Leanna Firestone put on quite the show at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill. The show itself was lively and you could tell that Leanna was giving it her all. In talking with her she shared that while her music is pop leaning she incorporates various elements of musicals. She shared that she grew up doing musicals and being involved in theater and because of that her music is inspired by it. She is also inspired by other artists such as Maisie Peters who she described as “exactly my type of music with the dramatics and theatrical sounds”. Leanna explained that her Maisie Peter’s new album is something she has been listening to as of late and really enjoys. 

When talking about Leanna’s musical process she shared that she’s a person who always starts with her lyrics first. She explained that she has always wanted to be a singer and song writer. She explained that she was constantly telling her family that this was what she wanted to do. Then came her parents saying “okay but what are you going to play or write about?”. When she was about 10 years old her parents signed her up for guitar classes and you would think that she fell in love with it and never stopped - but that wasn't the case. Leanna said that she went for about 2 months, decided that it hurt her fingers and she stopped. About 2 years later she picked it back up she decided to pick the guitar back up and it stuck. She eventually moved on to playing piano but with her most recent album she wrote most of it with a guitar. 

Throughout Leanna’s performance she played songs from her most recent album. When asked she stated that her favorite song to perform is “Town Ain't Big Enough”. This was the song she described as the one that gets not only her excited but the entire crowd. During the show itself you can feel the energy shift with this song. Its like an electric current going through everyone energizing them when this song starts. 

I was fortunate enough to get the chance to ask Leanna “What inspired the music?”, she laughed and said that unfortunately her friends but fortunately for her they all had breakups with their serious partners around the same time. She was spending time hanging out with her friends and processing break ups just the stereotypical girl talk and then of course overall life conversations. Talking about what it means to lose but also gain your freedom wherever you happen to be at in your loss or grief and how it can change you and how you feel both positively or negatively about yourself and what's going on around you. 

Leanna shared her praises for her friends and them helping inspire her not only with music but keeping her grounded on her day to day. She has some of her friends on tour with her. Leanna explained that she tried to work without her best friend once before and that she was going crazy without that anchor. She met her friends while studying music and she can't picture leaving them behind again. Having them on tour with her makes it enjoyable. 

The show Leanna Firestone put on was one with so much energy from not only herself but from the crowd. There were times that she didn’t even need the microphone because the crowd would happily shout the lyrics at the top of their lungs for her. I will say Leanna Firestone is an incredible artist with amazing stamina throughout the show. She was jumping and dancing