CREDIT: MARLON FRANCIS
Leanne Mayer (right), winner of the London Music Awards' Best Contemporary Singer/ Songwriter, performs at the Rosewood Room in the London Music Hall of Fame.

Leanne Mayer has been an employment consultant at Fanshawe College since 2016, and is now the newest winner of the Forest City London Music Award (FCLMA) for best Contemporary Singer/ Songwriter.

The ukulele-strumming songstress released her freshman album, Bittersweet Remedy, this past November, and has since received considerable acclaim for her finished product. The album consists of five tracks, with the lead single, “Renegade”, eventually leading to her winning the coveted prize.

“The EP that I released basically was a collection of some of my favourite songs that I’ve finished,” Mayer told Interrobang.

The singer-songwriter started out singing at open mic nights, then parlayed that experience into singing covers of popular songs with her own unique twist to them. She has been singing in London for the past six years, and her journey opened avenues that she hadn’t known existed. It also created relationships that proved to be supportive and beneficial.

This experience is further highlighted by her relationship to Deni Gauthier, another nominee for the FCLMA Contemporary Singer/ Songwriter award.

“Deni Gauthier…he’s an amazing musician. He’s been around London for a while. He and his wife own a CD pressing company. So they helped me press my EP,” said Mayer.

On May 5, Mayer received her award beating out five other candidates at the London Music Hall. The event capped London Music Week, a week-long festival of local musical performances ranging from hip-hop and rock, to pop and contemporary.

“The production of it [and] the sheer amount of people there… [with] so many musicians from London and the surrounding areas as well, just that energy was super exciting,” said Mayer about the event, in its third year since the London Music Week was launched in 2017.

Unlike the widely held belief that recipients of awards are notified beforehand, Mayer said, “It was not the case. I had no idea. I was hoping, but thought that the person that probably won got notified that they won.”

The surprise of her award was genuine, as was her response.

“To win was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. It was surreal. It was a really emotional, exciting moment,” said Mayer.

Although Mayer is categorized as a contemporary-folk singer/ songwriter, she looks at her sound and body of work from a different perspective.

“I’m not confined to a genre, so if I like a song I’ll write it. I won’t try and steer it towards them all sounding similar. I’m a new solo writer, so I’m learning as I go, and I’m trying to hone and form the genre,” said Mayer.

Mayer’s musical evolution can be heard when listening to some of her earlier works on YouTube compared to the music from Bittersweet Remedy. She is busy at work performing and recording new music for her next unscheduled album, but even with intentions to grow and expand her style, it is evident that the heart of the music she creates will maintain its soul.

“Emotions, I like writing about emotions,” said Mayer. “I like using powerful words so people feel something with the music.”