Shannon Carey has been performing as Luray since 2011, putting out her own unique brand of indie folk music. She released her latest album Dig via 6131 Records on July 26 to critical acclaim, with this eleven-song LP serving as some of her most evocative and poignant music to date. She is set to perform a series of tour dates this fall in support of the album.

Zack Holden was fortunate enough to be able to chat with Shannon before her most recent show at the Garage, a small converted garage (literally) just a block from the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA.

ZACK HOLDEN: I read that you’ve been living in Richmond for a while, but that you went back up to Wisconsin to record Dig, which is where you’re from. I was wondering, what is the significance of recording the album in your hometown? 

SHANNON CAREY: Mostly because I wanted my brother to help me in producing it, and that was just the best way to do it. It would be harder to for him to travel because he’s about to have a baby, so that was part of it. Plus, we like Brian [Joseph]—that’s who recorded it—and he’s pretty special to work with. So it just seemed to make sense, even though it was a journey; it took two weeks. But it was worth it, because otherwise it would have been a totally different project. 

ZH: Have you worked with your brother before? 

SC: On the other album; this was the second one.

ZH: Your music has a really unique sound to it, with a mix of folk and bluegrass with alternative and country. I was wondering, who are some of your musical influences? 

SC: Well, from the folk perspective, definitely Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and when I was studying bluegrass, I was learning the classics, you know? Like the Stanley Brothers, artists like that. I draw influence from just a mix of music that I like, such as Rufus Wainwright, Eddie Griffin, Hazel Dickens, Emmylou Harris, people like that.

ZH: A lot of your songs are very personal, they seem to touch on a lot of emotions that provide an intimate look at you, so how do you go through the songwriting process and make sure that these feelings really come through? 

SC: I try to go with the first thought that comes to me, because that’s the one that tends to be the most true, and editing comes later, I guess. But I try to keep that first thought, if I can. If I can live with it. Because I think like, when I’m playing music or writing a song, that’s more of that part of me, like it’s the less rational part, the more secret part. It’s my journal, or something like that. So if I can live with whatever is being shared, if it’s not too personal or intimate … and if it is, then you can tweak a little bit of the words to make it more ambiguous. But it’s important to me that I don’t write songs that are too general. 

ZH: Do you view your songwriting as a release? 

SC: Totally. Like when you’re going through something, that’s what you need to do, in my world. Like for me, it was dealing with starting over after break-ups, so it was kind of like, how do I make sense of this? 

ZH: How did you get to the point you’re at today? When did you decide to really start pursuing music as a career? 

SC: Well, I went to school for social work -- and I still do that as well -- but I was in transition from not doing any work, and I was like, I think this is a good opportunity for me to write music and see if I could make this work if I didn’t have another job … So it was a few years ago when I was just like, well I’m between jobs, so I’m just gonna try writing and see what happens. That’s when the first record was written. That was probably around 2011. Since then, I’ve integrated some social work into my life, so it’s a mixture. So it’s not just music. 

ZH: Do you find it difficult to find a balance between the two? 

SC: It’s very difficult. Not emotionally, but time-wise and trying to find the right jobs that give me the flexibility I need, it’s not easy. I was a waitress for many years. That was what I did through most of this … Only in the last few years have I added social work back into it. But yeah it’s difficult, because unless you’re really touring a lot, and getting a lot of people out, it’s really hard to make enough money just through music. It’s definitely a jumble. 

ZH: How do you like it here (VA) versus Wisconsin? Do you think that has shaped your songwriting at all, or your perspective? 

SC: Maybe, I mean I really like the nature here, but also in Wisconsin. I’m able to be outside more here, I think. I’ve spent more time songwriting in the outdoors here. 

ZH: With songwriting, do you have designated sessions, or is it more whenever an idea pops into your head? 

SC: I started out more the second way, but then I became more disciplined, like working on a song a week. That worked so well for me because it forced me to do it. And now I’m more whenever I feel like it, and that’s not working as well, so I should probably go back to the other way. A lot of the songs on this record came out of that writing a song a week period.

Be sure to check out Luray’s Dig on all available streaming services.