Song 43

This week finds me on the mend after a bought with COVID I caught while in Chicago. I'm prepping for a long trip to Austin for SXSW and Blake is not happy about it. Hear how Hate to Say It is shaping up and listen in to its rough beginnings on my phone. This week's episode of Song 43 was recorded on the Shure MV7 Podcast Microphone using AONIC 5 Sound Isolating Earphones.

This week finds me in Chicago where I'm supporting the launch of the brand new GLX-D+ Digital Wireless System from Shure. I'll be MC'ing an event, co-hosting a livestream with Mario Ponce on  shure.com and releasing the video I helped put together featuring guitarist Nita Strauss . Needless to say, it's a busy week and the work/life balance struggle is real.  Follow Nita Strauss @HurricaneNita  Fo...

I'm back after a fun long weekend in North Conway, New Hampshire. I got to have time with my family and visit the Ski Club Schussverein which brought back a ton of great memories. Now, it's full steam ahead into the remainder of the work week and there's no rest for the weary. Listen in as I explain how my song, Let It Rain, came to be and also where it went - literally all over the world! Downloa...

This week finds me in a bit of a spiral as I navigate medical issues and worries. I get a little more personal than usual as I talk about my struggles with depression and anxiety and then dive into a song from my first album called His World. Listen in as I talk about how it all came together and also hear about my new keyboard, the Casio Privia PX-S6000 .   Songs featured in today's episode: I'm...

On my way home from a short but sweet trip to LA, I decided to listen to my first album on the drive home. Listen in as I break down the song Wallflower into its various layers of strings improvised in the studio by the incredible Will Robertson in Boston in 2001. Check out Wallflower  Listen to ' Where Are You Going? ' Learn from Will at Berklee Follow me @lauraclappmusic Learn more at www.laurac...

This week finds me at home where I had a chance to catch my breath after traveling last week only to have to get ready to pack things up again for a trip to LA. Listen in to hear how things went in Indy and to learn the story behind my song, This House. It's a bit of a sad one, so settle in and find out how it all came to be. Listen to This House  produced by the incredible Robbie Bronniman Check...

My song, The First Shade of Winter, is a bit of anamoly for me. When I write, I typically start with piano and the melody and lyrics follow. With this particular song, everything came at once after looking down at a pile of leaves while walking with my baby girl. Listen in as I tell the story of how this song came to be and where it went once I shared it with the world.  Listen to the full track h...

This week's episode is a hot holy mess of audio artifacts (hello, Teams notification and text message!), subpar audio (ugh, Descript) and me talking about a lack of boundaries when it comes to protecting my time. In other words, don't judge. Just take it for what it is, a frazzled mom/wife/worker who needed to create so I didn't lose my mind.  Follow me @lauraclappmusic Watch this episode on YouTu...

This week's episode talks about the challenges of trying a new livestream platform after not livestreaming for months, the joys (and terrors) of collaboration and a tale of when I was in Japan on tour with Howard Jones. You'll hear snippets of songs I've been working on with Mark Rahilly as well as a performance filmed in the keyboards room at Ikebe Musical Instruments in Tokyo, 2009. Listen to th...

It's the first episode of 2023 and I'm excited about it. I was able to take time to take a breath and do some planning for the year and the podcast. Listen in as I offer up some tips and tricks for goal setting and talk about the top things that inspired me most in 2022.   Download your copy of my 2023 and podcast digital planners today!  Heartcast Media , Molly Ruland and The Next 100 Podcast Jes...

This episode talks about holiday crunch time, procrastination at its finest and a plan to take some time to get my act together. If you're feeling stressed, take a few minutes to commisserate with me as you listen in to a brand new song wandering recorded in my kitchen. I end the episode with my favorite Christmas carol, Silent Night.  Recorded on the Shure MV7 Podcast Microphone Follow Laura http...

This week finds me in Chicago once again as I meet up with my Shure team. I talk about the finer points of Christmas dinner (see the recipe for Yorkshire pudding below) and give a review of the Fox in a Box escape room that my team CRUSHED. The episode ends with a version of The First Noel recorded in 2008 on my Alvarez acoustic using the TC-Helicon Harmony 4 plug-in. Yorkshire pudding - https://w...

Creative bandwidth has been hard to come by in the past few weeks. Listen as I talk about how my performance went at my local tree lighting after worrying I would crash and burn, and also how I'm feeling the pull of the muse while also trying to be present.  The episode wraps up with my version of The Christmas Song which I hope brings you some peace and a chance to take a deep breath.   Follow me...

After making all the things for Thanksgiving last week, now it's on to the fun and craziness of Christmas. Listen in as I talk through the finer points of turkey day stress and what it takes to prep for an upcoming holiday show in my home town.

This one is a little bit of a sermon. I'm preaching to those of you who are in a spot where you are questioning why you're there, what you're doing and what you should be doing. Am I qualified to preach? No! Do I care? No! So if you want a little bit of insight along with a super stripped down version of "What You Do" while I'm fighting a cold, then press play already.  Download/stream: https://op...

This past week has been a flurry of activity to get my family out of our house and into my in-law's while our floors are refinished after the great flood of episode 5. Listen to what happened when I decided to walk over to the piano and hit record. You'll hear the true wanderings of this songwriter along with an old tune called "Woke Up Today" that I wrote while I was a freshman opera student at D...

Join me for this week's episode where I discover (the hard way) that studio sound mode in Descript isn't all it's cracked up to be as I walk you through how Pretend came about. I managed to record the whole episode, thought the audio was garbage, recorded the episode again and then realized I could have toggled one little button and made it all better. Live and learn, as they say, right? I still l...

Life is not always smooth sailing for creators, especially when anxiety and depression hits at unexpected times. On this week's episode, I talk about how I had an inspiring week full of highs last week which then led to a bit of a crash when Monday came. I also talk about how Pretend is coming along and give a little history of my first album, Where Are You Going? The episode ends with a song from...

This week finds me in my hotel room in Carlsbad, CA where I'm attending the Women of NAMM (WON) Leadership Summit. It's been a killer two days of self-reflection and learning with some of my industry's best and brightest and I'm taking it all in.  Learn about a newsletter I've been putting out over on LinkedIn and hear a brand new song idea I worked on right from my hotel. It's a work in progress...

Here we are friends,  episode 20! I have been talking about myself for the past 19 weeks and thought it was high time to bring on some friends and hear how they weave creativity into their busy lives. This week's episode features one of my oldest and dearest friends, Chris Burke , an incredible singer and entertainer. Listen in as we talk about our brushes with fame, failures, triumphs and joy in...

This episode is all about new tools that Laura has learned about over the past two weeks, so if you want to geek out and learn about podcasting and livestreaming software - this is the one for you. Laura talks about Descript, Ecamm Live, LinkedIn, Casio and more and ends the show with a new tune that's a work in progress and a total departure. Learn more about Ecamm Live Watch Laura's Casio CT-S10...

Laura's musical path has had many twists and turns. Listen in as she walks you through a story of how the first Nashville demo session she ever sang on led to a Reba McEntire title cut and a development opportunity with songwriter D. Vincent Williams. You won't want to miss what happened next. Reba McIntire's Room to Breathe  Learn more about the talented D. Vincent Williams Listen to Gotta Be Me...

This week's episode finds Laura in Albany at the People of Video conference where she had the chance to learn from some of the best of the best from the world of YouTube and livestreaming. She has been taking copious notes and also had the chance to speak in front of this incredible audience about Shure mics. Listen in as she talks about how this conference started her thinking about gear and how...

Have you ever wondered how a song goes from a songwriter's head to a fully fleshed out production? Laura will take you through each building block she used to create one of her latest tunes, Honey, and explain how each piece came together and continues to evolve. Download Laura's music   Learn more about the Shure MV7 and SRH440A Headphones