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Laura Bell Bundy: Broadway Star gone Country

The country side of Legally Blonde: The Musical star Laura Bell Bundy

?Hehhlo,? says a thick Eastern European accent on Laura Bell Bundy?s voicemail, ?Laura Bell is not een right now. Plees leaf a message.? As I begin to do so, she comes breezing around the corner and whisks me into the elevator apologizing for being only a few seconds late. After mentioning that I enjoyed her voicemail, she explains that it was actually?her. This tiny, blonde ball of energy is all that she?s cracked up to be?a solid, hilarious performer. Laura Bell, who hails from Kentucky, has returned to her roots after ruling Broadway?playing parts like Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray and originating Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. In 2008 she released her debut album Longing For a Place Already Gone and is currently working on a second. The versatile talent now lives in Nashville.

Up to this point, you?ve mainly been known for your Broadway career. How did you transition from Broadway to a country music style of performance?
For me, it?s not really a transition, because my discovery of my love for country music and my singing that style kind of happened simultaneously with getting opportunities on Broadway?things which require a different kind of singing, obviously. I had a pretty strong Southern accent as a kid, but it kind of went away after a few years of living in New York and playing parts that weren?t exactly Southern characters ? so there?s a different voice for recording than for performing live, period.

I get asked a lot about the transition. I?m from Kentucky, so I grew up listening to country music, but also to soul music. I always wanted to have a recording career, and I was always pursuing music and performing live. This opportunity has been a total dream come true. Performing, whether it?s onstage or recording, is where I feel most at home. Performing is my love.

When I was 18, I started writing music. I was trying to pursue a music career and what ended up happening was that I started getting acting and Broadway work instead of music. I use the comparison of baskets with eggs in them?I have a theatrical basket and a musical basket. The eggs happened to hatch much sooner in the acting basket than the musical one. These [gesturing to the musical ones] are still incubating.

Comparing this to your first album ? is there a big difference? What is the sound for this second album?
Totally. [The first album] was really, like, ?y?all-ternative??throw back and sparse production. [My new album] is more commercial and it still has the traditional influences. It still has a bit of a retro feel. With both albums, I was true to myself, but I had more money to do this second one. [She laughs.]

Who has inspired you?
I really love the more traditional sounding country music. I?m influenced by Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Patsy Cline and more of that classic-sounding country music. This album has that, but it also has a little bit of a ?60s soul, kind of like Aretha Franklin or James Brown?like traditional country meets traditional soul but with modern production.

Do you miss Broadway?
Right now? No. I?ve been creatively fulfilled because this project has been my whole life for little over a year. Writing it and figuring out what the concept would be for it has been completely taking over my life in a really amazing way.

I was exhausted from doing eight shows a week. Trying to make that same routine different every night ? your body to starts to fall apart, suddenly. I do miss performing live, and I miss the people that I worked with and the family that we had. I miss doing comedy. I had a real affinity with the character that I was playing.

Now that you?re living in Nashville?what are some things you like to do around town?
I really do see a lot of live music. I?ve really taken advantage of not working at night and the delicious alcoholic beverages [laughs]. There are great clubs around here, and I love eating barbecue?sparingly. I love living in the Gulch, because it?s really convenient and allows me to not have to drive everywhere. I go to Mercy Lounge a lot, the Cannery Row area, 12th and Porter and these little places around here. I pretty much stay downtown most of the time. I love Patterson House.

The music here is kind of off the beaten path. It?s been interesting for me to discover that there?s more of an indie crowd here and it?s a nice country music scene. There?s an amazing rock and indie pop scene coming about here as well. The Station Inn?I was there last night?is right across the street. I get mad that I don?t go there more often.

This is Nashville Lifestyles magazine. Any final words in regards to your lifestyle here?
I?m really, really happy to live here, I love being here. It?s a creative oasis and very calming for me. There are amazingly kind people?I?ve had not one bad experience here (knock on wood). I think I?m definitely going to stay here for a while.

Source: NashvilleLifestyles.com (By Jordan Rutledge)

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