Oregon Music News

At just 20 years old, it’s likely you’ve heard Lucy Schwartz’s music, but not heard of her.   With recent appearances on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, a song on the Shrek 4 soundtrack, a spot on the Lilith Fair tour, and a new album Life In Letters on the way, that will soon change…

Lucy Schwartz performing at Lilith Fair, Portland, 2010. Photo by Stacey L. Chase.

Her music has found its way into our homes, but she is not yet a household name.  With over thirty songwriting credits that include placement in some of America’s favorite TV shows and blockbuster movies, Lucy Schwartz has established herself as a sought after songwriter with a list of achievements most composers would aspire to attain in a lifetime.  Yet, she has managed to do it all before her 21^st birthday.

I suppose it helps to grow up inspired by an artistic brother; proud and supportive mother; and a Grammy and Emmy nominated Film & TV composer father, David Schwartz (Northern Exposure, Arrested Development, Deadwood), who runs a recording studio in their Los Angeles backyard; but make no mistake, this young artist is not riding on anyone else’s coattails, she’s charting her own course.

WATCH:  “Gravity”, heard on ER, Private Practice, and Grey’s Anatomy

That course began at the age of 6 when she took an initial interest in the piano sitting in her family’s front room.  “I was really curious about it, started plucking notes and taking piano lessons, but was frustrated with learning how to read music. I had a teacher that encouraged me to start writing my own songs and that’s when I started to love playing piano.”

She began writing her own instrumental compositions at the age of 12, but it wasn’t until she attend a piano recital and saw that other kids her age were writing lyrics to their songs that it occurred to her she too could put words to her music.  All at once, it was like someone had given her the key to a locked door with treasure trove of expression hidden on the other side; she ran home and composed her first song.

Lucy Schwartz. Photo by Stacey L. Chase.

By the time she was 16; she had recorded her first album Winter In June and released it independently.  While her father didn’t exactly give Schwartz her start in the music business, he was instrumental in helping her land her first big break.   “That’s a funny story actually, it starts with jogging.  My dad was jogging through the neighborhood when he ran into Chris Douridas, a music supervisor and DJ for KCRW.  My dad knew who he was and said ‘My daughter is a musician can I give you her CD?’  Chris reluctantly agreed.  My dad is always embarrassed by this story, he’s not usually running around selling my CDs, but my dad went home to get my CD and brought it back to Chris.  Chris listened to it and liked it and asked if he could play it on the radio.”

In addition to being a popular DJ for the Santa Monica, CA radio station, KCRW, Douridas is a three-time Grammy-nominated producer of soundtracks and music videos.  He became known as a musical tastemaker in the 90s for hosting a new music show called Morning Becomes Eclectic and has also served as a creative programming consultant for Steve Jobs and Apple’s iTunes Music Store, as well as curating the launch of iTunes Essentials; an ongoing series of downloadable music playlists for the iPod culture. He is dedicated to discovering and nurturing unsigned and forward-leaning artists, and clearly, he recognized Schwartz’s burgeoning talent.  It wasn’t long before Douridas, looking for music for the 2008 film The Women with Meg Ryan and Annette Bening, would call on Schwartz to lend her talents to the movie soundtrack.

“Not long after he heard my CD, he was working on the film, The Women.  They were looking for the end song and he asked if I would give writing a song for the movie a try, so I wrote a song and recorded it in a few days.  They liked it and decided to use it in the film.  A few days later, they were still looking for the opening credit song and I wrote it that one as well.” The two original songs by Schwartz used for the opening and closing scenes of the movie are “Count On Me” and “Beautiful.”

“I saw a tremendously mature talent in Lucy, occurring very early on in her career. Once I began working with her, I was amazed at how quickly she works. She is a very fast writer, with a consistency and a quality that are very rare.” – Chris Douridas

While Schwartz enjoys the creativity of writing songs for herself, she loves the challenge of writing a song for a specific mood. “The process is different every time.  When writing for a movie, you don’t usually get to see the actual scene.  I am sent a summary of what the movie is about, what is happening in the scene and a description of the feeling they are going for.  I really love getting assignments like that. I get excited because it challenges me to create the mood that works.  Another challenge is not to be too spot-on with what is happening in the scene, it has to relate but not be too exact.”

Landon Pigg and Lucy Schwartz at Shrek Ever After Premiere

So what happens when you are asked to write a love song for a movie about two ogres?  Call on the boy who likes “Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop,” Landon Pigg to lend a hand.  “I had just been out to see A Fine Frenzy and briefly met Landon Pigg who was touring with them.  A few weeks later, this opportunity came up for me to write a song for Shrek Ever After. I was a really big fan of Landon’s music so I called him up and asked him to come write with me.  We met for coffee and wrote “Darling I Do.”

WATCH:  Darling I Do duet with Landon Pigg, for Shrek Ever After

“When I write for myself, I sit around on the piano until I find something that sounds interesting.  Lyrics are always a mystery, they just pop out of the music.  I get either a feeling from the sound of the music or a word that comes out naturally.  From there it’s like a puzzle, putting together what the story is about.”

Lucy Schwarts performing with father David Schwartz at Lilith Fair, Portland. Photo by Stacey L. Chase.

For Schwartz, making music is a family affair.  She writes the songs, her dad produces them and plays bass in her band, and occasionally, brother Ian will lend his filmmaking talents as he does in her video for “Help Me! Help Me! Help Me!”  As for creative conflicts with her father, those are few and far between.  “For the most part we work together really well and I feel so lucky to be able to share music with him.  I’ve grown up in such a musical environment, I feel like the studio is my second home.”

WATCH: Help Me! Help Me! Help Me! Directed by her brother, Ian Schwartz, and shot in the Schwartz home.

This year, Schwartz landed what most female singer/songwriters consider to be the Holy Grail of gigs, a spot on the Portland stop of Lilith Fair.  Only 7 years old and listening to Hanson and the Spice Girls the last time Lilith toured, Schwartz was eager to find a way on to the legendary bill.  “I found out about Lilith coming back a year ago and thought it would be such an amazing thing to be a part of.  I said to my manager, ‘Let’s find a way to get on this!” I am managed by Nettwerk, the ones behind Lilith, so that was helpful.”

Lucy's latest album, Life In Letters, is due out this summer.

Schwartz is good at setting intentions and seeing them materialize.  From her duet with Pigg and the spot on the Lilith tour; her new video for “Graveyard,” the single off her upcoming album Life in Letters is no exception. Schwartz literally had a dream choreographer in mind.  “I had this crazy dream that Sonia (Tayeh of So You Think You Can Dance) would choreograph my video.  I didn’t know her at all.  I come up with these crazy dreams and I think a lot people are too afraid to go after them but I just go for it.  This time it worked out. I spoke to her and she said yes!  I’m a huge fan of So You Think You Can Dance and I’m very excited for the video to be released.”

Schwartz, whose style is compared to a blend of Sarah McLachlan and Carly Simon, is also eager for the release of her latest full length album due out this summer, produced by Mitchell Froom (Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney).

“It’s rare to find such a developed talent at such an early stage in her career,” says Mitchell Froom, producer of her forthcoming full-length album due later this year, “so I was certainly excited about working with Lucy.” For his role on the album, he notes that he was primarily channeling what Lucy envisioned. “As far as recording is concerned, she not only is a great and distinctive singer/songwriter, but she has a unique talent for putting together background vocals and a real ear for production. She’s responsible for many of the production ideas and arrangement ideas on the album. She also loves recording and projects tremendous confidence and joy in the studio. As a producer, working with artists at the beginning of their careers is especially rewarding, so I’m sure you can imagine why I jumped at the chance to work with her.” – Mitchell Froom

Lucy Schwartz autographing a young fan's jean's. Photo by Stacey L. Chase.

How does Schwartz spend her time when she’s not making music?  “Lately I feel like I have become a business woman.  I am not with a label, so a lot of the planning that goes into putting out a record and getting all the little things with MySpace and the website together, I take care of during the day. It’s very interesting, I feel like I’m getting an education on the business of music just through living and trial and error.”

So what is left for this 20 year-old to accomplish?  A lot if you ask her, but among her biggest goals?  Collaborating with her musical hero.  “My biggest dream ever, is to collaborate with Chris Martin, he is my musical hero, but I think I’m going to have to wait a while to go after that, maybe until he knows who I am.  That’s a pie in the sky dream for now.  Besides music, I think it is important to have a good balance of life and friends. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I have all these dreams and goals.  I think if I can just be happy with where I’m at, then that is good enough for me.

Chris Martin, expect a call soon…