Louisa Branscomb

After spontaneously beginning to write songs at age 6, Louisa’s formal first experience as a composer was at age 11, when she won a regional piano composition contest and the honor (and horror, at the time) of performing it with the Birmingham Symphony. By age 25 she had composed 490 songs and produced her first three albums. At present, she has recorded 15 albums of original songs and performed nationally for 50 years. Louisa commands over 80 top 10 songs in roots, country, folk, and bluegrass, and Grammy cuts by John Denver and Alison Krauss. She is widely considered a pioneer for women and songwriters in acoustic music and a groundbreaking songwriter.

Meanwhile in Psychology, Louisa received national awards for original research in the psychology of trauma, the role of surrender in transformation and healing, and songwriting as clinical intervention. She is the first person to systematically use songwriting as an intervention to transform lives across communities including combat veterans, foster children, high needs communities, victims of disaster, and elders. This work led to her receipt of the coveted IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award and memberships in the Alabama and Atlanta Halls of Fame.

Her original model of songwriting, evolved over 36 years of conducting experiential retreats, is called Transformational Songwriting. Louisa’s passion is to facilitate songwriting as lens for the spiritual life journey and doorway to resilience and transformation. She sums it up in true songwriter fashion: “Songwriting gets to the heart of humanity faster than anything but love, but love is the arrow that carries it there.”