Alyssa Lazar discusses new EP, her life in music

Clarks Summit native Alyssa Lazar always knew what she wanted to do with her life — music was her passion, and she’s been following that passion since she was a kid.

Lazar will release a new EP on Nov. 17, and a lot has led up to this point for her.

A few years ago, Lazar brought her brand of piano-influenced pop rock to Nashville, Tenn. Her influences include classic rock artists, like Elton John and Billy Joel, as well as more contemporary artists, like Lady Gaga.

Lazar got her start singing at a very young age, but everything changed when she got her first piano lessons at the age of 8.

“It just became a huge passion since then. Even before then, I had been begging my parents to get me a piano for years, because I had been singing for years,” she explained. “And then, by the time I was in early high school, I had my own keyboard, and I was going around to whatever venue I could possibly go to and playing … Piano became such a big part of my sound because I had to accompany myself.”

By the time Lazar was 13 years old, she was writing, recording and releasing songs.

“Obviously, now songwriting is a huge part of what I’m doing, and a huge part of who I am, but a lot of the early songs have since been taken down from the internet to the best of my ability,” she laughed.

Moving to Nashville was one piece of the puzzle in Lazar’s dream, and it has been serving that purpose.

“I had always dreamed of moving to Nashville. I knew that I wasn’t gonna get the career that I wanted if I just stayed in Scranton and did music, as far as that brought me as a person and gave me the best experience I could have asked for. I knew that I needed to move to a bigger city,” she explained.

New York City and Los Angeles didn’t fit the bill in the same way Nashville did, and after studying songwriting at Belmont University, Lazar settled down in East Nashville.

“It feels like home at this point. It’s just sort of the idea that this is really music city. It’s not about being like fame city or anything, it’s just a bunch of people who are really passionate about music and really passionate about songs that have a lot of substance to them. This is definitely the city for songwriters,” she said.

Now, Lazar is playing out in Nashville just about every week — doing everything from sets at piano lounges to full band performances in other venues.

“I’m playing as often as I possibly can, because Nashville’s just crazy. Each show that you play you meet someone else that’s going to potentially be a big part of your career,” she added.

Despite the move, Lazar holds a special place in her heart for her hometown, and she beamed with gratitude when she talked about the support she both has received and continues to receive from back home.

“In elementary school I would get to sing at a ton of different school events and everything, and nobody ever tried to suppress that dream. Everybody has always encouraged me to go for it and told me that I could make it. No one ever showed me any doubt. They just fully believed in me,” she said.

Aside from her family and friends, Lazar was also thankful for the support from the local bars she played at in high school, like Andy Gavin’s, Ale Mary’s and Crotti’s on Ash in Scranton, and the former Sidney’s Lounge in Clarks Summit.

“It was a pretty brave choice to be like, ‘yeah, we’ll have this 15-year-old be the Friday night entertainment tonight.’ Everyone just really took a chance on me, and them believing in me obviously made me believe in myself more. My family, my parents, my brother, my grandpa, all my aunts and uncles, everybody has always known that this is all I wanted. Nobody questions it.

“I just feel really lucky, because I know there’s a lot of people that would choose to pursue a career in an arts field and sort of get laughed at, but whether it’s my friends or my family or just the Scranton community overall, everybody has always been so supportive. I love Scranton so much.”

Lazar’s upcoming seven-song EP, “Hopeless Romanticism,” explores the idea of romanticizing one’s life.

“It’s not at all about the classic definition of romance, it’s more about looking at the world and making it something more romantic and kind of idealizing things,” she explained.

The EP will be a departure from her other work in a few ways, including some instrumental tracks that are meant to give the feeling that “it’s a soundtrack, and you’re the main character in it,” Lazar shared.

One of the singles and the first track on the EP, “New Hustle,” is also from a “main character point of view,” according to Lazar. “New Hustle” is available now for streaming.

“New Hustle” is special for another reason in particular — it was the first song Lazar ever produced her own demo for, a skill she gained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Playing shows, since I was a kid, is probably my favorite aspect of being a musician — the performance and getting to reach people in person — so it really took a lot out of me that I couldn’t do that for a long time,” she said of the period when entertainment was paused by the pandemic. “But I actually was able to take so much advantage of it, because I went home to Pennsylvania for a couple months at that time, and I learned how to produce my own music.

“I started demoing a ton of songs that I wanted to get fully produced, and I started having so much more time to write more songs and really dive into who I was as a songwriter, so it really felt like it worked out for me in the end.”

Two other singles from the EP, “The One He Told You Not to Worry About” and “Maybe I Did Change,” are also available to stream.

Lazar also plans to play her first hometown show in over two years at Crotti’s on Ash, 1431 Ash St., Scranton, on Dec. 26. More details will be released about the performance.

“It will sort of be a late celebration of the release,” she said of the show.

“Hopeless Romanticism” is out on Nov. 17, and will soon be available to be presaved. Fans can follow Lazar on Instagram at @alyssalazar_ or like her page on Facebook for details.