[Announcer] This program is brought to you in part by Santa Cruz Guitars Company and Santa Cruz Parabolic Tension Strings and the Santa Cruz Guitar PLEK Department.

And by Peluso Microphone Lab.

Additional support provided by these sponsors.

Hello, and welcome to The Life of a Musician.

Tonight's episode is recorded live from the Sublett-Miller House.

Let's step inside and listen.

Hello, folks, and welcome to The Life of a Musician .

I am your host, Brandon Lee Adams, and thank you very much for joining us today.

And we have our extremely very cool, very down-to-earth, very sweet, very kind.

We're getting all the adjectives in.

-Oh, keep it going.

Keep it going.

-Oh, yeah.

You can, you can pay me after the show.

-Right.

Exactly.

-We have the amazing talent, Miss Lauren Mascitti.

-Thank you so much.

I'm seriously so honored to be here, and it's gonna be a lot of fun.

-And I'll have to pay you after the show now.

-Yeah.

Absolutely.

-See, folks, this is how we pay the light bill.

This is how we get things done around town.

But, Lauren, wow.

We've been kinda communicating for a couple of months, I probably drove you nuts on several occasions.

-No, I love talking music.

We both kinda geek out over it, and that's okay.

-Absolutely.

But, just really stoked to have you here.

Thanks for driving in, and many thanks for Nana for coming with you.

-Absolutely.

-It's been awesome meeting Nana, by the way.

-She's the best.

She's way more fun than I am.

-Yeah, I kinda believe, I might believe that.

-She is.

I've accepted it.

She is.

And that's okay.

-That's fine.

But, you know, just for the folks who might not know, you know, a whole lot about you, maybe they're getting to kinda see you and meet you for the first time.

You know, you've just had this amazing kinda musical journey.

And can you tell us just kind of a little bit, you know, a little bit about what you've been doing so far?

-Well, so it all started...

I've always loved music, and my grandparents raised and adopted me, my Nana and my Papaw.

-Mm-mm.

-My hometown is Louisville, Ohio, which is like a little suburb of Canton.

-Mm-mm.

-And I grew up singing in my church, Trinity Gospel Temple.

Shout out, Brother Dave, Sister Marlene.

But, but that's really where I cut my teeth on the first music I was exposed to is a lot of that really soulful Gospel stuff.

My first vocal coach was a woman in our church choir who was just an incredible singer named Cheryl Jamison, and she and her husband Terry recorded my first little record on me when I was eight years old in the back of our church.

And just growing up around that, around such a huge gospel influence, and then, my Papaw, this is actually his Gibson Dove, by the way.

It was his dad's, and his dad gave it to him, and Papaw gave it to me.

And so, I play it, got to play it in the circle on the Grand Ole Opry, and Papaw and Nana were in the audience, and he got to see that.

But that was something super cool and full circle, no pun intended.

But, but anyway, and then Nana just exposed me to so much music, whether it be Gospel, Motown.

She loves a lot of that soul stuff.

Nana's got a really great ear for all different kinds of music, but I just grew up loving a lot of different styles.

And so, during the course of that, seven or eight years old, now I have a little record and I would sing on any church stage Nana would drive me to and stick me up on, and I just love to sing.

I always have.

And, and I love to write too.

I had a little toy tape recorder back when, back in the day, three or four years old, I'd be making up little jingles.

And my Papaw was a long distance truck driver, and so, at the end of every cassette tape, I would record with my words and stuff, I'd say, "Let's see how it turned out, bud."

But so, like, I always knew that I wanted to be a part of the creative process and make music in some way, shape, or form.

-It's one of those things like, you know, this first song that we're gonna do, which is "God Made a Woman."

And I asked her, so it sounds better coming out of her mouth than mine.

But, you know, this one actually charted for you, didn't it?

-Yeah.

It, well, on the iTunes chart.

So back in 2020, I was on American Idol and, I ended up in the top 21.

And the really cool thing about American Idol is that they let the artist do their own original songs.

And so, not only did I get a golden ticket to Hollywood during my audition for a song that I wrote, but during Hollywood Week, the final round of Hollywood Week, you either could do a song, like pick from a list of 60 songs, from like a list that we could do with the band, and it was Katy Perry's band.

Really great players, really great musicians and-- or we could do a song that we wrote, but of course, we had to accompany ourselves.

-Mm-mm.

-And so, I'm just like, well, I'm not like a huge mainstream pop listener, so I really don't know any of these songs anyway, so let's do one that I wrote.

And that's probably the truest expression of myself anyway, you know.

And so, I decided to do "God Made a Woman" because the inspiration for that song, a lot of it came from my Nana.

You know, she's just the ultimate Proverbs 31 woman, and I wrote it because I got to thinking one day just about how strong she is, and just the whole sentiment of being a woman.

You know, we're so blessed to be able to live in America and have the freedoms that we do, and I think sometimes we get so caught up trying to prove that we can do everything a man can do that we forget about a lot of the really beautiful feminine things that make us unique as women.

And so, I decided to put all that into a song and heavily based on my Nana.

And so, I played it, got a standing ovation from the judges, and I was eliminated at 21.

And after I was eliminated, that song and my record of the same title, "God Made a Woman," the record went to number four on the iTunes Country Albums chart.

And I think the highest that the song itself got was like number 12 on the iTunes Country chart.

And I mean, that was just from the exposure, and people watching it and connecting with it.

And so, I'm really thankful for that platform for sure.

-Well, they-- I feel like people connect because they can feel the emotion and they can connect with what you delivered.

It's a legit hit.

It's not a purchased hit.

-Thank you.

-It's like the real thing.

I went tinfoil once.

I never did make the iTunes charts.

-Well, you know, it was such a God thing, and I give Him all the glory for that, putting me in the right place at the right time with the right song and so.

-There you go.

Would you play it for us, and I'll try not to mess you up on that one.

-Oh, you sound great, Brandon.

-Bless your heart.

Now that's more money I owe you.

["God Made A Woman" instrumental music playing] ♪ God made a man And He looked around ♪ ♪ At the birds of the sky And the beasts of the ground ♪ ♪ Said "Adam my boy You look a little down" so ♪ ♪ God made a woman ♪ ♪ He took a little beauty Took a little grace ♪ ♪ A whole lotta passion And a whole lotta pain ♪ ♪ Put it all together And gave it a name yeah ♪ ♪ God made a woman ♪ ♪ God made a woman To hold the hand ♪ ♪ Of the sick and the young And the broken man ♪ ♪ To fall in love And fill the land ♪ ♪ With beating hearts of fire ♪ ♪ Whatcha gonna do When the night gets cold ♪ ♪ And you need somebody To feed your soul ♪ ♪ He said it ain't no good For a man to be alone so ♪ ♪ God made a woman ♪ [instrumental music playing] ♪ We're the mothers The daughters ♪ ♪ Sinners and saints ♪ ♪ The able the stable And a little insane ♪ ♪ But honey you can't get us Out of your brain 'cause ♪ ♪ God made a woman ♪ ♪ We're the keeper Of the child that cries ♪ ♪ We're the singers Of the lullabies ♪ ♪ We'll take your lonely And make a life ♪ ♪ God Made A Woman ♪ Yes, he did.

♪ God made a woman To hold the hand ♪ ♪ Of the sick and the young And the broken man ♪ ♪ To fall in love And fill the land ♪ ♪ With beating hearts of fire ♪ ♪ Whatcha gonna do When the night gets cold ♪ ♪ And you need somebody To feed your soul ♪ ♪ He said it ain't no good For a man to be alone so ♪ ♪ God made a woman ♪ ♪ He said it ain't no good For a man to be alone so ♪ ♪ God Made A Woman ♪ [instrumental music playing] -Oh, that was awful pretty.

Thank you.

-Thank you so much.

-I wanna ask you about a ton of things, and I always say this because I always feel like on the show, I wanna get the absolute best of the best.

And, like, you're here because I think, holy crap, this lady is very talented and really good.

So, your writing process, do you have a writing process?

Do you have a... you know, do you know where it comes from, I guess.

-You know, I don't really have a process.

Usually the way it comes is, I'll have a hook or a title or something, or at least an idea.

-Mm-mm.

-And then, I'll start noodling around on guitar and come up with kind of a progression that kinda fits the vibe of what the song is about.

If it's gonna be kind of a more melancholy, you know, idea, then I try to, you know, kind of pair the melody up with whatever the mood is, you know, and I just start humming along.

Usually, the lyrics come last for me.

First it's the hook, then usually it's the chord progressions and the structure, and then melody, and then lyric, usually.

But I mean, it just depends, you know?

-Yeah, I gotcha.

I gotcha.

It's hard to put your finger on it.

-Yeah.

And that's usually how it is when I'm writing by myself, and I write actually mostly by myself.

I love co-writing and it's a really cool way to get to know people and make friends in Nashville.

But, you know, I also write a lot by myself.

When I'm co-writing, it's a completely different animal.

You know, because whoever you're writing with, it's kind of like if they're more of a lyric person, like I always kind of try to be whatever they're not, so it kinda balances out.

If they're more of a lyric person, I'll focus more on the melody and the chord progression, the structure.

If they're more of a melody person, I'll kinda try to, I try to kinda fit the mold of whatever the situation is, you know?

-You've got albums out, you've got videos out, and you know, you even got one of them fancy websites, right?

-I got one of them fancy websites, yeah.

-All of that stuff.

You can be found everywhere.

How does it feel, honestly, you know?

How does it feel to sit back, or has it even sunk in, you know.

-You know, I think the driving force for me is that it hasn't, and it doesn't, and I think that's something that other creatives probably relate to.

I know we've talked a lot about this, but imposter syndrome is a very real thing.

The whole, I mean, I feel like a lot of us just never feel good enough and we're never going to feel good enough, but I've kind of learned to embrace that feeling because I know how high the bar is.

Like, I have my favorite writers that I look up to, I have my songs that are just like the gold standard, and I'm like, that's what I wanna write like, you know?

And so, I feel like the feeling that I have not reached my peak, you know, the feeling that I'm not to that point yet.

I don't ever want to have the attitude, well, I'm good enough, you know.

I always want to keep improving and I feel like having that attitude like, you know, oh, I don't know if what I'm doing is even up to snuff, you know.

-Okay.

-I've kind of learned to embrace that because it's kind of fuel for like, you know, getting better and better.

I don't ever want to get stagnant in my creative process, so.

-Well, put another song on us.

What's this next one you wanna do?

And then, and then tell me 'cause what the key is.

I hope I don't forget it.

-Oh, you're good.

It's an E. -Okay.

Cool.

-And, speaking of co-writing and speaking of gold, I got my golden ticket with this song.

-Oh, nice.

Nice.

-On American Idol .

And if you ask any songwriter, and I know you know this, if you ask any song writer what their favorite song they've ever written is, the answer's always gonna be the most recent song they've written.

It's a hot new thing, you know?

-Right.

Right.

-And so, whenever I went to audition back in 2020 for Idol , I found out, like, just a few days before the audition that we could play original songs.

I'm like, okay, that's absolutely what I wanna do.

-Mm-mm.

-And, at the time, I had just written this song with my friend Renee Martin in Nashville, and it just felt so good to sing, and I feel like it represented, as an artist, who I wanna be and who I am.

It's a traditional country heartbreak ballad.

And I'm just like, this is it.

As you do when you write a brand new song, you go sing it on a national television show.

-Exactly.

I mean, everybody does that, right?

-Right.

Of course.

And so, that's an audience to try it out on, you know?

And so, I sang this on Idol and got my golden ticket.

-Awesome.

Well, lay it on us, girl.

-This is called "If I Can Lose You."

["If I Can Lose You" instrumental music playing] ♪ I love you so much ♪ ♪ But I'm so afraid ♪ ♪ Lately I feel like You're pulling away ♪ ♪ I give and I give But all you ever do is take ♪ ♪ I try to be careful And walk this thin line ♪ ♪ Watching my words And protecting your pride ♪ ♪ I'm sorry to say ♪ ♪ I don't think you would stay If I cried ♪ ♪ If you can leave me ♪ ♪ That's how it should be ♪ ♪ If you can stand to Let go of my hand ♪ ♪ Then just walk away ♪ ♪ I want to love you ♪ ♪ Like nobody's loved you ♪ ♪ But if I can lose you ♪ ♪ I think I need to ♪ [instrumental music playing] ♪ Now I can be selfish Sometimes I'm to blame ♪ ♪ But I always love you When you do the same ♪ ♪ I'm just being honest ♪ ♪ Boy you make me out To be crazy ♪ ♪ But you don't deserve me When I'm at my best ♪ ♪ If you can't be there for me When I'm a mess ♪ ♪ For better or worse ♪ ♪ I won't settle For anything less ♪ ♪ If you can leave me ♪ ♪ That's how it should be ♪ ♪ If you can stand to Let go of my hand ♪ ♪ Then just walk away ♪ ♪ I want to love you ♪ ♪ Like nobody's loved you ♪ ♪ But if I can lose you ♪ ♪ I think I need to ♪ ♪ If I can lose you ♪ ♪ I think I need to ♪ [♪♪♪] -Wow.

That was really pretty.

-Thank you so much.

-And there's one thing I was noticing about you.

So, and like I said, this show is unscripted, so if it comes to my brain, I'm gonna ask you.

-Hey, that's okay.

-So you come up with these crazy chord arrangements in these crazy positions.

And I remember when I was going over the song, so I was like, I know what chord that is, but man, I am just not used to hearing it like that.

So, how on God's green earth are you doing that, girl?

-You know, is it okay to say I don't know?

-Yeah.

-Because like, you know, I grew up with a lot of great teachers, and one of them was a guy named Rick Troyer in Sugar Creek, Ohio.

Shout out to Rick.

-Yeah.

-Incredible musician.

He plays everything.

But he taught me a lot of guitar, and I mean, I don't remember every single technique thing that he showed me.

-Right, right.

-But there's a lot of chords that I know I got from him, being exposed to a lot of musicians in Nashville just talking like, oh, how do you play that?

How do you... you know.

And I'm not very much of a, oh, that's the so and so chord.

Like, I tend, I like to geek out over music theory but-- and I love the number system.

It's something that I'm learning and working on continually.

But, but whenever I'm writing, it's just like, you just find shapes and I have no idea what that chord is, it just sounds really cool, so.

-See, but see, that's the cool thing, you know, it's you don't have to be, have a master's degree in jazz.

What you're basically doing is you're just following what's playing in your brain.

-Yeah.

It comes in my-- I can hear it in my brain first, and there's even songs that I've written like in the car over voice memos or whatever, and I can hear the arrangement in my head.

And I get by on guitar, but sometimes I can hear something in my head, and I play a little bit of keys too, not well enough to play in front of people all the time, but enough to write on.

And so like, also depending on what instrument you're playing, that also kinda lends itself to finding new chords that are like dissonant and really cool, but I don't know, I tend to hear it first in my head, and if I record it in a voice memo when I'm in the car, and coming home, getting to my guitar, it's like, oh, I can't find that.

What I'm hearing is different, you know?

But that's part of the fun part about it too because you get to find those things.

-Right.

And I'm looking at it like, you know, she's playing basically just a C bar there and then there's that note.

But it's just so cool, and hopefully that'll be inspiring to somebody watching at home.

-Yeah.

Don't ask me what that chord is because I don't know.

I just know it sounds cool.

And if that's how you are at home, that's totally okay because... -Yeah.

There are no wrong answers.

Lauren, thank you so very, very much for coming all the way down and bringing Nana, and hanging out here and being part of the show.

-Thank you so much for having me.

-And we gotta find a way to get you back.

And thank every one of you at home who are watching this, and we hope that you've enjoyed Miss Lauren Mascitti.

And we hope you've enjoyed The Life of a Musician , and you'll continue to watch as each episode unfolds.

God bless, and be well.

And what are you gonna send us out on, Miss Mascitti?

-Well, I thought I'd end it on the most recent song I've written because like I said, if you ask a songwriter what their favorite song they've ever written is, it's always gonna be their most recent.

And this is my most recent song, and actually, this is gonna sound really funny, but I got the inspiration for this from watching a TikTok video.

And it was a woman, kind of middle-aged, she had PhDs, she was a CEO, she had all these accolades, and the psychologist was interviewing her, and she said, you know, I don't have a husband, I don't have a family, I never had any kids.

-Mm-mm.

-I've spent so much time trying to create this, you know, material life around me, and she said I would trade every degree I have, if I could go back and do that all again.

And so, that really hit me, and I got to thinking about, what does success actually mean to somebody?

What does happiness actually mean?

Does it, you know, does it entail material things, or does it mean that you're surrounded by people that love you?

And I don't know.

I just wrote this song based off of that and it's called "Livin' the Dream."

-Awesome.

Lay it on us.

["Livin' the Dream" instrumental music playing] ♪ You put your Porsche in park In your eight-car garage ♪ ♪ And look at everything You have at your demand ♪ ♪ Some toys you take to town Top down and drive around ♪ ♪ But secretly ♪ ♪ You wish It was a minivan ♪ ♪ You walk up to the door Like yesterday and days before ♪ ♪ And at the end of your 80-hour week ♪ ♪ The house is too dang quiet ♪ ♪ If you want love You have to buy it ♪ ♪ But tonight you settle For a bourbon neat ♪ ♪ And they say You're living the dream ♪ ♪ But now you're not so sure ♪ [Announcer] Thank you for being a part of our show.

We look forward to seeing you on the next episode of The Life of a Musician.

-♪ You smile for the cameras Bu t you cry yourself to sleep ♪ ♪ But you just put Your Porsche in park ♪ ♪ And they call that Livin' the dream ♪ ♪ Hm mm mm mm mm ♪ [Announcer] This program is brought to you in part by Santa Cruz Guitars Company and Santa Cruz Parabolic Tension Strings and the Santa Cruz Guitar PLEK Department.

And by Peluso Microphone Lab.

Additional support provided by these sponsors.