After a month and a half of not hearing anything, she got a call in late 2005 asking if she could fly east for a final tryout. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized the show was actually based in New York and would require her to move across the country.

Having grown up doing repertory theater in Nashville, Pritchard admits that it was a lifelong dream of hers to be an actress. Although she originally auditioned for the lead, Wendla, the show’s producers thought she would be a better fit in a secondary role, Ilse. Pritchard agreed and accepted the part, moving to New York in February 2006 to perform in “Spring Awakening” full-time. (“Glee”’s Lea Michele ended up playing Wendla.)

“I remember being nine years old and saying to my mother that when I was a big girl and all grown up, I was going to move to New York and be in a Broadway show. And then, all of a sudden, I was a fucking big girl, offered a fucking role in a Broadway show,” she said. “There was not really ever a moment of, I don’t know what I’m doing. … It was basically, I had $15 in my bank account. I was living with my best friend’s family in LA. I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. And I wanted to do something, I wanted to do things that I felt were productive. And that to me seemed really productive.”

The opportunity, needless to say, forced her to put her music career on hold.

“The schedule is so hectic when you’re in a show,” she admits. “You don’t have time to do anything except the show, which sucks. So it was a very frustrating time, because I really loved (“Spring Awakening.”) I was really happy to be doing it, I needed the job, I loved the music, I liked the people. But we were all so tired. The schedule was so ridiculous. When we weren’t doing the show, we were doing press. And I didn’t find any time to write, and I found that really frustrating. … So it was kind of a weird time.”

She left the show when her contract was up and began focusing again on her music career, signing a publishing deal and moving to London to begin recording.

The result was “Wasted in Jackson” — a collection of mostly folk-y songs, including bouncy first single “Not the Drinking” and album-closer “When the Night Kills the Day,” which was produced by Mumford & Sons’ frontman Marcus Mumford. Pritchard cites the recession-themed song “Try A Little Harder” is Pritchard cites as her personal favorite track on the record.

“It’s about how you can’t just look at everything for face value,” she said. “We’re all in the shit storm. We’re all in the gutter. … Just because you might look like you’re doing ok, you’re probably not doing ok. … You have to try a little harder, because everyone is suffering.”

“I kind of find it hard to sing (live), because I feel like it’s a lot to ask of people,” she’s quick to add. “When I do sing it, I feel like I might offend someone or something. … I don’t want to come across preachy. Because I’m not preachy. I grew up in the Bible Belt. The last thing I want to be is fucking preachy.”

Lauren Pritchard Blast Magazine coverage area tour dates:

3/18          Dallas @ Poor David’s Pub
3/19          Cypress, Texas @ Cypress Saloon
3/23          Santa Fe @ Corazon
3/24          Denver @ The Soiled Dove
3/25          Logan, Utah @ Logan Arthouse and Cinema
3/27          Seattle @ The Tractor
3/31          San Francisco @ Red Devil Lounge
4/1            Los Angeles @ Hotel Café
4/2            San Diego @ LeStat’s
4/3            Phoenix @ Rhythm Room

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About The Author

Elizabeth Raftery is senior editor of Blast. Follow her on Twitter.

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