From a very young age, Penn State student Natalie McMahon knew she was destined for the stage.

McMahon began her songwriting journey in fourth grade, inspired by Taylor Swift’s album “1989.” She would sit in her room and blast the album on her CD player, turning her “big feelings” into a song.

As she grew up, she begged her mom to sign her up for guitar lessons.

McMahon said her love of performing was sparked largely by the musicals and recitals she was involved in. At 16, she began performing at local bars and restaurants in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.

During this time, she wrote multiple original songs and sent them to local producers. One producer picked “Celestial Heartbreak” for her first single.

After graduating from high school, she auditioned at schools like NYU and Michigan to continue pursuing theater. However, when she auditioned at Penn State, McMahon had no idea what State College had in store for her.

She took a leap of faith, came to Happy Valley as an undecided student, and continued her musical theater journey. Ultimately, she double majored in music technology and journalism.

Throughout McMahon’s time at Penn State, she has performed in various shows in State College, opened for artists like Jack Blocker and Taylor Bickett, and sung the national anthem at the Cleveland Guardians-Seattle Mariners game.

McMahon shared that singing in front of thousands at an MLB game was “special.” Her entire family is huge Guardians fans, thanks to her grandmother’s lifelong support for the team.

McMahon and her grandmother had traveled to games about 25 times throughout her childhood. She described performing at the stadium as “a full-circle moment.”

Last summer, she applied to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Artist in Residence program. Emerging artists dream of being one of the three chosen applicants.

“It was my Super Bowl,” McMahon said.

During her interview, they asked the all-too-familiar final question: “Is there anything else you want us to know?”

“I really, really want this, and if you give this to me, it’s going to be a really good idea,” McMahon replied.

Sure enough, the interviewers took her up on that deal, leading to an unforgettable 10-week experience at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

At her opening shows, McMahon sang unreleased songs like “Grapefruit” and “Cigarette Song,” some of the crowd favorites. Since releasing her first single, “Celestial Heartbreak,” she has released two more songs.

McMahon’s newest single, “Ghost in the Graveyard,” is set for release on October 30 and will begin a whole new era for the singer-songwriter.

This single was inspired by a breakup from a few years ago, during Halloween.

McMahon shared that she kept a box full of her past partner’s items in her closet. After the breakup, she felt the box was “haunting” her and keeping her from moving on.

McMahon wrote “Ghost in the Graveyard” four years ago during that time in her life. She finally decided to produce and release this song to help others who feel someone in their life is haunting them.

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