Lila James

ABOUT LILA

I'm sitting across from Lila James at a popular Nashville Spot for students and musicians. Lila is beautiful as always and pours out her heart as we talk about everything from men, spirituality, and her upbringing...to what drives her to make country music. After what ends up being a two hour conversation I realize two definite things about this artist- she has guts and she has heart.

Lila was born in Waco, Texas to a father that served two tours in Vietnam and a full time working mom who managed to also put a home cooked meal on the table almost every night. Like many country singers, Lila had humble beginnings that she seems more fond of than ashamed of. She recalls "my parents would take me to perform karaoke when I was like seven and everyone would get a real kick out of this little girl doing her best impression of Reba. It was so fun to see people enjoying what I was doing and I realized that I could make people smile when I sang". After living some years near Nashville the family was forced to move back to Texas when both of her parents became unemployed. Growing up in Collin County was hard for Lila. "High school was a tough time for me. I didn't really fit in anywhere- but I found a refuge in music".

When I shift the subject away from her past and ask her about writing songs it seems all her reluctancy to share with me her story dissolves. With a certain intensity in her eyes she tells me the story of how she started what is now a great love of hers. " I started writing songs when I was five, I remember my first song was 'I Love You God, I Love You Jesus'- but the first song I was beaming with pride over was one that I wrote when I was nine called 'Just One Of A Few'. I can laugh now looking back at myself talking about how I was just one of a few girlfriends to some guy and I was only nine! It seems I was listening to a lot of country even then". She explains, "My parents love country music and listened to it all the time so I grew up admiring artists like Reba Mcentire, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Mary Chapin Carpenter." She pulls the conversation back to songwriting. "I loved singing other people's songs, but when I discovered I could put all my emotions and frustrations into songs with my own words I couldn't stop writing...I still can't stop, now I find myself tapping out songs on the steering wheel and the desks in classes. I know it sounds cliche but you wouldn't believe how many random napkins, deposit slips, and receipts have my lyrics scribbled on them."

I am curious to find out how Lila ended up back in Nashville and she explains "I've always dreamt of going to Belmont University, because so many great country artists started out there- but at the same time It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. Leaving my family, my home, my first love, my dogs- sounds like a country song huh? well yah, it fueled a lot of songs so I'm grateful that I had to sacrifice so much to move here." Nashville is flooded with true talent and beautiful wannabe's, so I have to ask if she found it hard to adjust to the competitive climate. "Oh of course! Nashville is so intimidating and I felt like the smallest fish in this pond, but I've come to realize over the past two years that I'm not in a race with other singers- I see talent everywhere here and sometimes the dream of being recognized in this town seems pretty impossible. But I keep on reminding myself of how far I've come to do this and how I have so many things I want to say and stories I want to tell - no one else has my stories. I think it's more than a coincidence that I was able to come up with enough loans graduate from my dream school, that I've been able to make recordings for practically nothing, and that my desire to write, record and perform is stronger than ever now after four years of trying to make it here on my own. God has given me the talents that I have and I'm not going to stop until I feel like I've reached all of my goals- so it looks like I'll be sticking around for a long long time!"

I respect the fact that she seems genuinely humbled by her enormous talent. At the end of our time together I realize that I'm sitting across from a girl who isn't afraid to say what she wants. Her beauty is not just her blonde hair and bright eyes- it's her transparency and honesty. It's her love for her family and music. A comment that revealed a lot and that I'm sure she wasn't even consciously trying to get across was this, "If I could do this- what I love so much-and get to a place where I could at least give back some of what my parents struggled to give me I would be satisfied". And with this, I am satisfied that Lila James is well on her way to making a real contribution to country music.

-Bio written by Lara Haddad