Laura Veltz is a prolific songwriter, having a hand penning hits such as ‘I Could Use A Love Song’ (Maren Morris), ‘Speechless’ (Dan + Shay) and ‘A Song for Everything’ (Maren Morris). We interview Laura Veltz at the CMA Songwriter’s Series at the O2 to talk about her story and her inspirations.
So first trip over to the UK?
No it’s my second, I came over in 2004, so it’s been a little while.
The country explosion’s happened, so the last time you were over, country wasn’t a big thing…
… And I wasn’t even in the business myself. I was just here with a friend and it was a totally wild experience, but this is me with a sane brain.
A lot has happened in your life since then and since signing with Big Machine. Now you’re here for the CMA Songwriters’ Series, how excited are you to be a part of that?
I’m thrilled, it’s such an honour. I can’t believe I’m here frankly, I have a far shorter list of achievements than the people on the line-up.
Not even… I mean ’The Bones’ is your most recent cut. I think it’s one of the songs of the year…
Oh my gosh, I get exhausted listening to it because I get such a huge amount of ‘songwriter pride’. I’m so excited about that song and it was such a special one to write and Maren is just hitting everything out of the park. I just don’t feel like she’s ever going to do anything wrong, she’s incredible.
You’ve written so many songs with her. When you have that great relationship with someone, it must just enable you to write more great songs?
I really lucked out on meeting her. We got together and the first song we ever wrote together was ‘Sugar,’ which is the first song on her first record.
You must know you’ve hit magic when that’s the first song you ever write with someone?
It’s definitely fun to find someone where you know what to do with them and they know how to let you in – you have that very mutual love of writing together.
You’ve also written with her husband, Ryan Hurd..
He’s my oldest friend in Nashville, I’ve known him longer than most of my friends in Nashville. He’s a special one that one.
It must be very funny writing songs with both of them..
And writing about them with each other is so entertaining. They’re in love with each other, they’ve been in love with each other for so long and I feel like I’ve never not written about the other person.
Going back to ‘The Bones,’ can you talk a bit more about the story behind that song?
Well all of us write titles down when we think of them and that title I had written down and anything weird I know Maren’s going to jump right on. That song is special, it was written very quickly and I love writing about love and Maren loves writing about love and Jimmy as well. We just pounced on the analogy of love being like a house and it’s killer.
I know you’ve spoken in the past about the empowering side of music and liking to write about that in your music, is that something that’s still very important to you?
Extremely, I love the idea that there are no victims in my songs. I don’t think I write any songs where someone is truly victimising themselves or victimising someone else. Putting powerfulness in songs and people being powerful and not being powerless is important to me.
Have you always written songs, is it something that came to you completely naturally or was it something you arrived at later in life?
Probably later in life compared to a lot of other people, I was in a band for 10 years. I got myself a guitar and wrote a song, it was pretty quick but the song was pretty terrible to be honest but it was a complete work. Actually, I’m doing an event called ‘First and Worst’ which is your first song and your worst song you ever wrote and you have to – it’s a fundraiser – play it and it’s going to be so vulnerable. It’s going to be one of those moments I will probably regret later in life.
Obviously also last year was huge with other cuts including ‘Speechless’ and ‘Keeping Score,’ again it must have been this moment of all these great songs you’d written finally getting that recognition, was it a pinch-me moment?
Oh, I’m having a pinch-me moment all the time these days, but that was definitely crazy. I’ve never had a multi-week number one before, I’ve never really had a song where it’s a job security song, where if I never write another song… It’s one of the ones. Hopefully if I’m ever honoured at the end of my life I know that one will be mentioned because it was so impactful, having Shay sing anything.
Did you write it for those guys, with Shay’s vocals in mind?
Yep with them. ‘Keeping Score’ I wrote with Dan, Shay wasn’t there so we had the other songwriter on the song sing it and then he sent me a video of Shay singing it and I got full body chills.
One of my other favourite songs of yours was ‘Weed, Whiskey and Willie,’ which I feel hasn’t always got the recognition it deserves. How funny is it when you have favourites that don’t make it as big?
Oh definitely, and that one to me is like a local legend song, so I don’t think I’ve ever been texted more after I wrote that. To that point, I’d never been like ‘oh I wrote that’ and I wasn’t raise on country music so getting to write something so country was so neat and special.
What music were you raised on then?
I just love the radio so commercial songwriting is my love and I don’t care what form it takes, I just love it when everyone agrees this song is excellent and we all love it.
It’s kind of this bonding feeling…
Yeah, I mean my favourite songs as a child were not the list you’d expect. The big Michael Bolton song was what I loved, I love it when everyone agrees this is excellent.
Final Few…
What record are you listening to on repeat at the moment?
‘Dying Star’ by Ruston Kelly, I’m still perspiration after all those songs. The one that gets me is ‘Son of a Highway Daughter,’ I can’t not stop what I’m doing when that song comes on.
What record couldn’t you live without if you were stuck on a desert island?
Well not to keep it in the family but ‘Golden Hour’ – I feel like I intimately know, I’ve slept with that album.
Complete the sentence…
Music is… Therapy
Country music is… Emotional road maps.
Laura Veltz is… so happy
