Eugene weekly., January 11, 2018, Page 13, Image 13

“We are all huge nerds,” she says. “Nerds are people
In 2008 she brought out her first jazz album, one of a
“I remember picking up a pen for the first time with the
who are interested in things. It’s not being afraid to be
series of nine that have so far defined her career.
intention of writing lyrics — and being so intimidated,”
yourself, even if that’s not what’s in vogue at the moment.
The following year, They Oughta Write a Song took first
she says. “I had so much reverence for the music and the
I love being around nerds. I can say that because I am one.”
place for Vocal Jazz Album in the Just Plain Folks music
song writers I really loved.”
For the last three or four years Loren has had a nagging
awards, which bills itself as the largest indie music award
The list of her favorites, then and now, includes a range
thought in the back of her mind — the idea of really delving
in the world. Loren flew to Nashville for the ceremony.
of familiar names, from the Joni Mitchell of Blue to those
into her songwriting self. Even though she’s known for
In those days she was selling her albums off her website,
irreverent early 20th-century New Yorkers who created
singing jazz classics, she’s always included a few of her
HalieLoren.com, and watching the money slowly trickle
what we now call the American Songbook. (Think Cole
own songs in her albums and performances.
in. Then she signed with a Portland distributor who started
Porter’s “Night and Day,” “Begin the Beguine” and “My
But this year she decided she was ready to get back to
selling her work in Japan. In 2010 They Oughta Write a
Heart Belongs to Daddy.”)
her artistic roots, to indulge the 14-year-old girl who sat
Song became the second-biggest-selling jazz album in
“Everything that Cole Porter wrote is a master class in
down one day to write a song.
Japan. Now she has three albums that have hit the top of
clever song writing,” Loren says.
Loren relishes the purity of taking over every aspect of
the Billboard jazz charts there.
And, she adds, Paula Cole. This Fire was the first album
the music. “I want my voice to come through in more ways
Breaking into the Japanese market, Loren says, has been
Loren ever bought with her own money.
than just my voice,” she says.
her most surprising career shift. For one thing, it’s been lucra-
(Days after a long interview, she emailed a more-com-
plete list of her influences: Bill With-
At the same time, she realized she
ers, Carole King, Paul Simon, Sarah
was ready to cede some control. Loren
McLachlan, Brian Wilson, Gordon
has produced or co-produced every
Lightfoot, Willie Nelson, John Prine,
album she’s made. She designed their
Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Sam Cooke,
covers, marketed them and marketed
Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Woody
herself. “There are so many hats to
Guthrie and Paul McCartney/John Len-
wear,” she says. “I have to try to be all
non. “So many others, too,” she wrote.
things. What would it be like if I could
“But that’s a start.”)
just let go?”
Loren, now 33, started crafting her
Letting go, in this case, meant
songs methodically, penning new lyrics
turning over production to a world-
to familiar melodies, so she didn’t have
class pro. Loren sucked up her courage
to solve two problems at once. Soon she
and launched a Kickstarter campaign
was writing songs to original melodies.
that raised $68,000 in short order. She
By the time she was 17, she had written
used the money to hire Troy Miller, a
more than 100 songs.
British drummer and producer who
Along the way she began entering
has, among other things, conducted the
— and winning — songwriting
London Symphony Orchestra and the
competitions
from
the
Austin
BBC Orchestra, and worked with Amy
Songwriters Competition and the
Winehouse, Gregory Porter and Laura
Pacific Songwriters Competition (firsts
Mvula.
in both) to the Billboard Songwriting
Last summer Loren flew to London
Contest (a song she co-wrote with Larry
for five days of studio sessions and then
Wayne Clark took second in jazz in
to Brooklyn for six more with Miller.
2004) and the John Lennon Songwriting
Letting go, she says, was a continuing
Competition (runner-up in folk, 2004).
battle. “I had to be okay with the idea
Straight out of high school Loren
I was asking for help,” she says. “But
headed for Nashville, where she spent
I got to immerse myself in the project
the next two years working with
and tell the rest of my nature to sit in the
professional country songwriters, using
back seat.”
contacts she had made through those
The studio days were intense, 10 am
competitions. “I had been writing songs
to midnight. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep,”
for four years — that seemed a long time
she says. “But exhausting is not the
to me, and I thought I was an old hand
right word. I felt so energized!” Loren’s
at it already,” she says. “But just being
inner control tried to complain. “Troy
in a room hearing them spitballing ideas
was asking me to stretch my concept of
was an amazing education.”
a song in ways I had never realized. I
She learned, Loren says, “a much
was so confused. This is not the way the
deeper understanding of the many paths
song is in my head! But once I started
to a song.”
listening…”
Then her life took an unexpected turn.
The album still isn’t quite ready, but
It was 2003, the year of the first Iraq war.
Loren let me listen to half a dozen not-
The Dixie Chicks told a concert crowd in
quite-completely mixed songs. Hearing
Letting go, in this case, meant turning over production to a
London that they opposed the war, adding,
them back-to-back offers a deep tour
world-class pro. Loren sucked up her courage and launched
“We’re ashamed that the president of the
through the incredible range of Loren’s
United States is from Texas.”
voice and her original musical vision.
a Kickstarter campaign that raised $68,000 in short order.
The sky fell in on the Grammy-winning
The condition I agreed to is that I
She used the money to hire Troy Miller, a British drummer and
country group, whose lost bookings kept
not discuss her songs and their titles in
them from touring for years after.
detail. But I can say this: At one moment
producer who has, among other things, conducted the London
Loren looked around the red-state
she’s singing a confessional with the
Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Orchestra, and worked with
culture of Nashville. “What if everybody
quirky intimacy of Joni Mitchell; at
here knew how I felt about the war?” she
another she’s not-quite-belting a gospel-
Amy Winehouse, Gregory Porter and Laura Mvula.
wondered. She headed back to Eugene,
influenced anthem, and at the next she’s
needing to take a long breather from
off in a nerdy Stevie Wonderish fantasy.
country music. “It wasn’t resonating
Loren’s new album brings in
tive. “It’s been huge in terms of how much it’s empowered me
with me anymore,” she says.
elements of pop and rock and folk — OK, who doesn’t,
to make music my full career.” She went in a heartbeat from
She enrolled at Lane Community College, starting off
these days? — as well as world music and that jazzy voice
local Oregon performer to international touring star, perform-
an education that would lead to a degree in art, with a minor
we all know, but she does it in a way that seems easy,
ing not only in Asia but in Europe and Canada.
in business, at the University of Oregon. At Lane she took
honest and all her own.
Loren has an intense work ethic. She gets it from her
a digital music class. She started listening to Tori Amos.
“It’s a series of stories,” she says. “It explores the theme
parents, she says, who instilled in her the notion of getting
And she started writing songs while sitting at the piano.
of letting go in a sad, nostalgic way, but also freedom from
things done on time and right. Before they retired, her
That music, along with a Joni Mitchell cover, would
something you want to shed. It takes some pretty big
mother was an administrative assistant; her father, an
end up on her very first album, Full Circle, which she
chances. People who are expecting something similar to
electrical engineer. She has a sister and brother who are
recorded and produced herself. “It’s still work I’m super
me might be surprised.” ■
both computer programmers.
proud of,” she says.
eugeneweekly.com • January 11, 2018
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