A budding singer-songwriter is hoping to make a bigger name for herself as she prepares to release her first collection of songs.

Avery Florence, 25, has been singing and writing music for five years, starting when she was in university. The Dalhousie University graduate says she always had the desire to start writing and had a lot of free time in school, so it was the perfect opportunity to try to kick off her music career.

“I am one of those people who wants to do so many things,” she said. “I told my friend from school I wanted to play guitar and he told me to ‘just do it already.’ The next day, I got the guitar and started taking lessons and writing songs right away.”

The more time Florence spent writing music, the more she realized how  therapeutic it was for her. It is a positive way of expressing herself and it always put her in a better mood, especially since the lyrics of her original songs have a lot of meaning in them, she says.

“I typically write about love and heartbreak, of course, but also about struggling with motivation and life in general, trying to get at life’s big questions and your inner demons,” she said.

Since her lyrics are so powerful, Florence also decided to keep a record as a reminder of how she felt when she first wrote a song.

“I write about things that have happened in my life years ago, and I have always kept a journal to reflect back to how I felt at that moment, and put it into words.”

Florence’s goal is to connect people through her music so that they can “feel the song” and relate to her lyrics. This is why the audience’s reaction is so important to her.

“I want the audience to feel the song and interpret it in their own way,” she said. “I want to give people the opportunity to experience that.”

Florence is taking everything day-by-day and hopes to keep finding new opportunities to build on her budding music career.

She is currently recording her songs and hopes the collection will be available in January.

“Right now I want to become a better songwriter and be proud of what I do,” she said. “I am just going to keep pushing forward and keep fighting because every day, something new comes along.”

You can find out more about Florence’s concerts or listen to her songs on her Youtube channel, on her Facebook page and  on Soundcloud.