Intern Hall of Fame: Joseph LeMay

A lot of American Songwriter interns are songwriters themselves. When they’re not in the office working on song premieres, videos or news articles, they’re out playing shows around town or penning tracks at home. Such is the case with Joseph LeMay, an Americana artist who interned at the magazine from 2009-2011. He released his debut album Seventeen Acres last year, which he wrote after moving to a double-wide trailer on his wife’s family’s farm in rural Tennessee. LeMay is currently in the studio working on a follow-up.

Most of LeMay’s duties at American Songwriter involved filming and producing video interviews with artists at festivals and taping in-office performances. He had no prior experience with filming or editing prior to his internship but mastered the art of iMovie by the end of his time with the magazine. LeMay was the videographer behind “Myth, Legend, Dust,” American Songwriter’s documentary of Bonnaroo 2011, which featured interviews with the Apache Relay, Widespread Panic, Futurebirds, Tristen, Kopecky Family Band and Lelia Broussard. “Going to Bonnaroo was really fun,” says LeMay. He and editor Caine O’Rear stayed for the long haul and camped next to singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter. “We had artist passes, so I got to see the Black Keys sidestage and was front row for My Morning Jacket, which was amazing.”

Though video production was his main responsibility, LeMay learned much more from his internship than how to edit clips. Working at the magazine afforded him the chance to get a firsthand view of what it’s like to have a career as a songwriter. “Interning at American Songwriter definitely shaped how I view being a songwriter,” says LeMay. “Professional songwriters came to the office and I got to listen to them do interviews, watch their in-office sessions and get a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to do press on tour.”

The office was also where LeMay learned how to self-promote. “It’s where I saw my first press release and learned the hallmarks of a professional pitch for an article, as well as the telltale signs of a bullshit e-mail. I also learned what wasn’t necessary, like sending in like 20 copies of an album in shiny packages and gold envelopes.”

LeMay accompanied O’Rear and operations director Jamie Younger on a trip to Merlefest in 2011, where he recalls getting an interesting glimpse at some of Wilkesboro, North Carolina’s local color. “Merlefest is a dry festival, but there was this bar right down the road that you could go to, so Caine, Jamie and I would head over there,” says LeMay. “There were some townies there who were over-the-top drunk, so we got to hear about all the local drama. There was a guy named Jason that Caine and I talked to for quite a while who kept asking questions about what kind of music I wrote and what kind of magazine we were from. We would try to explain as best we could, but he didn’t seem to get it. I would say, “Yeah, I’m a songwriter. I do some Americana/folk stuff.” And he’d be like, “Oh, yeah, man! Like Jason Aldean? Dirt Road Anthem?”

While at Merlefest, LeMay was named a finalist in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest for his song “River In My Heart,” which landed him a mentoring session with songwriter Jim Lauderdale. Lera Lynn, whose album The Avenues made it on our list of the top 50 albums of 2014, took the grand prize in the contest that year.

As is often the case, LeMay’s favorite part of the internship came down to the music. While fulfilling his intern duties, he discovered a band that would become one of his favorites. “I was doing some video footage for an event we were covering at War Memorial called Next Big Nashville and I saw a band opening for M. Ward called Dawes, who I had never heard of before. They blew my mind. That was a big night.”

You can catch LeMay on the road this April touring with Sean Watkins.