AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
OK, let's take a few moments to breathe and listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHAD LAWSON'S "LIKE THE STARS IN THE SKY")
RASCOE: Pianist and composer Chad Lawson describes his new album as an invitation to decompress. It's called "Where We Are," and Chad Lawson is with us. Welcome to the program.
CHAD LAWSON: Thank you so much, Ayesha.
RASCOE: Why an invitation to decompress? It's probably something we all need to do. I mean, I know I need to do it. Are you kind of trying to give people permission to do that?
LAWSON: You hit the nail on the head. Permission - right there, self-permission. I feel like there's - maybe before even COVID existed, we've been carrying around all of these things. And then COVID was the time where we stopped, and, you know, we were forced to self-reflect and say, I want to get rid of these things. Now I don't know how. And I think for a lot of us, it's really been difficult to actually give ourselves permission to feel OK. And so this album really is, like, saying, hey, you know what? It's actually OK to feel calm, to feel OK.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHAD LAWSON'S "I KNOW IT WILL")
RASCOE: The song "I Know It Will" - can you talk to me a bit about what you were feeling when you were creating it?
LAWSON: This entire album and also this song, in particular - the reason why it's called "Where We Are" is 'cause I wanted to meet people with where they were emotionally. Prior to recording this album, I had an album already put together, and it was about dreams. It was about chasing your dreams. It was actually called "The Dreams We Chase." And, you know, musically, it was more technically challenging. It was a little bit more robust.
And I was doing a performance in Baton Rouge, of all places, and this young lady came up to me after a performance, and she can barely form a sentence 'cause she was crying so hard. And she said, you know, my dad is dying of Stage 4 cancer. And all I can do is listen to your music and to your podcast, and I just had to come up and tell you thank you. And it was at that moment where I just said in my mind, people aren't ready to dream 'cause they're still trying to heal.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHAD LAWSON'S "I KNOW IT WILL")
LAWSON: We all go through struggle, right? We all have these moments where we just feel overwhelmed, and we're - just feel buried, and this song is a reflection of that to where it's like, no matter the struggles that we're going through, there's always a path that's going to find our way better. I know this is going to turn out better. I know it will.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHAD LAWSON'S "I KNOW IT WILL")
RASCOE: You do have a podcast that emphasizes mindfulness. What is it about music that complements wellness?
LAWSON: Music is a time stamp. Like, think about your favorite song. And then think about, like, where you heard that. And there's probably an emotional attachment to that. You know, I cannot hear "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" without thinking about my mom and dad...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES")
THE PLATTERS: (Singing) You must realize, smoke gets in your eyes.
LAWSON: ...'Cause every time, like, growing up as a child, I would hear that, you know, I would see them just, like, look at each other. And so that's the amazing thing about music is it attaches a time stamp of emotion. You know, I've had so many people say - you know, even just the other day, someone messaged me and said, we had your song on when our child was born in the hospital. And so every time they hear that song now, they're going to go back to that memory. And they're going to be able to say, you know, this was really important to me.
And I think a lot of times, with music, the reason why I place such a precedence on not trying to dictate what the song is about but allowing the song to be able to tell me what it's about is because with music, we are given this blank canvas, and it's different for each person. So a song that you hear can be the same song that someone else hears and just lands completely different.
RASCOE: So, you know, we've been talking about emotions and how songs bring up emotions. What emotion do you think we should go out on? What song do you want to evoke as we leave this conversation?
LAWSON: There's a song on the album called "Sanctuary." And what I wanted to do with "Sanctuary" is I wanted for the listener to say or to ask themselves, what is my sanctuary?
(SOUNDBITE OF CHAD LAWSON'S "SANCTUARY")
LAWSON: What is that place where, emotionally, I can rejuvenate, that I can feel safe? And that may mean sitting down and reading a book by yourself. that may mean going for a run, doing yoga or just - honestly, just sitting and watching a movie with your family. But I think a lot of times, we don't have that anchor for us emotionally which allows us to actually just say, this is a safe place for me, and I need to make sure that I'm doing this more often.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHAD LAWSON'S "SANCTUARY")
RASCOE: That's Chad Lawson. His new album is "Where We Are." Thank you so much for joining us.
LAWSON: Ayesha, it is such a delight to speak with you.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHAD LAWSON'S "SANCTUARY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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