Remember When The Maine Banjo Player Won Over Jimmy Fallon?

So I just found out there’s a woman from Maine named Gemma Laurence who went on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and absolutely crushed it with a banjo.

This did happened 2 years ago but honestly, it‘s something you want to replay, over and over again.

I’m still processing it, in the best way.  

So get this, she was on this segment called  “Battle of the Instant Songwriters, ”where they basically throw random prompts at you and you have to make up a song on the spot. Which already sounds like my worst nightmare.

I panic ordering at Subway. 

Gemma walks on stage and beautifully plays the banjo, performing a song called “Is It Love or Is It Cake?”

And somehow… it works. Like really works. She ended up winning the whole thing.

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A post shared by Gemma Laurence (@gemmalaurencemusic)

Gemma made her instant song a hit. It was clever, funny, emotional all at once. 

That’s the magic of her whole vibe. She’s got this beautiful indie folk sound and describes her music as  “Sapphic folk,” which feels both deeply Maine and deeply cool. 

Also, can we acknowledge the bravery of choosing the banjo on national television? That instrument leaves nowhere to hide.

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Either you own the moment or the moment owns you. And Gemma? She absolutely owned it. 

She later called the experience “surreal,” which feels like an understatement because if Jimmy Fallon asked me to perform an original song on TV, I’d simply pass away on the spot.