Words and photo by Tom Price

Don’t tell anybody, but this young woman with a list of song titles that sound like a plea for Prozac, is happy.

Lauren Wilson, who penned “Bleed” and “Hole that you made,” doesn’t look like somebody battling any of the relationship demons she sings about in her songs.

In fact, the 24-year-old’s transitions in her personal life have spilled over to her song writing. She describes her creative process over the years as a rough and tear-soaked outpour of emotion. Some songs just wrote themselves in the middle of the night on a scratch pad and others where forced out in a purge of pain and heartbreak.

But things have changed. She recently married Deriva drummer Rick Stokes and has a wonderful job teaching at the Youth Enrichment Program.

“This is the happiest I have ever been,” says Wilson, who was the lead singer for the Merced band Asphodel that formed in 2004 and recently ended its run. “I’m in a totally new phase in my life.”

In her old life, song writing was an escape from her torturous relationships and it was something she needed.

Now, she doesn’t feel the need to write, and she admits it’s a bit of a chore. She has only written two songs in the last three years and they are both a drastic shift from her old catalog.

“They are both songs about my husband and how good my life is,” she says with a guarded smile. “I’m so afraid I’m going to be singing Disney songs or something. I don’t want them to be cheesy sounding.”

While she finds her song writing niche, Wilson has been working on her guitar-playing chops.

“I’m making it a point to pick up the guitar every day,” says Wilson. “My sound is changing. I’m much more confident with the guitar.”

Wilson will take on a whole new sound when she plays at The D Magazine’s all-ages show on Jan. 22 at Gottchalk Music Center. She will be backed by a drummer and her husband playing bass.

It will be Wilson’s first time singing her songs live with a band.

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