Lauren Daigle talks new record, being still and performing in home state of Louisiana

Louisiana native Lauren Daigle is bringing her "Kaleidescope Tour" to the Brookshire Grocery Arena on Thursday, Sept. 7 in support of her 23-track self-titled album that will release on Friday, Sept. 8.

Born and raised in the Lake Charles area, Daigle considers the whole state her home as she spent her childhood traveling all around it visiting different family members. While she always enjoyed singing, Daigle didn't pursue it seriously until she was diagnosed with cytomegalovirus at age 15 which kept her out of school for two years.

Now, she's about to release her fourth full-length record. During her isolation as a teen, singing became her creative outlet and Daigle believes the isolation during the 2020 pandemic is what allowed her to find her voice again.

"I remember just feeling like everything I once believed in was falling apart and really struggled with the animosity at the time," explained Daigle. "I remember thinking I don't know if music is enough, and I don't know if I have anything to say."

Daigle reached out to her friend Jonas Byron for help in getting back into songwriting, took a leap of faith and ended up with 50 songs to choose from. Her new record will have an impressive 23 songs on it after Daigle decided she couldn't cut any more than that from the long list.

"Each one of these songs kind of found me in my journey of being overwhelmed by COVID, being overwhelmed by the times and something happens whenever you have to be still," Daigle said. "Being still forces you to reconcile with things in your life that aren't healthy. So, there was a lot of beauty that came from that time, and I think I walked into the songwriting processes inundated with fear and uncertainty of whether I should keep doing music or not and I left finding my voice again."

Finding her voice for a second time in life is what inspired Daigle to name the record after herself. With feelings similar to those years as an isolated teenager, Daigle was reminded why she wanted to do music through conversations with God.

"I remember sitting there and thinking, okay, remind me of that passion because I don't want to miss out on the beauty of this. I don't want to miss out on the joy of what I'm getting to do, and it was like incredible the joy that I have been able to find, pure joy."

The Kaleidescope Tour isn't just named after a song on the new record, Daigle has a special connection to the toy because her aunt collected them. She describes tours themselves as kaleidoscopes because there are different people in the crowd every night, each city is different.

"I think that's what makes the world just so unique," said Daigle. "Coming into a show and seeing such a diverse array of people and the way they engage with life, it's just so beautiful."

You can catch Lauren Daigle performing at The Kaleidescope Tour on Thursday, Sept. 7 at the Brookshire Grocery Arena in Bossier City and Friday, Sept. 8 at the Raising Cane's River Center Arena in Baton Rouge. Visit the Lauren Daigle website to purchase tickets.

More Upcoming Events: Check out the musical schedule for Shreveport's Highland Jazz & Blues Festival

Meredith G. White is the arts and culture reporter for the Shreveport Times. You can find her on Facebook as Meredith G. White, on Instagram and Twitter as @meredithgwhite, and email her at mgwhite@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Lauren Daigle brings 'Kaleidescope Tour' to Bossier City, Baton Rouge