Lauren Klausing

DELPHOS — Lauren Klausing, 18, has been singing along with her favorite country music star, Taylor Swift, for years, but it was meeting the performer that inspired her to write a song of her own.

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“I met Taylor Swift in Nashville last summer and she encouraged me to learn guitar,” said Klausing, who was in her fourth year of voice lessons at the time. “After weeks of frustration and bloody fingertips that eventually callused, I finally learned to play.”

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Soon, Klausing began jotting down her own thoughts in a notebook. By the end of summer, her song was complete.

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“Lyrics began to consume my thoughts as I went to school, play practice, guitar lessons, dance, singing lessons, babysitting — every part of my day, she explained. “They were present even in my dreams. I’d find myself tapping my pencil in class or waking up at 2 a.m. because the perfect phrase came to me. I fell in love with my song.”

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Klausing’s guitar teacher, James Goare of Lima, helped bring her song to life.

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“He told me to close my eyes and sing to him my vision for the words. Before I was to the second line, I heard him mapping it out on his guitar. I had to hold back my tears. Finally, the music my ears had been dying to hear,” Klausing said.

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Goare, who was once a member of the classic rock-and-roll band Grand Funk Railroad, also just happens to be a producer and has a recording studio in his Harrod home.

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After many, many hours in the studio, Klausing cut her first single, “Everything Nothing.” Akin to her country music idol, Klausing’s song is about a person overcoming a breakup and being stronger for it.

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For Klausing, the experience seemed to have been a case of the stars aligning.

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“It was just perfect,” Klausing said. “I couldn’t have planned for it to happen better. Everything fell into place.”

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Klausing’s passion for music brings her joy and she hopes her song may somehow bring happiness to those who hear it.

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“Taylor Swift’s songs inspired me so much I just wanted to write a song that helped people realize they weren’t alone, that it happens to everyone and they will get through it. It will be OK,” the daughter of Don and Mary Kay Klausing said. “I want to relate to people. I want them to see a picture when they hear my songs.”

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Another boost for Klausing was a recent letter from a friend.

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“I read her letter and she was commenting on my song. She said it was exactly what she needed to hear,” Klausing added.

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Before graduating from Delphos St. John’s in 2009, Klausing performed in two musicals and was a member of the student choir. She was also a member of student council and liturgy team and served as the president of the Crespi Society.

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In the fall, Klausing will be a freshman at Belmont University in Nashville. She is majoring in song writing with a minor in public relations. She hopes to be involved with music in some manner when she graduates.

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For now, she is babysitting and writing songs on her back porch.

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Klausing’s CD is on sale at several Delphos businesses. - Nancy Spencer

DELPHOS - Lauren Klausing used to sell out concerts in her living room every day.

"I would get every stuffed animal I had out and put them on the couch and have a concert," the recent Delphos St. John's High School graduate said, admitting that she not only sang for the animals, but also signed autographs.

Today, Klausing is beginning to attract a real audience for her music. She's already sold more than 200 copies of her first country music single, "Everything Nothing." It's a song about breakups, Klausing drawing from her own experiences and those of her friends.

"I wanted a song that other girls could relate to. I wanted it to be their story," she said.

Music has been a part of Klausing's life since she was 3 and her dad would crank up AC/DC and dance around the room with his daughter. She got a karaoke machine for Christmas at age 5. That's when she began entertaining her stuffed animals.

Last summer she entered a singing contest in Nashville. While she didn't do well, the experience was huge for Klausing.

"All the girls had managers and bands, and then here was me, a little Delphos girl, who had no clue," she said. "It hit me then that I was going to have to work extra hard."

It was Klausing's encounter with country singer Taylor Swift that really set things in motion. While she didn't play the guitar, Klausing brought one to get signed by Swift, who quickly advised her to learn.

"I promise you, you will never regret it," Swift told her. Klausing listened and began taking lessons from James Goare as soon as she returned home. In two weeks, including concerts for her family every night, she was playing her first song.

"I was bound and determined to play that guitar," she said.

Goare helped Klausing put her lyrics to music and produce the single. She's sent it to Nashville in hopes of getting her name out and opening doors to a future career.

Klausing leaves for Belmont University in Nashville next month. She'll major in songwriting and minor in public relations.

Klausing was president of the school choir and also sings at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Delphos. She was in multiple school plays and took dance lessons for 15 years. The homecoming queen was also president of the school's Crespi Society and on the liturgy team.

The $5 single is available at Baked to Perfection, Ivy Hutch, and the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church rectory, all in Delphos. - Beth L. Jokinen