ACM Student Tops Local Pop Charts

An Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma student has reached the No. 1 spot on the local Reverb Nation pop charts.

Harlee Lane’s song “Come Down” reached the No.1 spot on Reverb Nation’s Oklahoma City pop charts last week. “Come Down” is more punchy and sexually frustrated, according to Lane, than his other music.

“I actually didn’t know I was No. 1 trending until someone came up to me and congratulated me,” Lane said. “I’m excited. I love that people love my music.”

While this is Lane’s most recent No. 1 on local charts, he said it is not his first, as a few of his past singles have reached the top spot.

Lane is a senior at ACM working on vocal performance and applied technology paired with production to become a full-time pop artist. He said that ACM has been instrumental in getting him where he is as an artist, and specifically classes, such as ACM professor Adam Ledbetter’s Hip Hop Production, have contributed to his musical growth. However, Lane said he’s taking his time and taking everything in, so his time at ACM will extend beyond a fourth year.

“[ACM] has completely pushed me to new levels,” Lane said.

As a singer, songwriter and producer, Lane makes all of his own music. He said he began singing at 6-years-old and knew he wanted to be an artist from there.

Lane said his journey has faced many struggles, but he believes those struggles are what made him the person he is now.

“The road to this point has 110 percent had struggles, but without any struggle, no real character can be built,” Lane said. “I’ve never really doubted [my career choice] seriously, and if I ever had doubts they went away really quickly. I was born for this.”

Among his personal struggles was the loss of his cat, which inspired the name Harlee.

“I didn’t know how to cope, so I had to change my name and identity to be able to mourn,” Lane said.

Pop music is Lane’s biggest inspiration, with him citing Mac DeMarco and Bebe Rexha as influences.

His personal experiences and struggles have served as additional material for his singles, such as “Come Down,” and for his EP, “Lost Soul.”

“It was only a matter of time before Harlee Lane reached number one on a pop chart,” said ACM@UCO CEO and Executive Director Scott Booker. “We are incredibly proud of his success and expect to see his career continue to go sky high.”

More music is in the works, according to Lane, and his newest single “Say It Again” (feat. Reis Deville) is now out on iTunes and Spotify. All of Harlee Lane’s music is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Reverb Nation.

“My plans for my career are to become a massive selling recording artist and influence people with love,” Lane said.

The Academy of Contemporary Music is one of UCO’s downtown campuses, located in Bricktown, and features three programs that prepare students for contemporary music industry careers. Students are mentored by faculty who have worked in the industry and recorded, toured and performed with artists such as Reba McIntire, Miley Cyrus and The Flaming Lips, according to the ACM website. The academy’s 350 full-time students have access to four state-of-the-art recording studios, two fully-equipped technology labs, five rehearsal spaces and the 500 capacity ACM@UCO Performance Lab.

ACM offers associate’s degree programs in contemporary music business, performance and production, with the option to combine a program with Applied Technology for a bachelor’s degree.