Artist: Leah Nobel
Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
Song: “This Pain Will Be Useful ”
Album: Running in Borrowed Shoes
Release Date: February 8, 2019
Label: Big Yellow Dog Music
In Their Words: “This song is interesting because it is specifically based on one woman’s story, but I also feel like it belongs to all of us. That’s because there isn’t a single person that I’ve interviewed that hadn’t been through something devastating and then survived it. They not only survived it, but turned what they learned from their experiences into something really beautiful like relationships or heart or advocacy. One of the most impressive things to me about human beings is our resilience, and I really wanted to echo that in this song. The story that this is specifically based on is of a woman whose love for life was stolen from her due to illness and abuse and addition. She was always questing to steal it back. I think of her every time I sing this song.” — Leah Nobel
Photo credit: Kelsey Cherry Photography