For Leah Clark, music is more than just an expression of her personality. Music IS her; she is her music.
There is no difference. Leah Clark has often told her fans and followers that she is guided by her personal
Muse of Music to the music she writes, sings, and loves.
“I write and perform not only because I love to, but because I have to.
My Muse will not allow me to rest if there is music to be created."
The music Leah creates is as complex as her Muse. Versatility of sound and lyrics is her hallmark, ranging from heartfelt country ballads to the spiritual rhythms of New Thought to scat singing in the old style jazz tradition. Different elements of her voice are felt and heard in each of the styles. Her country ballads stress voice inflections, creating sounds and telling stories in a range of power from soft and quiet to huge. When scat singing, she sees in her Mind strong visual images of musical instruments projecting her voice.
New Thought music allows her to help people with their spiritual needs. New Thought music, to Leah, has the power to heal, and she feels most grateful when told that listening to her voice made some one feel better. She focuses especially on young children with serious childhood diseases. Leah has been for years a staff songwriter for Songs of Love, a not for profit company, having composed more than 100 songs for sick children. Songs are written upon special request usually made by concerned parents.
For Leah, each is a ‘Song of Love’ for that child.
“My favorite Song of Love was written for a little girl named Lia Higgins.
She wanted a Beatles-kind of tune, so I tried to emulate their chord structures and sang the lyrics with a British accent. I spoke with Lia's mother about a year after writing her song, and learned that she had passed away. But every night before she made her transition, at bedtime she wanted to hear her song.
That, and probably the fact that her name sounds like mine, makes her song my favorite.”
A songwriter's favorite song is always the newest one. For Leah Clark, her newest favorite is Separate Ways, the rock tune on her latest CD. Angsty, raw, thumpy (thanks to the great new drum groove) and edgy (thanks to the electric guitars added by producer Nick Pages), this song isn't pretty or sweet. But it is expressive and real, and it challenged Clark to find the voice to sing it.
Leah Clark’s true career ambition is neither about fame nor fortune. It is about spirituality. She knows her Muse is listening.
“I want to sing with huge orchestras and record songs for movies.
I want to travel the world with a band, bringing my music LIVE to anyone who cares to listen.
I want to sing at outdoor concerts so the timbre of my voice and the song of my heart inspire a response from the grass and the trees and the birds and the animals from our very earth.
I want to write music that inspires peace in this world.
I want to have little kids (and their parents) smile at me and dance because they can't help themselves.
When people are troubled, or sick, or lonely, I want them to reach for my CDs
because that's what I can offer to make them feel better.”
And when I transition to the next phase of this existence, I want to live on through my words and my music in the hearts and minds of the people who've experienced it and passed it on to their children and grandchildren.
What is most important to know about Leah Clark and her music? It is a big idea simply expressed:
It's the hope of every great songwriter that each succeeding song gets better. I believe my work does.”