Hanging out with 2010 ICM Top New
Artist Award Winner Laura Dodd
by Holly Marie Tong

To me, a truly successful country music career with longevity should always be built on the foundation of being real, writing from the heart and understanding your audience. Listeners are consistently attracted to songs that are relatable to their own lives and share a universal message. Amazingly, when I asked Laura Dodd what sets her apart and makes her unique, her response mirrored just that. Without hesitation, Laura humbly replied that she has always been real, always been herself, always wants to be universal and desires that fans can personally relate to the songs she sings. However, I was not surprised at all by Laura’s response, as I already knew what set her apart as would anyone upon meeting her. With a friendly smile and a very approachable personality combined with an incredible gift, it is not a wonder that she recently won the “Top New Artist Of the Year” award at the 2010 ICM Awards. Laura describes her winning moment as surreal and exhilarating. She went on to say that she was thrilled to death, found it hard to believe and will never forget the shock alone. She readily acknowledged the other nominees in that category as amazing talents that were deserving and believes every one of them to be a winner. Laura’s gratefulness and genuine appreciation came across as she is clearly an avid supporter of other entertainers and a true team player.

A Gadsden, Alabama native Laura found the transition to Nashville to be relatively easy. While Laura was raised a farm girl with a true country upbringing, she has proven she can equally fit into the city life. She acknowledges Nashville as such a nice hospitable city in which she is surrounded by incredible culture and creativity. She finds herself inspired by those around her and as a result she writes about real life and real people. When I asked her how she would personally describe her sound she responded that she would consider her music to have a “throw-back, conversational” feel as she was influenced by the old legends. From listening to Laura’s classic country music I would have to concur as I can hear the influences of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and Bonnie Raitt.

When asking Laura about her journey, I learnt that it interestingly began before even Laura can actually recall as her mom said it all started when she was a baby. Laura smiled as she explained that she would hum in her sleep and her older brother Jamie was constantly telling his mother that the baby was humming and that he wanted her moved. Jamie’s ears were most definitely correct because as young Laura grew the humming soon transitioned to singing and then to performing. Laura recalls loving Marilyn Monroe, dressing up in fairy tale princess outfits, singing in the stairwell pretending she was a famous actress/singer and told her mom at just 5 years old that this is exactly what she wanted to do. Watching the Grand Ole Opry with her grandparents is clearly among Laura’s fondest young memories and seems to further explain Laura’s classic country sound. Laura also enjoyed acting in plays and even once played the part of Oliver Twist! As she went through high school she continued to sing and in college she was even in a live Jazz band.

Multi-talented Laura made the move to Nashville after college to pursue her country artist dream. She soon learnt how to write music and has clearly been quite successful with her songwriting talent as well. “Where Eagles Fear,” the first song she wrote along with Keith Perry was featured in the film “The Goal.” She is recently enjoying success with her single entitled “Spread My Wings” which has charted at #7 on the Christian Country charts. She said she was inspired to write this song as she wanted to pen a tune about one achieving the goal they have always strived to reach and living that dream. For Laura this song causes her to think about her own dream of singing on the Grand Ole Opry stage. This chart topping song which she has just started to promote will also have a music video to go along with it soon. Be sure to check out www.lauradodd.com to see when it will be playing. Another special song she wrote entitled “Songbird” has a deep significance and special meaning. She wrote this touching song as a thank you to her parents/family for their support and being there for her. Laura’s journey has not been an easy one but her incredible perseverance has led her to where she is today. While she is familiar with life’s challenges, she decided that it is all about how you deal with it and that she strives not to take anything foregranted.

Laura is not only an incredible artist, I also find her to be nothing short of a motivational speaker as she inspired me just from interviewing her. She undoubtedly shared some great wisdom and introduced some inspiring new insights to me as she said success comes from determination, drive and visualization (very important to see yourself achieving your goal). When I asked her what advice she would offer an aspiring artist she said she would tell them that, “anything you do, you have to do it with all your heart, have to live it, eat, sleep and breathe it because your devotion alone will carry you further and bring you success.”

When you meet someone as fun and transparent as Laura, you cannot help but ask her if she has any funny stage moments or humorous career moments to share. She had not just one but two funny moments that she can remember: She remembers being in a radio interview in Alabama (ironically her very first radio interview). She continued by saying that she was wearing very tight pants and the button of her pants came off and unfortunately flew right across the room. Being so stunned and caught off guard that this had actually happened, she quickly acknowledged exactly what had happened not realizing that she was on the air. Needless to say, the DJ was speechless. Her other funny moment occurred at an Alabama County fair. It had rained and she went to get on stage to sing the national anthem but unfortunately she slipped and fell on her back side. Amazingly, she didn’t miss a note and stayed down singing the national anthem from the stage floor (now that takes talent!) While these experiences were probably a little embarrassing at the time, it is clear that she is able to laugh at herself which is another great attribute that further validates her being real.

During Laura’s time in Nashville she feels blessed to have been led to great people, to be able to listen to their stories and to be inspired through life’s experiences. As talented as she is determined and as real as she is professional, Laura is just getting started and has many goals on the horizon. She is currently in talks with a management company and exploring different opportunities to further live her dream. She is most definitely determined to have a long career and can visualize herself winning a CMA and singing on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Always thankful and truly grateful for where she is today, Laura emphasizes that she has incredible fans and it was they who helped her to win her ICM award this year.. With both the genuine character and talent to back her up, I forsee many more awards in her future. Get to know the name Laura Dodd….this “Songbird” who has just started to "Spread her Wings" was born to stand out and stand out she will.

www.lauradodd.com