Meet JMU musician Megan Paul

Megan Paul is a senior Psychology student at James Madison University who will make you realize how truly untalented you really are. She plays guitar and sings at the same time. I can’t sing or play the guitar at separate times so I’m personally impressed. Check out her cover of Roses by the Chainsmokers and get to know the JMU student who is probably much more musically inclined than your subpar attempt at singing Sorry by Justin Beiber drunk this weekend.

How did you get started with music?

I’ve been singing my whole life and then by 4th grade I begged my parents to buy me a crappy guitar. I then started guitar lessons and realized I couldn’t play for shit so I quit. Fast forward two more years and I decided to give guitar another go. This time I had a really great teacher who taught me to play whatever I wanted to play and so I continued lessons for about 3 or 4 years. Since then I played a ton in high school and occasionally do open mics around Richmond, my hometown.

I think I like playing it so much because I like listening to it so much. I like to pretend I’m as cool as the artists I listen to and play a lot of their songs. And then I try to write my own and spiral into a pit of shame because it never sounds as good. But it’s cool to be able to take a song you like so much and make it your own.

Just like any other kind of art, music can just be really therapeutic. If I’m happy, sad, or even hungry, I can just grab my guitar and sing about it. And then I wait for people to tell me to shut up because it’s 3am.

I want to keep playing around whatever city I end up living in. If I could do something with music as a career, that would be a dream come true. But if not, I will definitely keep it up as a hobby. It’s a great stress reliever.

Yes and it is filled with terrible, embarrassing covers from my past. I have yet to gather the courage to post originals.

Megan’s channel (more covers to come!!!)

Collaborating with people is definitely fun. I don’t do it often anymore but would love to do it again. A lot of my extended family plays music and so family gatherings are always a fun time to collaborate with people who will love you no matter how much you suck.

I try to! I play at open mics occasionally at home and want to play more around Harrisonburg. Ruby’s has a really cool open mic that I’ve played at and would love to do more.

So there you have it! Megan Paul is an angel who can make you feel things with the flick of a wrist (assuming the guitar is present and that flick made contact with the strings). Keep on rocking Meggers!