Cam Hones in on Her Songwriting Craft on Upcoming Album
"I want to make sure everything hits everyone in an emotional way,” Cam tells SLN of her approach to her new album.
If there’s one woman who’s well on her way to mastering the craft of songwriting, it’s Cam. The up and coming star recently wrapped Tully’s Coffee’s Slow and Low Tour across her native Pacific Northwest, touring with a range of fellow artisans to talk about how she creates her own art.
The rising star is the writer and singer behind her haunting 2015 hit, “Burning House,” which solidified her as one of country music’s most promising young acts. Like anyone working to hone their talents, Cam follows the model of “practice makes perfect,” constantly writing to understand the functions of the process and compares it to learning to ride a bike. “The inspiration part of it, you can’t quite control, but usually it comes [from] lyrics or a melody that somehow pull at my heart,” she explains to Sounds Like Nashville, saying she draws inspiration from her own life, as well as what others are going through.
When it comes to songwriting, Cam follows her own rules, often letting an idea simmer and takes all the necessary time to craft a song to its utmost potential. She describes her writing process as one that starts with a lyric or idea that she cares about enough to spend hours “crafting and sculpting,” she describes, sometimes taking a year to write a song. “If the song needs that, then it needs that, and you just need to make sure it gets to the best it can possibly get to,” she says of writing. “And then the best part of all obviously is then sharing it with fans and watching them and their faces and hearing their stories… because they’ve been there. You’re giving a voice to something that they think about all the time. That’s probably one of the most rewarding things.”
Like most artists, Cam shares an unbreakable bond with her fans that stems from her authenticity and sense of rawness in her music. “I get really deep things all the time,” she says of fan testimonials about the impact of her music. Just one example is that of a explaining the struggles of their marriage and wondering if they’ll make it through. “They’re holding hands as they’re saying this to me and I’m just like ‘Oh my God, just the vulnerability to come say that,’” she recalls. “And still that they’re trying. Nobody ever wants to admit they’re having problems, but everybody is having problems, and we all are just working on it. That’s our whole life is just working on it.”
Cam will continue to share the power of music with the release of a new album. A long time coming, the currently untitled project demonstrates a sense of growth and evolution since her breakthrough project, Untamed. “I’m so proud of how unique it sounds and how each song is adding something. I want to make sure everything I’m putting out into the world is not redundant. I want to make sure everything hits everyone in an emotional way,” she explains. “It’s a tall order for myself, but I feel like I’m doing it.”
The young star follows the “less is more” approach with the new project, concentrating more on her vocal and storytelling abilities than production value. She’s also focused on bringing her ideas to life, drawing from the same influences, but ensuring that the art of storytelling is at its core. “That’s something that we really tried very hard to make sure that stood out as much as it could, because I feel like that’s what people really want,” Cam says. “A lot of country music listeners, and especially people that are fans of mine, I think they really care about lyrics, they’re going to dance around too, but they really want to hear what these stories are. So it’s going to be great.”
