Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna La Mare.
Hi Anna, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi, my name is Anna La Mare (Lah-Mah-Ray), and I am an indie folk singer/songwriter. I play and tour full time, and am currently stationed in Austin, TX. I was raised in many states and countries and am often labelled a troubadour, nomad, or gypsy… so I guess you could say the road and I have had our share of time together.
My life on the road as a musician can definitely trace its roots back to my upbringing. It was my mother and I at first: she is a jazz musician, film scorer, and orchestral arranger, and I was living with her in different states with friends and family members until she met my Australian stepfather – a cartographer – whose job moved us around the world and to different US states (France, UK, Colorado, New Orleans, etc.). When I went to university and onwards, I continued the trend (Italy, North Carolina, New Orleans as an adult, Houston, and so on). Thus, I have never lived in a home for longer than one year as an adult and never in a city for longer than 3.5 in my lifetime.
For most of my adult life, I was a bit lost, searching for my own sense of home. When my European visa expired, I was forced to move back to the US after 10 years abroad and continued what became a 15-year foray in the service industry: bartending, managing bars, and developing cocktail programs in different states. I really enjoyed the service industry life and the people it connected me with, but I never felt like it was my calling, and I continuously searched for something else. For a long time, I put my energy into medical school and was in Berlin, Germany, doing an intensive pre-med course when Covid hit.
Somewhere between the existential dread and stress brought on by the pandemic and my body’s need to blood-let the pressure I had put on myself to prove that I could be a doctor…something changed. I woke up one day and realized I was doing it all wrong. I took a deep breath, closed my medical books, and haven’t looked at them since. It was a life I am sure I would have loved, but I realized it was not the life I needed. Covid was a transformative time for many, and I can say it made an enormous impact on me.
Fast forward two years later, and I was back in Houston, working in liquor sales to pay the bills. I was happy that I didn’t know where the future would take me. I had gone through an emotionally defining breakup and was in intensive therapy doing deep internal work. The vacuum had been created for something new: something that felt entirely like the version of me that had been wanting to get out, and that would surround me with the people and energy I craved.
In January of 2022, I said the words to my therapist out loud: “I think I want to play music for a living”. It honestly stunned me. It had never occurred to me before to pursue a career in the arts. The system is built against musicians, and years of watching my insanely talented mother struggle to swim upriver had previously been enough for me to say, ‘absolutely not’… but the minute I said it, I knew I had made the right choice. To choose such a terrifying journey and simultaneously feel my body enter a sense of purpose and calm it had never known before…that’s how I knew it was different. The pressure was gone, it was just up to me to keep doing it. So, I guess finding your calling is a little like falling in love. You just know.
It took about a year, but I quit my “big girl” job, put everything in storage, bought a Honda Element, and on December 23rd, 2022, I packed up the car with my things and my dog Islay (eye-lah) and decided to drive straight to B.C. Canada to spend time with my closest friend and start ‘becoming a musician.’ Well, how was I going to do that? Lesson one: we musicians are entrepreneurs. This is one of the hardest jobs out there. You are not only an artist looking to create and connect, but you are a booking agent, a social media manager, a PR executive in charge of finances, a grant writer, a manager, a band leader, a driver, and so on. I knew this had to be taken seriously in order to survive – so I took three months in Canada and researched, wrote, and practiced as much as I could before taking myself out on the road.
I’ve been on the road since. I have played up and down the West Coast, Texas, New Orleans, North Carolina, Missouri, Scotland, and England, and will be filling up more states and cities this coming year. Being on tour brings me joy – I love sharing music and my soul with people around the world. I love the amazing people I get to meet. I’m pretty sure I still work doctors’ hours, just in much better lighting… and this is where where I’m meant to be.
As for what’s coming, I’m currently working on releasing my first singles and booking out the rest of 2024. I release live singles on YouTube weekly and constantly update my dates and what’s coming on BandsinTown and social media. I also started a Substack, which is in essence a blog/newsletter where I get to dive more fully into my music, writing and myself. I find social media to be helpful, but we all know how depthless it can be. This gives me a chance to be more authentic and meaningful with my words.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As with any musician – and any small business owner – finances are 100% the most difficult roadblock. They say that creating an album costs about $15-$20k, and that’s without all of the promotion and marketing needed to even get it into people’s ears. Many venues for upcoming artists don’t pay – you rely on the altruism/tips of patrons. Those that do are many times based on ticket sales (which can take hours or days of your time to promote and hope fans show up) or pay a pretty low guarantee. When you break down the hours spent promoting, reaching out (sometimes for weeks or months to get a gig), traveling (how many hours?), setting up, performing, breaking down, and getting home…it’s a very small dollar amount for a show. Not to mention practicing and keeping things fresh and fun for yourself and others. If you have other band members, that number gets cut again. Some venues have even recently been trying to hold a percentage of merch sales – though this is a fight I think they will lose. Bring this back around to actually recording and promoting music (the online algorithm wants something fresh monthly); it can feel like a bit of a losing battle.
None of this is to complain but to explain what we’re up against. The love keeps it strong. The fans keep it strong. And the community that works and can thrive within that love is incredible – I’m so lucky to be a part of it. So that $10 or $20 you leave in the tip jar or that T-shirt you purchase – it’s a huge deal, and we’re grateful to you. Supporting live music any way you can is so important.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I would say the easiest genre to put me under is Folk/Americana. It’s such a broad umbrella these days, and I get asked often what it really means. I think the easiest way to describe it is the music of the people. Folk music has no borders and resides in all of our souls. It tells the stories of the everyday human: it is empathy-based storytelling and creates a reflection of the emotions and struggles that humankind goes through. It can be about a someone’s happy dog, a lost love, or it can be a war cry. That’s what makes folk music special and why I love it. Sometimes I write about my own story – but any emotion I have gone through you almost certainly have too. So really, my story is your story. Isn’t that kind of wonderful?
I have been lucky enough to be raised and surrounded by a rich tapestry of international musical influences, and I find they seep their way into my writing and melodies. Sometimes it’s a Scots ballad, sometimes a melancholy blues tune, other times a funky groovy rock song. Most of the time, I have no idea what it is…it just is so. Most of what I am able to present currently is stripped down solo/acoustic, but I do hear those orchestral swells or world music additions in my mind, and I can’t wait to one day add to them. For now – the people I frequently get compared to are Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Florence and the Machine, and Joan Baez. I float between the realms of moody and tender and sometimes like to mix it up with a quirky waltz or fun bluegrass tune. But you never know what’s going to come next.
I think all of this unique upbringing is what sets me apart. As a TCK (Third Culture Kid) with many memories of falling asleep in the back of jazz clubs and listening to Celtic music while we set up the Christmas tree, I know my musical upbringing has allowed me to push past the barriers of traditional American folk and create outside its boundaries. Three of my favorite artists are Sigur Rós, Loreena McKennitt, and Queens of the Stone Age. I think that says enough.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is such a subjective, ethereal, and dynamic concept, and I try not to think of it too much. It has the opportunity to be extremely dangerous. An unobtainable expectation of one’s success can create such deep-seated pains for those who work so hard. The knuckle-rapping teacher in the mind of anyone with perfection difficulties (hi, it’s me) can constantly barrage your sense of well-being. I have personally seen it create an unending sense of failure in those who have generated so much beauty, kindness, and work in their lives. Also, success does not equal happiness (another dangerous word).
For today – my successes are small: survive, be kind, keep creating, connecting, and building. Put things into the world that I am proud of. Reach out to those I love. And always do things that make your heart race. Carnegie Hall with Gregory Alan Isakov or Sting will be there in the future, and even if it’s not… I’ll know I was still doing what I could where I could.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://annalamare.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annalamaremusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annalamaremusic/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnaLaMareMusic
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/@annalamare
- Yelp: https://www.bandsintown.com/a/15512060
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/annalamare
- Other: https://annalamare.substack.com
Image Credits
Ricky Garni
Winker with an Eye
Philip Etheridge
Hélène Cyr
Geoff Moore
