5 Questions With Singer/Songwriter Rebecca Loebe

Photo via rebeccaloebe.com

Rebecca Loebe

Rebecca Loebe is on a guerrilla mission to share messages others need to hear through her phenomenal voice and catchy songs. The singer/songwriter who inventively marries elements of folk, pop, rock, blues and jazz is currently on tour to make sure her mission happens and to also perform songs off of her new album, 'Give Up Your Ghosts.' 

Tonight (February 26th) Loebe is performing her first New York City show with her full band at Rockwood Music Hall on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. OJ&B was lucky enough to catch up with the southern chanteuse as she travels across the United States to do what she does best; perform.

Check out Rebecca Loebe's "5 questions with" to see what inspired her to start writing and singing, how she feels she has grown artistically since appearing on NBC's The Voice, deets on her latest album 'Give Up Your Ghosts' and more!

Photo via Rebecca Loebe's Instagram

Rebecca Loebe

1. When did you start singing and writing music and what inspired you to do so?

Rebecca Loebe: I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t singing…some of my very earliest childhood memories are walking around my neighborhood, or riding my bike, and singing Disney songs at the top of my lungs. I’m sure my neighbors were thrilled. 

In middle school, I got really into writing poetry and pretty soon after that, a friend showed me how to play a few chords on the guitar. Almost immediately, I realized that if I combined those chords with the poetry I was writing…boom! I was writing songs! I started writing all the time, and learning as much as I could on guitar so I could have more musical options for songwriting...I kept it up all through school and eventually went to music college to study audio engineering. As soon as I graduated, I produced my first album, started touring and the rest is history.

2. How do you feel that you have grown artistically since your time on The Voice where so many were introduced to you?

Rebecca Loebe: The biggest lesson I learned from The Voice is that the audience at a gig isn't there to judge me - I know that, because I've been judged! By producers, by lawyers and oh, yeah, professional celebrity judges. As a touring songwriter, I get to perform night after night for audiences who, just like me, believe that something magical happens when we all put down our phones and get on the same wavelength for a couple of hours, sharing art and love and creativity and connection. In some ways, I think that the biggest gift I got from The Voice was that it was so damn terrifying that it's made every show I've played since then seem like an absolute dream.

In terms of how I've grown, I think with each album I’ve made myself dig a bit deeper, show a bit more of who I am. Since the days of the The Voice I've definitely found the power of my own vulnerability, and learned to embrace that rather than run away from it.

Photo via Rebecca Loebe's Instagram

Rebecca Loebe

3. Tell me all about your latest album "Give up your ghosts."

Rebecca Loebe: Happy to! The new record "Give Up Your Ghosts" is all about letting go of what’s

holding you back. There are a lot of songs on this record - Ghosts, Growing Up, Popular - that deal

with growing up, reconciling who you are with where the world is at right now. There are a lot of

reminders on this record that we can do this, that each of us has the strength and power that we need

to face the day and keep moving forward. I tried to make the songs catchy so that those positive

reminders would get stuck in your head and you'd be repeating them to yourself whether you meant

to or not...

4. You are playing Rockwood Music Hall which will be your first NYC show with your full band.  What does this show mean to you and what can the audience expect? 

Rebecca Loebe: I absolutely love playing in NYC. The energy here, the collection of creative, hard

working and forward-thinking folks in one big bright city just lights me up. I'm excited to share my

full band here, for the first time, to share this new collection of songs the way I hear them in my head,

the way we put them on the record. I'll be playing with a kickass drummer/harmony singer named

Katie Marie and a super in-demand Austin-based pedal steel player named Gary Newcomb (he also

goes by 'Sweet Gary'). They bring the songs to life, they're super intuitive players and know just

when to leave room for the lyrics or when to swirl up a storm around them. It's going to be a fun night.

Photo via Rebecca Loebe's Instagram

Rebecca Loebe

5. You are pretty busy touring this year. What stops on the tour mean the most to you and why?

Rebecca Loebe: I find that the juiciest shows tend to be in my hometowns, places where I've laid down roots. In Austin, where I've lived for ten years, the CD release show was out of control crazy. Boston too. My next 'home town' stop is Washington DC, where I was born, and then we'll be in Atlanta, where I spent a huge chunk of my childhood. I've never technically lived in New York, but I came here for a couple of months early in my touring career to see what it felt like to live here. I slept on the futon in the den in someone's gentrified BedStuy apartment for $100/week. I couldn't afford to stay here *and* keep touring, so I had to hit the road but I was here long enough to put down some roots. New York City is home to some of my favorite people in the world and it absolutely has a piece of my heart. 

For more information about Rebecca Loebe and her latest album go to rebeccaloebe.com.

Be sure to follow Rebecca on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! 

Photo via Rebecca Loebe's Instagram

Rebecca Loebe

Would you be perfect for OJ&B's "5 Questions With" series? Do you know someone who is? Email Jonathan@orangejuiceandbiscuits.com and let me know!