Meeting with singer songwriter Leanne Binder was like a breath of fresh air. From Youngstown, Ohio, Binder has loved music her whole life, and her passion was tangible in less than a minute into our conversation. She is filled with positivity and is constantly looking for the beauty in everything, even tough situations, which is what her brand new EP “I Got Something to Say” is all about. There are bits and pieces of sadness, hope, beauty, and just about everything you could feel, all wrapped into six songs (and an acoustic bonus track). 

Binder has had a rollercoaster of a journey through her music career. Born with this laudable passion for music, she would sit in her childhood basement listening to everything from Johnny Cash to Disney soundtracks. This love continued throughout her childhood and she began taking vocal lessons at age 12, with college professors blown away by her strong voice at such a young age. Recognizing this undeniable talent, her singing was nurtured all the way until she began majoring in opera at the Ohio State University. Due to the university’s drastically different vocal coaching techniques, Binder’s voice was pushed and changed so much that she blew out her voice at the ripe age of 18. Determined to preserve her voice, Binder left Ohio State and worked with her original vocal coach for countless hours, succeeding in recovering the stunning voice we are able to hear today. 

Hectic does not even begin to describe Binder’s journey. After regaining her voice, she has experienced an infinite number of memorable ups and downs. One time, she had an entire tour booked, including a bus to drive her from city to city. Just days before the tour, though, the tour manager had to cancel due to a personal crisis; Binder had to cancel the whole tour and was left with the bus! Another trying time was when she was struggling to find a manager, but when she was about to hire one, she got a call that this soon-to-be manager suddenly passed away. These low points, though, were worth it for Binder when she self-booked herself to headline and close on the Saturday night of Colne, England’s Great Rhythm and Blues Festival. Standing in front of thousands of people, Binder was overwhelmed by the sea of people in the crowd and had to catch her breath. She teared up, thinking about all of the work it took to get to this monumental moment in her career. “Then we tore the roof off of that place,” Binder recalls.

Binder looks at music in a special light, seeing it as both subjective and powerful. She wants her music to mean whatever listeners want it to mean, so she avoids putting the story behind the ways she interprets her songs out into the world. Off of “I Got Something to Say,” though, she will tell you that the song “Drinking Stars” has a special place in her heart due to the writing process. When she walked into the studio with the first draft, she found out that the song’s melody and chord progression was unknowingly similar to Miley Cirus’ “Flowers” to go further with it. Just then, the lyrics all just came to Binder and all came together in a euphonious manner. “The song wrote itself in ten minutes,” she adds. The title “Drinking Stars” came from her friend’s old recipe book of champagne cocktails, which is ironic as Binder confirms that she is a whiskey girl. The song has a double entendre, but Binder would like to keep it at that as the song deserves its own unique meaning for everyone. When writing, Binder always makes sure to end her songs with a glimpse of hope and positivity. She explains that in this day and age, it is important to embrace the little joys in life. So, whenever there is melancholy in her lyrics, she makes sure there is redemption before the song ends. She wants her music to influence people, and she wants this influence to be benevolent. 

Leanne Binder’s incredible EP is one that should be on every music lover’s radar. Whether you appreciate its sonically interesting combination of rock and roll and blues, or you are a lyric enthusiast who appreciates her cathartic lyricism, Binder’s EP is definitely one to check out!