Lashon Halley found out she was performing at Spring Sing, called her friend Xiomara Fambrough and said, “Yo Xi, I got in with the song I wrote for you.”
A year ago, Halley wrote the song “Done with You” for Fambrough, who was having problems with her boyfriend.
“She didn’t (write) it for her own benefit,” Fambrough said. “She wrote it so that when she sang it out loud, it made me realize the decision I made was the right one.”
Halley, a third-year art history student, will perform her original song at Spring Sing while playing an acoustic-electric guitar. Some of the bass singer’s songs are R&B, though most are mellow background music; she said “Done with You” is similar to the latter – soothing with a powerful ending.
Singing since a young age, Halley said she later joined a band with her two best friends as a sophomore in high school and began experimenting with her songwriting.
“I go on a lot of dates with people to get material, so all my songs are about people that I know personally,” Halley said.
Before transferring to UCLA, Halley attended Santa Barbara City College, where she said vocal technique classes helped her discover her voice, opening her eyes to her range and belt. Halley said her music instructor, Nathan Kreitzer, a music assistant professor at the community college, challenged her with a high-pitched song and told her she couldn’t lower the octave but had to sing in the original pitch.
Fambrough said she met Halley in Kreitzer’s class. She cried the first time she heard Halley perform “Done with You,” because she said it’s a beautiful and empathetic piece, but also a sad one.
“It made me realize how amazing she can be as songwriter because she’s never had those emotions herself,” Fambrough said.
In addition to her solo act, Halley will sing as a member of Signature A Cappella. Lauren Blenkinship, a first-year psychology student and member of Signature, said she has grown close to Halley this year and said she was impressed with Halley’s distinct, standout voice, which epitomizes the emotion of her solos.
Halley said she has been performing at music stores, bars and open-mic events for the past few years – ultimately hoping to sing professionally. She said she now creates music in her bedroom, shutting the door and closing the window to be alone with her guitar.
“I have my computer open and just type the words, because I can’t write quick enough for the ideas,” Halley said.
To celebrate her upcoming performance, Halley said her grandparents let her pick out a new guitar as her accompaniment at Spring Sing.
“The tone of the guitar is warm, the same warmth of my voice, so I was like, ‘These match perfectly,'” Halley said. “And I just knew right away.”