An Americana Panorama
Shira Jane 
A fellow musician sent Fred a Facebook message with a link to The USA Songwriting Competition. He suggested we enter one of our original songs. Even though I’ve been writing lyrics for a year and a half now, I have no idea what a songwriting competition entails. I vaguely know that it’s a contest, with … Read more
As much as I have always loved music, no matter the genre, I had never even heard the word Americana until Fred turned me onto Tyler Childers. I immediately fell in love, as many others have before me. There is something so heartwarming and familiar about Americana music, something so raw and genuine and real. Quite simply, … Read more
Anyone can create music, and somewhere out there, there is someone else who will like it, but not necessarily everyone can connect with a group of people called an audience. Independent music, otherwise known as ‘indie’, is the DIY genre, where musicians take it upon themselves to get their sound out to the world, as … Read more
I spent decades of my life not writing songs. I have been writing since I was a child: short stories, poetry, philosophy… but not songs. As obsessed as I was with music, there was always something intimidating about the very best songwriters, as if they were somehow mythical, of a status which I could never … Read more
Welcome to The Lyricist’s Lens | An Americana Panorama, an independent songwriter’s narrative. Peer through the lyricist’s lens for complete immersion into the vantage point of an aspiring indie Americana artist. OUR STORY Back in September 2019, I met Fred Austin at the Hawaiian restaurant where I was a waitress and bartender. A coworker and I … Read more