Lauren Jenkins Reflects on Twisted Path to Nashville and Country Music

Lauren Jenkins road to country music, and ultimately a record deal with Big Machine Label Group, has more twists and turns than a roller coaster, which suits the young singer just fine. The Texas native moved all over the country, leaving home at as soon as she could drive to pursue music and acting.

"15 was when I got my driving permit and had saved up money to buy a car," Jenkins recalled to PopCulture.com at a recent media event. "That was the age that I decided 'I'm gonna home school myself and go pursue music.' Dad wasn't super excited about that at first, but we're really okay now. We're tight."

Jenkins first relocated to Memphis, with frequent trips to her parents hometown of Charlotte, and a steady line of gigs in Charleston and Atlanta, before traveling north to New York City. It was while Jenkins was in the Big Apple that Music City began to beckon.

"When I was in acting school I was going back to Nashville and working with writers and producers," she shares. "One day a writer said 'Hey, do you mind if I send your music to some labels in town?' And I'm like, 'That sounds great! Gotta go be broke in New York now.' Then the next thing you know I'm on a plane meeting with labels and, it happened. I don't know how it happened, but it did."

Asked to describe her music, Jenkins pauses, unsure how to define the sound that is wholly hers.

"It's a little darker," she concedes. "It's got a southern rock, Americana kind of feel. I don't think that there's really a female that I can point to in a format but sometimes it's sort of Sheryl Crow-ish ... I wouldn't consider it straight up country. I don't have a twang, but it is story type songs. It's certainly not pop, it's just more in this Americana, southern rock feel."

Jenkins will release a single this Spring, while she works on her new album. Her The Nashville Sessions EP is available for purchase now on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Instagram/iamlaurenjenkins