Lauren Hernandez
Staff Writer
Leah Fuls, a senior English major here at ESU, is a multi-talented musician. She plays locally and at home in New Jersey. She loved to sing ever since she was a little girl.
“I knew every song in the car and would sing along. I have been singing since I was three, and I always worked on it,” said Fuls.
Once high school came around, Leah started to take up her guitar. She got her first “real” guitar, a Martin DC-1E acoustic, after graduating, and she just never quit.
A Britney Spears concert is what sparked Leah’s passion. When she learned to talk, she learned to sing, and Spears inspired her to keep going. When she really started singing and learned how to play some instruments, she loved performing in front of her family.
“They gave me the courage and confidence to go out and play in front of people I didn’t know. After I did this, I had a lot of people come up to me and tell me that I’m really good and to keep going. They always inspire me to keep going” says Fuls.
Leah is in the professional and digital media writing concentration because she loves writing articles, stories, poems, and of course, lyrics.
“I’ve always loved writing since I was in middle school, so I would write poetry and song lyrics. After I learned how to play
Leah’s career began after she started playing at open mic nights.
This encouraged her to go out and book paid gigs.
Her first open mic was almost 5 years ago. The multi-talented singer-songwriter does solo performances with her acoustic guitar, but she also has a full band for bigger shows.
The most well-known venue she’s played is The Stanhope House in Stanhope, New Jersey. Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy
Leah has even won an award for her talent.
In September, at the 2018 Josie Music Awards hosted at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Leah’s song “Collision” was named the Best Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year.
The Josie Music Awards is the largest award show for independent artists, so this was nothing short of an honor for Leah. In fact, she has a music video coming out for “Collision,” which she hopes to release later this month.
Any musician loves when people can relate or are inspired by their music, and that’s what Leah aimed for when she wrote and released “You’re Never Gone.” A song about mourning the loss of someone close, and how that loss is actually not a loss at all, because that person will always be part of you.
Strangers have expressed to Leah that “You’re Never Gone” resonates with them personally. It rekindled fond memories of the people those strangers lost.
“Reading comments like that on YouTube and hearing them at my shows always amazes me because I was able to get through to someone I have never met and/or may never meet. That’s what music is all about, connecting with others,” said Fuls. “Music is used to get us through bad situations, to remind us of the happy times and get us through the bad moments, and the fact that my words and the melody I came up with helped someone is truly an experience I will never forget.”
Leah is graduating this semester, and she plans to keep writing and creating more music videos.
She’s also trying to plan a summer tour with her full band. Networking in Nashville is also on her list of things to do post-graduation. She’s not opposed to co-writing or ghostwriting either.
Leah’s final comment was, “I don’t always feel understood, but when I’m up on a stage I feel like that is when people truly hear me.”
For more information, Leah can be found on Youtube and Facebook as Leah Marie Fuls.
Email Lauren at:
lhernande2@live.esu.edu