NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Leah Marie Mason is a Nashville-based singer/songwriter from North Carolina. She comes from a musical family, and her dad was a drummer.
“We were always around music. My dad loves rock music,” she said.
By age 11, Mason had started performing in a classic-rock band with her older brother, belting out ’70s rock tunes like Heart, Led Zeppelin, and Pat Benatar. Her older brother was an accomplished musician, and she wanted to be just like him.
Upon graduation from high school, Mason attended Berklee College of Music as a general education major. She later transferred to Belmont University, where she majored in songwriting and was fully immersed in the country music scene.
And while the faculty at Belmont is second to none, Mason concedes she didn’t get the full college experience because, as soon as she transferred, COVID hit and all her classes went online for a few years.
Inspired by everything from the classic songwriting of George Strait, the bluegrass of The SteelDrivers, and the 21st-century vibes of Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa, she spent countless hours writing and honed a sharp signature style, resulting in her debut single, “Far Boy.” Taking the reins of her career, in 2021 Leah watched YouTube tutorials about uploading media to Spotify, outsourced cover art, and finally decided to launch a TikTok page to promote “Far Boy.” The song played over a video captioned, “I called my ex to hang out so he could listen to this song I wrote about him,” and it organically exploded with 14 million views.
And while Mason may have just broken out onto the scene this year with her viral TikTok that pulls at your heartstrings, she has the poise and skill of a seasoned artist. Her songwriting skills have a maturity that belies her young age of 23.
I noticed from the words of her songs in “Miss Us Then,” “Far Boy,” and “I Wish” that someone must have broken her heart hard.
She freely admitted, “I’ve had a lot of trauma. It’s hard for me to write about things that haven’t happened to me. I write from experience for sure.”
Her first foray into performing in Nashville at the prestigious Whiskey Jam then followed by being a regular with the Song Suffragettes.
Mason’s successes have shown her ability to flourish rapidly in the music industry, making her an obvious pick to sign with major players such as SONY’s The Orchard and Warner Chappell Music Publishing.
She confirms, “I really do have the best team with people who believe in me. I love everyone at Warner and the Orchard. They’re super on-board. It’s been great, so far.”
Mason has re-released “Far Boy” as a duet with Austin Burke that debuted on Taste of Country, and her latest collaboration with breakout star Kidd G on “Love Isn’t Real” was featured on numerous editorial playlists on release week, moving Mason’s trajectory further along.
Mason has proved her incredible lyricism in past releases such as “Hannah,” “Habit,” and “Tears into Diamonds,” just as beautifully and emotionally penned.
The maturity in the young star’s tone and delivery is beyond her time in the industry, but the headstrong innocence that shines through is genuine. “Tears Into Diamonds” is as stunning and sharp as the subject and its creator. With words like The night, a whiskey bottle catches white lightning/ And there’s a half-truth in a mouth full of lying/ Yeah I believe in miracles like water into wine/ So I’ll take you back when these tears turn into diamonds you can feel the anguish in her words. But just as writing these words makes her feel better, we feel better just listening and affirming her feelings.
And while the former rocker now finds herself in the pop-country lane, she states, “I write how I’m feeling and whatever the genre, that is where it falls. A lot of girls relate to what I am saying. I’ve created this community of people who have each other’s backs.”
She continued, “It’s kind of sad how many people can relate, but also incredible that we can have this space where we are like ‘OMG, I went through the same thing that you did.’”
The talented songstress will continue telling her truths, but now that she has signed with Warner Chappell, she anticipates sharing her songwriting gifts with other artists. No matter what happens, keep an eye out for Leah Marie Mason. She is just getting started.
You can follow Leah Marie Mason on her website, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and all streaming platforms.
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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Instagram, and Twitter.
