Local singer-songwriter Meghan Earl has a lot more going on than playing the guitar and singing her own songs. The 24-year-old Oklahoma native is also a graduate assistant for OU's English department, a graduate student in professional writing and is currently working on her novel, "A Rising Hatred," for her thesis.
Earl began playing the guitar at age 14.
"Juliana Hatfield is the rocker that made me want to start playing," Earl said.
Earl played in bands during high school, but has consistently been a solo act in Norman, playing her own compositions.
"I always wanted to have a band and play electric guitar," Early said. "But it always seemed that the songs I wrote were really mellow and it always ended up just Meghan."
The singer-songwriter said she has found her mellow, folksy sound being compared to the likes of Jewel Kilcher and Joni Mitchell, although she doesn't try to imitate anyone musician's sound.
"I think from the very beginning I didn't want to play other people's music," Earl said. "I always wanted to play my own."
Earl's says her compositions are very personal.
"I don't think I've ever just sat down to write a song about a certain thing," Earl said. "My songs are so random and come from so many different places. My lyrics are usually really abstract and I have to work to make them clear. They also have a lot of spiritual overtone to them for me, although the listening audience might never guess it."
"(Earl) says her lyrics don't usually tell a story, but I feel they paint a picture and give clues that allow you to make up a story or relate her lyrics to something in your life," Lauren Sonder, an occasional accompanist of Earl, said.
Earl performs regularly at Brother's Open Mic Night, but cannot usually be found performing anywhere else.
"I've always been very nervous about my music," Earl said. "So I haven't really put myself out there."
"She was one of our first collection of people to come over here to play," Bruce Washburn, organizer of Brother's Open Mic, said. "She's eat up with talent but she doesn't act like it. She seems to know her place in things."
Earl is currently working on recording a CD that will be released near the end of summer.
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