Megan Bishop loves performing because of the feedback she receives from a live audience.

“It gives me a chance to see how people are receiving my music,” she said. “Performing on stage is tough. You’re suddenly aware of all your limbs and your face, and you have to remember to sound good in addition to being put on the spot.”

Bishop, who has performed at Unplugged for all four years at Lane, recently recorded and published a single titled “Free.”

“My goal is to end up being a songwriter in Nashville, hopefully get a publishing deal and write songs for other people,” she said.

Bishop, Div. 860, is planning on going to Belmont University in Nashville to follow her dream.

“It’s a beautiful school and I’ve visited twice already,” she said.

Bishop said that the university has a lot of connections and opportunities to get involved in the music industry with its music programming, songwriting and music business.

As of now, Bishop’s single can be found on multiple streaming platforms, including services such as Spotify, iTunes and on her YouTube channel, ‘Megan Bishop,” where she uploads videos of herself performing.

“Free,” released in February, had a long production process.

Bishop began writing the song in March of last year but most of Bishop’s time was dedicated to recording and editing he song.

The music teachers at Lane have played a role in the training and practice of Bishop’s career. Mr. Hudson and Mr. Sweet have helped her grow as a musical artist.

“Mr. Comiskey helped me record my first single,” Bishop said.

Comiskey, a music teacher, helped her “build” her single during her sound engineering class. Comiskey helped recruit students and friends to play the instruments heard in the single.

Bishop performed “Free” at Un- plugged 2017, and that was Comis- key’s first time listening to the song.

“When I was in high school I did a similar thing to Megan,” Comiskey said. “I definitely saw that Megan was on that same path and definitely thought I could be helpful taking her to the next level, or showing her what some of that could be.”

Most of the production process was spent editing and recording instruments such as violins, mandolins, bass, drums and backup vocals.

“It really started to sound like something out of Nashville very quickly,” Comiskey said.

Prior to her first single, Bishop didn’t have a lot of experience producing her own song “Free” was Bishop’s first opportunity to record and publish a song.

Comiskey also noted that Bishop was “seeing new sides of her music,” referring to the new experience she had with producing and recording a song.

Bishop hopes to evoke emotions in the listener with her music.

“For me, it’s all about emotions,” Bishop said. “And so when I write music, I try to make it so that the listener can feel something while they listen. And that’s kind of what I look for when I listen to music as well.”

Her dedication to evoking emotions can be heard within her songs, which follow a genre she called “country-folk.” This genre focuses on the storytelling aspect of song and includes instruments such as violins and mandolins, which can be heard in “Free.”

Before she graduates, Bishop said she wishes to release an EP. An EP is an extended play record that has around 4-6 songs, according to the- balance.com.

“I love music and I love Lane for giving me the outlet and resources to continue to get better at writing, recording and performing,” Bishop said. “This is the end of an era, I guess.”