By Hope Dawson

Songwriter Faith Dawson recently made her songwriting debut in concert at OCCC and is now set to continue her degree at Belmont University. 

As the OCCC first student to perform an original piece in a jazz ensemble concert, she describes her experience as “very surreal.”  

“I’ve always had a fear of my songs not being good enough but hearing it with a full band just makes the song feel complete and there’s just no better feeling than that,” Dawson told the Pioneer.  

Dawson has been writing songs for four years. She said writing songs helps her. 

“Songwriting has helped me be okay with being vulnerable and expressing my emotions and it’s helped me realize that negative emotions aren’t bad and they can be talked about.” 

Developing a song happens differently each time Dawson sits down to write. Sometimes it can be a lyric, a tune stuck in her head, or even just an idea of a song. 

Early in her career Dawson notes she was inspired by other artists’ writing and did not know what was stopping her from writing her own music.  

Dawson plans on majoring in either music business or songwriting when she makes her Nashville debut at Belmont. 

Beyond that Dawson wants to further her songwriting in the future and hopefully make a career out of it. 

Moving states can be daunting but Dawson believes that Nashville will give her new inspiration to write about and make connections that were not possible in Oklahoma.