We recently connected with Drew Now and have shared our conversation below.

Drew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

I have great parents. I think they always understood from the beginning when they had three daughters – they would all be very different from one another. But I laugh at what they must have thought when I came into the picture – the youngest of the three and a quintessential last born child with a penchant for entertaining. “Stay below the radar, honey” my parents used to say to me at the dinner table after another one of my dramatic reenactments of the day’s chaos. Their eyes gave away mostly delight in my antics but I knew when I had crossed a line by the look of mild alarm passing between them as if to ask what they were going to do with this child.

I grew up believing that to be passive shows truth “faith”. I was born into a loving Conservative Christian family who was definitely not as rigid as some but maybe a little uncomfortable at times with my bolder-than-most persona. I realize now that my parents were an exception in our church. They validated my frustrations and encouraged my passion for justice, to stay outspoken and question what felt wrong even if what felt wrong was about someone in power. To many I was their “wayward youngest daughter” but to them I was special – fighting my own battles – and their confidence in 12 year old me allowed me to be a confident discerning adult. I can remember an especially formative moment when I had a teacher at my Christian School take too much “interest” in me as a child. I was incredibly creeped out and told my parents about it. They never made me feel like I was “over exaggerating” my experience and addressed it immediately. I felt defended, safe and confident to speak up .You’ll find a lot of my lyrics are talk about harder topics and that’s because my parents gave me the freedom to do so from the beginning. Their trust in me let me trust myself, which is very helpful as a female artist. If something feels amiss, it is usually because it is. I believe I’ve been spared from the darker side of the music industry because of the discernment and advocacy skills I gained as a child.

Drew, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was the classic kid who sang before I could speak. I picked up a guitar and started writing melodies and lyrics by 12, somehow garnering enough attention that I was invited to record and release a 5 song EP (Mesmerized- 2013) at the age of 16 in Nashville, Tn. That experience got me hooked. And believing music could be more than a therapeutic hobby. I performed at some of my favorite Ontario, Canada coffee shops, bars and restaurants with a band of incredible musicians and by 2018, decided to spend more time in Nashville immersing myself in the day to day life of writing music with other talented emerging songwriters and producers. I finally took the risk and moved from my small town Owen Sound, Ontario to Nashville in 2018 to turn my ideas and passion into reality and hit the ground running. Since then, wow. I’ve been able to work with and around some of my heroes, write music that makes me cry and fall more and more in love with creating. I am a Canadian feeling privileged to be here on a year by year basis,so every day feels special but also stressful. There’s no time to waste here and my goal is to eventually stay with a more permanent work visa. This keeps me focused and motivated.

In 2019, my father, Drew was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer and faced a year of intensive radiation, chemotherapy and surgeries. His diagnosis felt like an earthquake, threatening everything I felt I knew about myself, especially as his year of treatments merged with the worldwide crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic. I had been dabbling in genres and music styles for a while and was learning that my genre was not so much country- it was more pop. I realized too that my lyrics held a common thread tying all of my songs together: talking about the hard things we don’t want to talk about. Those elephants in the room.

My dad was declared cancer free by the Fall of 2020 but I was forever changed by what he and my family experienced. My vision and new musical direction prompted a significant decision in my career- to change my artist name. Drew is my father’s name. Leah is my given name. I wanted a constant reminder of where I came from and hearing my dad’s name in every meeting, show, writing session or even on my coffee cup inspires a constant recognition of who I am, who I am not, and who I want to be.

My hope is that my listeners are both entertained and invited to go deeper. The magic is that going deeper can become a gradual choice. I experiment with themes of feminism, inclusion, anti-bullying, p*rngraphy, s*xual assault, disease and loss are woven between lines of compassion, human dignity and… humor. I don’t always do it in the most graceful way but I’m excited to see where it takes me.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I used to believe I did not deserve to be in any of the writing rooms I was in. I felt meek and vaguely embarrassed walking into those rooms like, “Hi, yes it’s me, the Canadian girl who’s just thankful to be here”. I would almost apologize for not being a rockstar yet with a catalog of viral songs. I walked into those rooms with the completely wrong mindset. Music, especially in Nashville is a team sport. Producers make tracks around lyrics – around a voice that makes them feel something. It doesn’t matter who’s singing – it matters more if it’s genuine.

Yes, watching someone spend hours on my voice and track is humbling. But it’s also the name of the game. We all start somewhere, throwing darts at the wall and praying it sticks. It was cool when I heard someone I admired, with a lot of achievements under their name on google tell me about their imposter syndrome. This helped me relearn how to approach my meetings with big shot managers or Grammy Nominated producers. It took awhile but I know what I offer in my meetings and sessions.

I also learned it’s important to just be a good hang. Be honest with where you’re at. Ask a lot of questions and confidently know you are the shit. :) oh and if you’re like me, bring fresh homemade bread to first meetups. I find honey, bread and butter always breaks the ice.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It is incredibly rewarding when people connect to my lyrics. It’s like when you meet a stranger on the train reading the same French romance novel as you and rocking the same heels. You feel like you’ve found a soul friend. I love when someone reaches out and says, “Wow, I thought I was alone in this feeling, but you explained my story perfectly”. I think the Canadian 12 year old me who grew up on an isolated farm is proud of moments like that. Loneliness and feeling like a bit of a misfit were my companions growing up, so being able to connect and share stories with strangers who get exactly what I’m singing about is a beautiful thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://itsdrewnow.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsdrewnow_/

Image Credits
Lee Zavitz