We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leah Tash a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Leah, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
In November of 2023, I released a very meaningful song that I titled “Defenseless.” It’s not meaningful in the way some people would think – though it started off as a song about a specific experience with a specific person, I now think of it more as a moment of major musical and personal growth. It’s also funny because I started writing this song out of frustration as I was sitting on my unpicturesque cement New York City rooftop, feeling suffocated by lots of intense emotions and trying to get some drips of fresh air. After I completed the first line I thought to myself, “this is fine, it probably won’t become anything,” and now it’s one of my favorites to sing.
Leah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, and I consistently perform and release original music. Music has been my protector and my liberator during both the dark and light times. I hope that by writing/sharing songs that are filled with my own stories, I can help others navigate all sorts of hard times and heavy emotions, as well as nurture the good feelings too. I started taking guitar lessons at around 7 years old. It was really hard for me at first because I had and still have unusually small hands, so I put the instrument down. 9 years later at 16 years old I picked it back up and haven’t stopped since. I started writing songs about a year after I started playing. Music really was the survival tool that helped me get through some of the heartaches that teenage-hood threw at me, and the older I get the more I am reminded that human beings need art to survive.
From a young age I was drawn to folk, blues, rock ‘n’ roll and country. I found solace in so many artists – Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Bessie Smith, the Grateful Dead, the Band, Hank Williams, Etta James, Janis Joplin. Nowadays, I think all of these early influences can be found in my singing and songwriting. I feel a deep connection to all of these artists and genres and my goal is to maintain the authenticity of the traditional, while also offering a fresh and unique voice within the Americana genre. I love to perform my songs solo and also with my brilliant bandmates Cancion Franklin, Jon Wert and Ben Miller.
I would say I’m most proud of the songs I’ve written in the last year or two. I feel like I’ve really started to find my own unique voice within a very competitive industry and I’m eager to just keep singing my songs to as many people as possible.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Oh man, I really believe freelance artists and creatives need to get more financial recognition and respect from society. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard stories from other creatives/had my own personal experiences not getting paid for a gig OR having to wait weeks or months to get paid. Some people truly don’t understand that music/art deserves to be recognized as a livelihood. It seems very unfair to me that so many creatives have to put aside their talents and passions in order to get a day job that will pay the rent.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The mission driving my creative journey is that I want to help people get more in touch with themselves, with nature, with exploration and adventure, and with healing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leahtash.com
- Instagram: @leahtashmusic
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/leahtashmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@leahtashmusic
Image Credits
Natalie Jordan