A Conversation with Rachel LaRen & the Significance of Social Media for New Artists

Social media is an enormous part of society these days, and especially for those who want to put themselves and their work out there for the world to see. One of my favorite things about social media is that it gives any sort of artist the option to release their work from the comfort of their own home and in their own way, giving plenty of opportunity for people to gather interest. This is especially important for musicians or singers who are trying to find their place in the industry and just want to have their music heard. So many of today’s big names got their start by posting videos of their music online where they eventually started to gain a following. What is really special about this is when you do find someone posting their work for the world to see, you can sometimes follow along while you watch their career start to blossom.

That brings me to about two months ago. I was just sitting in my living room drinking a glass of wine and watching videos on TikTok when I came across a video of a woman singing a country song about receiving judgment from the Christian community in her car. As I started to listen, I realized that a lot of the lyrics really started to hit home while her sound reminded me of the things I love most about country music, real and raw story telling. I watched the video over and over, watched many of her other videos, and immediately became a follower. Shortly after I fell in love with the 60 second video of her song, “Jesus and Me”, she announced to her followers that due to the positive response from that video, she was going to be recording and releasing it as a single. To see her receive so much praise for that song to the point where she decided to go ahead and release it as a single made me so excited for her and really showcased the power that social media has, especially for up and coming artists. I later slid in her DMs to let her know how much I loved her song and that I would love to chat music with her, and lucky for me, she agreed! Read along for my conversation with Rachel LaRen to learn a little more about her music and experience as an artist trying to find her way in the industry:

Me: First off, how are you? I know 2020 was a wild ride for everyone but hopefully your 2021 has been off to a great start.

Rachel LaRen: “I'm great! 2020 was definitely a wild ride but I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time back home in TX where I’m from. I haven’t been able to do that in years. I also wrote Jesus and Me this past year along with a lot of the songs on my EP coming out in May, so it wasn’t all bad.”

Me: One of my favorite things to learn about musicians/singers is who their biggest musical influences are. So, who are some of your musical influences/inspirations?

RL: “I LOVE Chris Stapleton, Maren Morris, Tyler Childers, Miranda Lambert, Whiskey Myers-(I LOVE Texas Country). I love people with unique sounds that you can tell are being true to them. The songwriting from these 5 are out of this world!”

Me: Was music something that you’ve always wanted to do or was it one of those things that surprisingly became a passion of yours? And are you currently pursuing your music full time or more on the side for the moment? I ask because I noticed you live in Nashville.

RL: “I started singing very young and would perform different places but got burnt out around freshman year of high school and completely stopped music until my first year out of college. I started working a corporate job and realized how much I missed it. I taught myself to play guitar, started writing songs and moved to Nashville 2 years ago. I always knew I wanted to do music it was just figuring out how and what my path looked like. I have a job to pay the bills but I pursue music full time.”

Me: What are some surprising things you’ve experienced while pursuing music or things that you maybe thought wouldn’t be the way they were?

RL: “This is a great question! There are two main things I’ve learned:

One: People are so much more supportive than you would think. People want to help so don’t be afraid to tell people your dreams and goals, no matter how crazy they might seem. You never know who might be willing to help! I was always afraid to tell people I sang or that I wanted to pursue music (because it’s a risk) but people love when you follow your dreams.

Two: I have grown so much over the past few years. Writing songs forces you to be very real, raw and vulnerable with yourself which I think forces you to really understand who you are and be confident in that. Nashville and the music industry can be very hard to conquer and make you doubt yourself (which I definitely have at times) but I always come out way stronger and with way more confidence.”

Me: Your song “Jesus and Me” was what made me instantly want to DM you. I was sitting there just scrolling on TikTok after a few glasses of wine and immediately thought “Oh wow, I have definitely felt this before!” Can you share a little more background about where the inspiration for that song came from or what made you decide to sit down and write it?

RL: “Girl, I am so happy you love the song! I love writing songs that are true to me. I thought about this title at the beginning of quarantine when I felt there was a lot of judgment in the world. I wrote the lines to the first verse and then a couple months later around June I was at a write in Nashville with some of my favorite songwriters in town, Sam Blasko and Ashley Ryan, where I showed them my idea and luckily they liked it haha. We ended up talking about faith and Christianity a lot that night and then finished the song a couple weeks later. The process of writing this song was one of my favorites.”

Me: What is a song that you wish you had been the one to write?

RL: “Wow, this is so hard. "Either Way" by Chris Stapleton is one of my all time favorite songs ever but honestly there are so many I really can’t name one. "The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert, "Merry Go 'Round" by Kacey Musgraves, or "Stone" by Whiskey Myers. I feel like these are all over the place but there are so many songs out there that I wish I wrote.”

Me: What are some other things that bring you happiness or inspiration besides music?

RL: “My family. I am so blessed to have the best friends and family around. Nothing makes me happier than going back to my small hometown in Texas, to my moms house and all my siblings come over and we just drink wine, jam out to music and spend time together. They are my favorite people.”

Me: What are your short-term goals at the moment (1 year)? Long-term (5 years)?

RL: “1 year from now I hope to have a built some sort of following with the release on my EP and get to do a small tour. 5 years from now I would love to have released an album and be doing music full time. Obviously a record deal, and awards would be great but at the end of the day I just want to do music for a living.”

After chatting with Rachel and learning a little more about her background, it started to totally make sense why I immediately loved her sound. The songs and artists she referenced are many of the same examples I think are staying true to real country music today. I absolutely cannot wait for the release of “Jesus and Me” on April 2nd and I am looking forward to the music Rachel has to offer with the release of her EP later this year as her career starts to blossom. It’s refreshing to find someone with a real and genuine country sound and I am confident I am not the only one who will relate to her music.

Social media definitely has its downsides but being able to watch situations like Rachel’s, and many others, unfold over videos gaining traction makes me excited for talent to come from apps like TikTok.

Go ahead and give Rachel a follow on her social media (links below) to keep updated on her new releases and be sure to give “Jesus and Me” a listen once it is released on April 2nd.