Black Mountain's Laela Dasher Skinner wants to bring a 'place of peace' to 'American Idol'

Laela Dasher Skinner has been playing music for as long as she can remember and now she is taking her work to the “American Idol” stage.

“I have been playing music honestly since I could walk and talk,” Skinner said. “That was the beginning of it all. I always had a guitar in my hand or I was always at the piano.”

Skinner, 20, and a student at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, auditioned with her brother Max Dasher for “American Idol” in Nashville. The singers were featured on the March 3 episode.

Skinner and her family moved to Black Mountain in 2018 as she was heading into her freshman year at Asheville Christian Academy.

She said she grew up going to church and found her love of music there. Skinner wrote her first song when she was around 8 years old about her bedroom door, which she now describes as “random and weird.”

Skinner eventually began playing the fiddle and playing bluegrass festivals with her brother. She said the two have a love for country and bluegrass music, and singing in church, blending the sounds together.

“We’ve always been singing together for as long as I can remember,” Skinner said. “I think that our love for music and our experience in the bluegrass world and in the church and just playing in front of our family has kind of all blended and formed this sound that we think is really unique and that we hope people will relate to.”

The siblings decided to audition for “American Idol” after a casting director reached out after seeing a video of the pair singing online. Skinner said prior to this they had no plans to audition.

During the March 3 episode, Dasher auditioned first while Skinner waited in the hallway, listening. Once Dasher received his “golden ticket” to Hollywood, he joined his sister for her audition to accompany her on guitar.

Skinner first performed John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery,” to a standing ovation from judge Lionel Richie.

"It’s definitely in the DNA,” judge Katy Perry said after hearing the siblings sing. But she wanted to hear another song from Skinner, this time with her brother, before sending her forward to Hollywood Week. Skinner and Dasher performed “Rivers and Roads” by The Head and the Heart.

Following this second performance, Skinner received a “yes” vote from Richie and fellow judge Luke Bryan. Perry voted “no,” but only two “yeses” are required to move forward in the competition during the audition phase.

Skinner said she was “excited” to audition but was “freaking out” at the same time.

“We’re so grateful we did because, genuinely, it’s changed our lives,” Skinner said. “We met so many amazing people. It really has shaped us as artists.”

The final two audition episodes for the season air March 17 and March 24. Hollywood Week is set to air March 31 on ABC and streaming next day on Hulu.

Outside of “American Idol,” the siblings are releasing an album called “Places” in early May.

“It’s a concept album, so all of the songs connect,” Skinner said. “They all reference in one way or another the places that have shaped us in our lives, whether that’s Louisiana or Black Mountain or Tennessee … It’s a collection of stories and nostalgia and just talks about places … We really hope that it can be a place of peace for people to listen to.”

This sense of peace is something Skinner said she wants to bring to audiences with all of her music. She said her hope is to “show the beauty of storytelling in music.”

“We love to tell stories,” Skinner said. “I just hope that if anything our songs are a place of peace and comfort and just joy for people. I hope that ‘American Idol’ shows that we truly are storytellers above all else.”