Libby Weaver

VANITY FAIR
“Follow the crowd, and you will never get anywhere, for the tastes differ as widely as the poles are apart.” –Norman Anderson
When Nashville songwriter Libby Weaver wrote the title track for her debut album, Vanity Fair, she had no idea how appropriate that title would become.
“I felt like there were so many musicians here, myself included, that spent all their time trying to make music they thought everyone else wanted to hear. To me everything started sounding the same. I didn’t want to make an album until I felt I could be authentic about it.”
Her frustrations found a voice in the energetic pop-rock song “Vanity Fair”. It was this creation that led to the discovery of her own artistic identity and allowed her to move beyond her hesitation to record an album. This musical freedom resulted in a compilation of eleven personal songs that stand as a unique and honest representation of a true artist.
Weaver wrote the entire album on her own with the exception of one song which she co-wrote with country singer Kacey Musgraves and Rick Lambert, co-writer and father of successful Sony artist Miranda Lambert. The album also features appearances by artists such as Sony’s Chris Mann, David Mead, Victor Krauss, and Jessica Maros just to name a few.
During the recording process she discovered that the 1897 Tennessee Exposition’s Midway was called Vanity Fair. A multi-colored strip of grandeur, the Midway hosted several attractions that appeared to take a backseat to the social scene. Author Norman Anderson's words reveal their timelessness as his description of 1897's Vanity Fair could easily describe the Vanity Fair Weaver talks about in today's society.
“Some were there merely to see and be seen,” says Anderson, “and some merely to see without a preference of being known at all, but the general desire was to be seen.”
Libby could have followed the crowd, but instead she chose to follow the music. To her it’s not about being seen, it’s about being heard.
If you want an official bio, I’m more than happy to provide it. If you just want to know who I am, read on.
There is nothing I hate more than being late, yet I am always late for everything. This is not a personality trait, but rather a genetic disorder I inherited from my father. I am very good with numbers, but I can’t remember birthdays to save my life. Not even my parents’ birthdays. I could live forever on peanut butter, soy lattes, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and apples. I eat them all every day in different combinations—oatmeal with peanut butter, peanut butter with sweet potatoes, apples with oatmeal, and lots of other interesting dishes. In high school I was voted “Most Likely To Be A Country Singer”. Instead of moving to Nashville, I moved to Manhattan where I lived a life exactly like the girl in Devil Wears Prada—except I interned at a PR firm and when they offered me a job I said no thanks. Oddly enough, my time in New York inspired me to write a country song about simpler times called “When Crazy Was A Song”. This led to my first publishing contract in Nashville. If I wasn’t writing music I would be a race car driver. I do a crossword puzzle almost every day. Harlan Howard’s ceiling fan is hanging in my living room and was passed along to me from another hit writer for inspiration. When I was really, really young, I couldn’t wait to be twelve years old, because my piano teacher had me learn a piece that was written by a twelve year old, and I thought it would be so amazing to be old enough to write songs. I am always the bridesmaid and never the bride…thank God. Being a bridesmaid over and over means I have a lot of friends and that makes me happy. I don’t remember what my real hair color looks like anymore. I have a scar on my back from a Galapagos tortoise. I have run a marathon. I get along with just about everyone I meet. People fascinate me. I really love hearing their stories and learning from them. I forget to do all the girlie things in life, like pluck my eyebrows and wear high heels and watch cheesy romantic movies. I wish I found all these things interesting, but I don’t. I’m guessing that probably has something to do with why I’m always the bridesmaid and never the bride. I play trombone and marimba. This may also have something to do with why I’m never the bride. My friends say that I am ‘unrealistically realistic’. My parents tell me I can do anything if I keep working hard and I believe them. I am always happy, but never satisfied. Life would be boring and pointless if I were satisfied. I’ll take crazy over boring any day.