Photo Credit: Tina Letter
This week’s local artist spotlight features a young singer-songwriter who is quickly becoming one of Penn State Songwriters’ Club’s most talented members. Olivia Price quietly joined PSUSWC in the beginning of this year as a sophomore with a secret weapon. She quickly won over the hearts of all members, including veterans like myself and some other senior members, with her honest songwriting and pure vocal talents.
Olivia has been singing and making up little jingles as far back as she can remember, but three years ago she picked up guitar because she wanted to get more involved in the actual production of songwriting. The first time she performed a song she wrote live was at her high schools talent show, which she described as “really rewarding.” She enjoyed being able to perform something that was close to her heart. If you sit and listen to Olivia sing over her soft guitar playing, you’ll see she has an amazing ability to make the experience an intimate one for her audience.
Olivia’s songwriting style can be described as acoustic songs straight from the somber pages of a private journal.
“I write songs by sitting on my bed, picking a melody, humming along and trying to get into a mellow somber mood. My best songwriting tends to happen late at night.” Olivia said.
She also described part of her creative process as a “word storm.” This is where she just pours out all the raw emotion she is feeling through random words, and then she strings them together into beautiful poetic melodies. If you are the type of person who likes to unwind, and listen to a quiet Sara Bareilles or Ingrid Michaelson song in order to reflect on lost love or a tough time, Olivia’s songs are definitely ones to add to your collection.
Photo Credit: Tina Letter
While Olivia’s songwriting may be on the more somber side, Olivia herself is a bright, exciting, lively girl who has contributed an amazing amount of time and love to Penn State Songwriters’ Club.
One of Olivia’s originals can be found ready to listen to on the Penn State Songwriters’ Club’s Bandcamp page, or on her SoundCloud page. And if you want more after listening to that, Olivia is currently in the studio working on a special treat for her audience that should be available sometime in April. Olivia also frequents the local Open Mic night scene so if you want to see her live, you should be able to catch her performing an original or collaborating with another musician there!