Hi Lance + Lea, can you tell us all a little bit about yourselves before you became a country music duo? Hello! Thank you for having us. So Lance grew up in TX and cut his teeth playing in a rock band pretty much from high school all the way through college. I on the other hand grew up on gospel and country music, singing in church and harmonizing with my sisters. I was born in Ohio but then moved to Colorado as a kid. We always joke that Lance grew up singing in the clubs and I grew up singing in church 🙂
What made you two decide to have careers in country music? For me (Lea) it started when my dad passed away and I wrote my first song, about him. I was absolutely hooked on songwriting from that moment on and because I was so influenced by country music growing up, and loved it so much, that was just the natural progression. For Lance it started when he picked up the guitar at age 13. He was pretty much addicted from the beginning and although his start was more in rock, like most artists his sound evolved over the years which eventually led to us meeting and starting a country duo. We love blending our two backgrounds into the music we create!
Who are some of your musical icons? Oh man. There’s so many! To name a few… mine would be Dolly, Miranda Lambert, Loretta Lynn, Sheryl Crow, Tom Petty, Whitney Houston, Grace Potter, Willie Nelson. Lance’s are Axl Rose, Steven Tyler, Tom Petty, Metallica, Ronnie Dunn, Keith Urban, John Mayer, Mick Jagger.
What is the background story behind your last single “Ego?” Over the years we’ve had so many conversations about the human ego. How damaging it can be, yet how needed it is in so many ways. We all have one, some show it more than others. We definitely both have one lol. One day Lance picked up the guitar and this song just kind of “fell out.” I feel like it was inspired from all those conversations and of course both of our personal journeys with our own egos. It was a quick write. Like under an hour if I remember correctly.
How would you guys describe your music in 3 to 5 words? Country singer/songwriter with a little rock n roll
What is your recording process like when creating and making new music? We usually start by recording guitars and vocals at our home studio (either at home or on tour) then we send those tracks to our producer Evan Sieling and he adds a ton of instrumentation and production and puts his magic on em. Or we’ll go over to his studio in East Nashville and actually record everything there. Kinda depends on the album and wether or not we’re at home or on the road
What are few of your favorite venues to play live music at? Oooh this is tough. A few favorites are The Analog Room here in Nashville, The High Dive in Gainesville, FL and Indian Roller in Austin, TX.
What are a few of your favorite quotes? “If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
Is there anything else you two would like to share? Something we’ve been stoked about is getting on several Spotify editorial playlists for the first time ever with our new album!! Woohoooo! Follow us on Spotify to join the fun and keep up with all our new releases coming up this year!Â
“Dream loud,” is the way Texas native Lance Kotara & Colorado cowgirl LeAnna Kaufman live their lives. It was no shock that these two songwriters would find each other in Nashville, the up and coming country duo “Lance and Lea.
Inked by heart pounding harmonies, catchy guitars and passion lyrics and melodies, their collaborative intellect is on blast, with over 400 songs already written together. Their first album “There Goes My Heart,” with Grammy award winning producer Paul Worley was released in late 2018 and their music has collected airplay in the UK, Ireland, and in Music City, Nashville Tennessee.
The duo has already won an award, “New Artist Of The Year” at the 2019 iHeart Radio Rocky Mountain Country Music Awards in Lea’s home state of Colorado. “There Goes My Heart” was also nominated for Album Of The Year at 2020 iHeart Radio RMCMA’s.
In 2020 the couple raised over “16K on a fan funded crowdfunding campaign for their album “Great Big World” which was released in early 2021. That same year, in the middle of a pandemic, they booked a 31 date Backyard PopUp Tour all over the United States covering 26 states and more than 12,000 miles in an effort to generate love and live music back to the public.
In 2021, they finished an 80 date, four month long Summer Tour, playing to even more fans across the United States- this time traveling in an old-time RV aka “The Honeybee” and putting 24,000 through 38 states.
In December 2022, the duo put out their latest single “Ego,” and it is available to listen to on Spotify and iTunes. If you would like to find out more about this up and coming country duo then check out this website at (https://lanceandleamusic.com/).
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