When “Gossip Girl” wrapped in 2012, Leighton Meester left Blair Waldorf behind to pursue very un-Blair-like hobbies—a stint on Broadway’s “Of Mice and Men” and a career singing folk music.
Oh, and she married Adam Brody—but we have a feeling Blair would support that decision.
Last October the 28-year-old actress/singer released her debut album, “Heartstrings,” a nine-track, self-funded collection of vulnerable lyrics delivered via usually soft, occasionally soaring vocals. The versatile performer talked to RedEye by phone before hitting the road on a seven-stop tour that lands in Chicago Feb. 24.
How she describes her music:
Oh, man. That’s the hardest question of all. It’s so hard to describe your thing. It’s got folk; it’s got an ethereal, dreamy, electric sound, but there’s a lot of acoustic instrumentation. It’s really driven mostly by my lyrics and melody, so it’s a singer-songwriter style.
The most surreal thing about recording her own album:
Writing is a wonderful release and cathartic in letting me unpack feelings about different experiences. … The recording was really cool because we got in a studio with pre-produced songs and played them live with a band—which was great. Ultimately, at the end, I really love writing and I love performing. Now that the music is out there and it gets to live out of my computer, and people can hear it and see me perform, it’s just so fun.
If she really, as some have reported, wears bodysuits under her clothes while performing:
That’s somewhat true. I think I was skirting around saying I don’t like wearing bras. It inhibits breathing and movement. A lot of the time I’ll wear a bodysuit to keep it all in, you know?
Her go-to post-show snack in Chicago:
You know what’s so good? Gibsons [Steakhouse]. They have pecan pie there—I ended up taking another piece to go and had it for breakfast and lunch the next day.
If she has any weird backstage requests:
Not really. If I go places that don’t have one, I’ll bring a tea kettle just so I can have warm liquids. I don’t really need much. I guess some wine or whiskey for my band. Besides that, really not much. That’s boring stuff. You’re like, “Do you do red M&Ms or not?”
Her go-to karaoke song:
I actually have a karaoke machine in my house. I’m looking at it right now. I sing a lot of Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. Mind you, I do a lot of this by myself in the middle of the day. That’s the danger of having a karaoke machine at your house—you do it all the time by yourself.
Her three most-played songs on Spotify:
Let me look. I’ve got [country legend] Ernest Tubb; I’ve got anything off of the “Wakin on a Pretty Daze” album by Kurt Vile. I love Big Star—I love that double album, “#1 Record/Radio City.”
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What apps she uses most often:
I use my guitar tuner and Sonos. I use a sleep machine app—it’s just called Sleep Machine. It makes a wind or rain or ocean sound—whatever you want. I use it to make myself go to sleep when I’m traveling or if it’s hard to go to sleep on a plane. It really works for me.
Her favorite red carpet look to date:
I went to the Met Ball this past year, and I wore a gold Pucci dress that I really liked. It was actually comfortable and roomy—it was nice.
If she ever gets used to having images of her home online (in regards to Google buzzing about Meester’s L.A. house being up for sale):
Yeah, I avoid it as much as possible. The nice thing is I do have a personal life and it’s personal—that’s how I like to keep it. It makes up a lot of who I am. Whenever I’m talking in an interview, I’ll talk about my dogs, my home and things that shape me—the music I like, the books I like, things I’m interested in, my friends, my family. But yeah, I think there are certain things that are off limits—and I can’t apologize for that at all. That’s how I like it.
The most recent book she’s read that she’d recommend to a friend:
I worked with someone who gave me “Just Kids,” a Patti Smith memoir. It’s a really beautifully written book. It took me a long time to get around to reading it. And once I did, it’s poetic and deeply meaningful and funny and relatable and just really enjoyable.
What she’s most looking forward to in Chicago:
I actually spent some time there last year—I was doing a play in New York, and that is where I rehearsed because our director, Anna D. Shapiro, is from there and she wanted to rehearse in her hometown where her family was, which was really nice. It was really cool to be there and be in our own little world. … I have to say, Chicago people—Chicagoans? Is that a word? They’re so nice! I was walking in a rainy, wet, snowy storm across the street one day, and I was passing this woman. I figured she would think I was in her way. But when I passed by her, she smiled at me and said “Hi.” No one would do that in New York. People are just so, so incredibly nice.
Morgan Olsen is a RedEye special contributor. @morgancolsen
Leighton Meester, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at Park West. $22.
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