One of my favorite things to do is take myself out on a solo date. I try to make a point to do it once a week. Sometimes it’s to dinner, sometimes an activity, but there is something about those few hours in my week that I truly treasure. The best part of going out solo? You never know who you will meet or what kind of experience you will have. Last week’s solo date of choice was to a jazz club (a very common choice for me).

I walked into the club, sat at the bar, ordered an old-fashioned, and settled into my seat to get lost in the music. Just as I was taking the first sip of my drink, I noticed another woman sitting in front of me was also flying solo. She was bobbing her head to the music and seemed captivated by the technique and the runs that the jazz quartet was performing.

I could tell she must be a musician or at least someone who deeply appreciates music just by the way she was observing the band. When the band took an intermission, I leaned over to her, introduced myself, and asked if she was a musician. Her name was Rebecka Larsdotter, and yes, she is a musician and a very talented one at that.

Rebecka Larsdotter started playing music as a little girl, beginning with the piano and then the violin. Music was a constant presence in her life, “I grew up in a church, and we had to sing in it, and they were short of people to play the piano for the hymns and entertain, so that is where I really started.” She continued, “Music always kind of just felt a part of me. I don’t know how I wouldn’t be able to do it. It wasn’t a question, really,” she shared.

Rebecka grew up in Sweden, where choosing a path in high school is expected. She was thinking of becoming a doctor or going into business or finance at the time, so she decided to explore science. However, she had always dreamed of becoming a musician, so she prepared all the material and auditioned for the music school on her own and got in, “I told my parents how I had to do it because it is so hard to get in and that I would only go for one year just for fun, but then of course, that didn’t happen, I didn’t quit. My heart knew that’s what I was going to do,” Rebecka said.

After finishing her studies in high school, she applied to the Musician Institute in Hollywood and went there for an exchange year in college. She was initially in music school to become a music teacher, but when she was in school, she started to pursue songwriting seriously and play for audiences more. While in Los Angeles, Rebecka began to feel pulled in another direction, “Someone told me I should move to New York, and so I did.”

When Rebecka made the move to the Big Apple, she instantly got immersed in the jazz scene, “I started off very much as a singer-songwriter like Jewel, Joni Mitchell, Anita Franco, Alanis Morrisette, that sort of thing. And then it evolved more into jazz when I moved to New York,” she said. But after a while, Rebecka felt that her stories were being hidden as a jazz singer. She wanted to connect with people differently, so she started incorporating more of her voice and lyrics into her music.

“I feel like jazz is very specific; it connects with a certain type of person, but not everyone. I was seeing a crowd full of gray hair, and no one was moving. And that’s not really who I want to talk to all the time. So now I am all over the place with genres, but now my songs are more in focus rather than being instrumental,” she said.

Rebecka’s music is constantly evolving, and she is not afraid to experiment with different genres. As JazzWeekly affectionally called her music, “Jazz on the indie side” Now, Rebecka says she is intrigued with the EDM scene, “It is a little bit similar to jazz where it kind of puts people in a trance. And you have those long instrumental runs, it’s like the same, but different,” she shared.

For Rebecka, songwriting is second nature. “It is just something that makes me feel good,” she says. She draws inspiration from artists like Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, and Halsey, whose music she says she feels deeply in her heart. “Writing songs for me is like a release. It is just something that makes me feel good,” she shares.

I asked her who she hopes listens to her music, “Artists get asked a lot what their target audience is, and it’s kind of hard for me to say. But I would say mine is whoever identifies with me and shares a little bit of my life story. I don’t care if it’s a twenty-three-year-old or an eighty-year-old. It can be anybody who resonates with the story that I am telling.” she continued, “The only thing that is left to share is the common denominator that is the little true essence of you.”

Rebecka’s ultimate goal is to have the opportunity to tour and have more freedom in writing and collaborating with others. “If that flowed, I could write like five songs a day,” she says. Rebecka harped on the impact and importance of the people she has met along her music journey: “I am grateful to the heavens and back for the awesome musicians that have seen me. Like the people I work with now. The music industry is hard, and you’ll get a lot of setbacks, but it’s always in my backbone. If these people that I look up to are valuing me and see me the way they do, then I’m okay. They have kind of become my family, my heart family.”

Rebecka’s advice to aspiring musicians? “Don’t do it unless you feel like you’ve cut your legs off if you don’t.” We both laughed at this and talked about the grit that comes along with the music industry; she said it is hard work, and you have to want it with every part of you. “I would say care less, open up more, and care less about what people say or don’t say and just keep at it and turn on the blinders. Find out if you really want to do it, and then put the blinders on and go do it. I think I have been distracted and derailed a lot because of doubt and society’s preaching. You have to be willing to put in the work. It is not for the faint of heart, but the people that really want to make it, do.”

Rebecka was one of the kindest souls I had the pleasure to meet, and her spirit so profoundly shines through in her art. Her courage to trust her purpose and follow her heart inspires me mightily. Throughout Rebecka’s time in music, she has amassed thousands of monthly listeners and released three full albums and several acclaimed singles. She performs live worldwide alongside some of music’s most talented individuals. You can listen to Rebecka’s music and follower her journey below:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6rDX4jCNV1rMjU2bUsiGRO?si=rY1o4qAfREebx35Yg-IZig&nd=1

Apple:https://music.apple.com/us/artist/rebecka-larsdotter/458610076

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZIL03uouNhtO-J_xbAu8pA

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/larsdottermusic/

Website:https://rebeckalarsdotter.com/home