leaving home and her high school friends, when she left the state to attend Belmont University in Tennessee. It was here that McLamb truly began to actively pursue writing in Nashville.
“My high school friends ended up going to East Carolina University or North Carolina State, so they kind of went together,” McLamb said. “It was definitely a big jump moving to Nashville, not really knowing anyone. It was pretty intimidating for sure, but Nashville is just such a friendly, welcoming place. I found my crew pretty early on over at Belmont. It was a great way to move to Nashville at 18 years old. Everyone at that school was kind of starting over in this new place, so we were all kind of finding our new circles at the same time. It was a nice way to move here and be welcomed for sure.”
Collaborating amongst her peers slowly began to help build McLamb’s craft, eventually helping her become noticed by Liz Rose, a renowned songwriter, and eventually become part of her publishing company, Liz Rose Music.
McLamb credited Rose for inspiring her, taking the lessons that Rose had shared with her. Focusing on the song and not the outcome of how successful it could potentially be, was one of the many lessons that McLamb learned under Rose’s tutelage. A usual work week for McLamb consists of five days a week inside a songwriting room with an artist and a producer, meeting new artists constantly throughout the week. One of the things McLamb loves most is the when things click within the room, where “you feel the magic where everyone knows that you’re heading in the right direction when the song comes together.”
“It’s kind of like a lottery ticket job,” McLamb described. “You keep playing a lottery and you just get a little bit better at almost guessing the numbers right.”
There’s more into songwriting than what it seems upon first glance, something that surprised McLamb herself. Similar to what she did as a young girl, McLamb will sometimes sing on demos and play at café gatherings, such as the Listening Room and Bluebird Café. While she loves playing in these settings, she doesn’t see herself releasing her own music at the moment, instead preferring to continue to help artists tell their stories and help shape their records.
“I like to give people the behind the scenes of what a career as a songwriter actually looks like,” she said. “I know growing up, I always just assumed that an artist wrote their own songs. It never occurred to me that there would be a room of people behind that. Sometimes, the artist doesn’t even write the song at all. It’s just kind of fun for me to go out there onstage and play songs for people and give them a peek into what our world looks like. Seeing those young faces in the crowd, I like to show them, if I can do it, they can do it. My advice is to build that community and write with each other, and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there in that way.”
In addition to her dad, McLamb highlighted the support her husband, Dalton Motter, and her sister, Morgan Coleman. Whenever McLamb is unsure about a certain song, she sends it to her sister, who’s also a fan of country music.
“She’s very encouraging, and sees my wins as her own, so I’m very appreciative for her as well,” McLamb emphasized. “My dad is super encouraging as well, so I’m thankful for them. That’s a big piece of the puzzle whenever you’re pursuing a career that doesn’t really have a defined trajectory, to have people behind you saying you can do it.”
McLamb revealed that her current goal is to have a hit song on country radio.
“I have my first song in the Top 40 right now with Caroline Jones, called ‘No Tellin.’ I know my dad texted me last week that it was played on WKML (Fayetteville country radio station) so that’s exciting,” she said. “That’s my ultimate goal that’s on the horizon. That’s a big goal for most songwriters.”