Biography, iMusic

Laura Love, one of the most significant and exciting artists to emerge from the Northwest music scene in recent memory, has been performing with her band regionally since 1990 and nationally since 1992. In the past several years she has been an overwhelming hit at music festivals, concerts and clubs across North America, successfully wedding African/Caribbean rhythms, traditional acoustic instruments and intriguing harmonies into a style that she calls "Afro/Celtic."

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Laura began her professional career at the age of 16, singing pop and jazz standards. Her first gig took place at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. She soon moved on to club and college dates, developing her distinctive vocal and bass styles over the years.

A multi-talented artist, Laura has performed nearly every style of popular music. Having settled in Seattle, she took up with grunge-blues outfit, Boom Boom G.I., in the late '80s. The band was alternately hailed as the best rock band in the city and reviled as the worst. Her life took a significant turn when a local music publication slammed her for wasting her considerable talent in an "annoyingly pointless" band. Laura, stung by the criticism, examined her priorities and began writing her own music. The result is a weave of ethnic and American roots influenced rock underscored by powerful rhythm and executed with astonishing harmonic vocals.

Laura has been acclaimed as an unparalled vocalist, songwriter and bassist, garnering ecstatic reviews from such diverse publications as The New York Times, Billboard, Sing Out, and New Age Times for her recordings and headline shows. She has also received praise for her supporting performances for Lyle Lovett, John Lee Hooker, Ani Di Franco, Beausoleil and Bo Diddley. Laura has performed with great success at a number of prestigious music festivals including Ben & Jerry's Newport Folk Festival, the Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg Folk Festivals, New York Singer-Songwriter Festival and the Bumbershoot Festival of the Arts (Seattle, WA).

Laura's signing to Mercury Records was the result of her Carnegie Hall performance. In the audience sat an A&R man, David Wilkes, who brought her to Danny Goldberg's attention in October 1995. Unbeknownst to Laura, Danny was soon to be named president of Mercury Records. As soon as the ink dried on his contract with Mercury, he offered a deal to Laura. The result is Octoroon, a compelling album of 11 original songs.

Prior to Laura's signing, she released three albums on her own label, Octoroon Biography. Additionally, since 1994 Putumayo World Music has included Laura's music on two multi-artist compilations and released the Laura Love Collection. All of Laura's releases and the Putumayo CDs enjoy AAA, college an public radio airplay throughout north America and are distributed nationally.

Laura's performance is exciting, uplifting and joyful and her effect on an audience is extreme. She tours as a quartet with electric bass, acoustic guitars, percussion, tongue drum and accordion.

Back to Sarah's Laura Love Page