Stephanie Lambring needed autonomy in her life.
After serving as a staff songwriter for Carnival Music in Nashville, Tennessee, from 2012 to 2015, the 34-year-old Freetown native and 2005 Seymour High School graduate took a break from the profession.
A year later, while waiting tables at a wine bar in Nashville, she became acquainted with Tom Douglas, a Grammy-winning songwriter.
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She said he took an interest in her creative spirit and checked in to see how she was doing every time he and his wife came into the wine bar.
One time, he asked her how it was going, and she told him she hadn’t written a song in more than a year.
“Anyone can write a song in two weeks,” he said, scribbling his email address onto a piece of scrap paper. “When you write something you love, send it to me.”
Lambring said she was up for the challenge.
“I went home, and it was like my soul knew what I needed to write,” she said. “Nearly two weeks to the date, I sent him ‘Daddy’s Disappointment.’ He told me that he related to the song as a father and as a son and that he and his wife wept as they listened.”
She said that was the first step in restoring her confidence as a songwriter.
On Oct. 23, she released her second full-length album, “Autonomy.” Her first album, “Lonely to Alone,” was released in 2009.
Her list of potential titles for the new record included “Tears Nobody Sees” and “Like a Person.”
One day, she said it occurred to her: “Autonomy.”
“It made sense on so many levels,” Lambring said. “Autonomy from the Music Row machine. Autonomy from societal and familial expectations. Autonomy from my controlling relationship. Autonomy from religious rigidity. Autonomy from my own critical voice.”
Trudging into her autonomy, she said she wrote a record about the things she loves to write about, giving fewer and fewer cares about what people think along the way.
“I chose the title to help remind me to forge onward when my inner people pleaser wanted to go somewhere more comfortable,” she said.
She wrote one of the songs on the record, “Somebody Else’s Dress,” when she had her publishing deal with Carnival Music.
“My rule for this album was that after five years of co-writing burnout during my time with publishing companies, every song had to be 100% written by myself,” Lambring said. “This one fit this body of work very well. I couldn’t not record it. It’s about a gay friend in the Bible Belt, which apparently is a common theme for me to write about.”
As far as intentionally writing for a record, the first song she wrote was “Daddy’s Disappointment.”
Lambring said that set the bar for the level of honesty she wanted to write with in the future and is her favorite song on the album.
“It touches on the dynamic of my relationship with music, my dad and the music industry,” she said. “It gets kind of complex when you love music but also feel like that’s the only thing people expect you to do.”
She said many of her friends’ parents have said, “Oh, music? That’s nice, but you need a real job.”
“The message from my family was more, ‘Don’t get a real job. You’ve got to do music,’ which leads to a different set of complexities,” Lambring said. “Writing this song helped me sort through that and come back to music in an authentic way.”
The other songs on the album are “Pretty,” “Little White Lie,” “Mr. Wonderful,” “Joy of Jesus,” “Fine,” “Old Folks Home,” “Save Me Tonight” and “Birdsong Hollow.”
“Writing this project was a slow, intentional, sometimes meticulous process,” Lambring said. “I had specific song concepts that I knew I wanted to write, and I mostly tackled them one by one with a little sprinkle of mystery here and there.”
She and her producer, Teddy Morgan, played most of the instruments on the album, which was mastered in July 2019.
“I loved it and still do,” Lambring said of her new album. “My hope is to feel like each record is a good representation of where I was during the time it was made. This project has been a life thing for me, and I think I’ll always love it.”
She’s working with Tone Tree for distribution. Her publicist is Sarah Frost, who is based in Brooklyn, New York, and her radio promoter is Angela Backstrom.
“I’ve got a good team,” Lambring said.
“Autonomy” can be purchased online at stephanielambring.bigcartel.com or streamed. Lambring also hopes to have copies available for purchase soon at the Jackson County Visitor Center in Seymour.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way she’s able to promote the new music, Lambring said she has tried to embrace self-promotion on social media, mostly Instagram.
“There are not many live performance options in Nashville right now,” she said. “I’m hoping to hop on an artist’s tour next spring or summer as an opening act if things return somewhat to normal.”
She already has released music videos for “Mr. Wonderful,” “Little White Lie,” “Fine” and “Joy of Jesus.”
“Mr. Wonderful” won Best Music Video at Summer in the South Film Festival in early September. The lyric video was created by Iris Wendy Dutour.
The song was mostly inspired by a controlling relationship Lambring was in years ago.
“It started out like a fairy tale. The guy was smart, funny, romantic, good looking — all the things. I was smitten,” she said. “Pretty quickly, though, the red flags started sneaking in. We committed immediately, and he more or less moved in with me. He had to be with me constantly. I’m someone who needs a lot of space, so this was a lot for me.”
The guy also relentlessly pressured her to get engaged.
“To the world, he looked like Mr. Nice Guy, and honestly, sometimes, he looked like that to me, too. I liked the illusion of us,” she said. “The reality, however, was a complete mind-warp. For this song, I really wanted to capture the dance between awareness and denial that so many experience in relationships like this.”
She found Dutour through a mutual friend, Ashley Elaine Brake, and said she was blown away when she saw some of Dutour’s work.
“I shot her a couple examples of videos I liked and trusted her to do her thing,” Lambring said. “The day she sent it to me, I cried. She so artfully captured the dynamic of an abusive relationship. For this song and topic, a lyric video felt right, and Iris exceeded my expectations in every possible way. It’s more than a lyric video.”
Lambring said the album is not for someone seeking easy listening on a summer day.
“It’s a deep dive into the human experience,” she said. “I hope whoever listens to it feels less alone and like there’s someone else out there who gets it.”
Her first full-length album coincided with some touring in the United Kingdom after graduation from Belmont University. Her second album being released 11 years later, Lambring said it feels like her first album.
“It’s definitely the first album that feels wholly me,” she said. “At the same time, my 2009 album was a good representation of my artistry at 23. I was just too young to know what I wanted and to truly pursue music in an authentic way. I wasn’t ready yet.”
She thanks those who have given her new record a listen so far and encourages others to check it out.
“It has been an incredibly freeing and fulfilling experience writing, recording and releasing this project. It’s a life thing for me,” Lambring said. “I think the best thing to do is to try to stay in tune with yourself and give yourself grace when you can’t. The rest will follow.”
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Stephanie Lambring’s second full-length album, "Autonomy," can be purchased online at stephanielambring.bigcartel.com or streamed.
She also hopes to have copies available for purchase soon at the Jackson County Visitor Center in Seymour.
For other information, visit stephanielambring.com or facebook.com/stephanielambringmusic.
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Jackson County Jukebox is The Tribune’s feature that puts a spotlight on musicians with ties to the county. Individuals or groups interested in being featured should email [email protected] or call 812-523-7080.
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