I perform solo and with others. Some people I've shared stage and/or studio time with are Brendan O'Connell, Birger Olsen, Nick Moran, Sarah Morris, Jason Quever, Dave Mihaly, Bill Noertker, Scott Beardsley, Aaron Konkol, Riley Sattler, Ben Ferris, David Zollo, Matt Bruer, Scott Barkan, Mark Whitcomb, and Jeremy Schmidt.
Influences
love and music + The Beatles, Lucinda Williams, Bo Ramsey, The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, Mason Jennings, David Zollo, Kris Delmhorst, Ani DiFranco, The Indigo Girls, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Sean Hayes, Jolie Holland, Joni Mitchell, Jeff Tweedy, Emmylou Harris, Three Dog Night
Also in the CD player:
Gillian Welch, Krishna Das, Justin Townes Earle, Joe Pug, Greg Brown, Pieta Brown, The Grateful Dead, Chuck Berry, The Be Good Tanyas, Cat Power, The Beach Boys, Townes Van Zandt, Janis Joplin, Elvis, The Steve Miller Band, Tom Petty, Mr. Jakob Dylan, and The Wood Brothers.
Sounds Like
Excerpts of reviews for Outta My Head: (2006)
San Francisco Bay Guardian by Todd Lavoie
"'Sure, it's mighty fine to have that warm, tingly feeling rippling up and down your spine as you discover your newest favorite song by an artist to whom you would hand over the keys to your heart, but let's fess up: nothing comes close to being frozen in place by a song that pricks up your ears and leaves you begging, "Who was that?!" I'm lucky enough to still feel my head swimming from such a moment. "Something I Can Feel," from the recent debut release by Anna Laube, Outta My Head (Gingko Records), lured me from the grayness of my computer and whisked me off to better, brighter places. Fans of Jolie Holland, Dolly Parton, and Sarah Harmer, take note: this local singer-songwriter has a name you'll want to remember."
C|NET Download.com
"Country, folk, and torchy pop gather like old friends in this San Francisco songstress's burnished tunes. Centered on softly insistent vocals (somewhere between Aimee's and Emmylou's), Laube's songs layer in plucky mandolin, quavering slide, and enough good faith to keep the campfire burning late."
NPR
"Anna Laube makes intimate, heartfelt songs rooted in traditional Americana."
Windy City Times by David Byrne with Tony Peregrin,
"Laube blends jazz, folk, country and blues in the style of Lucinda Williams and Tara Angell."
CDReviews.com by Jake Nuckolls
"Acoustic, atmospheric, wide open, and western. Dirt covered highways and the setting sun."
SF Station by Matthew Forsman
"Laube offers no easy answers in the album, but never fails to seduce with a plethora of beautifully written, authentic tracks and talent that is unquestionable...
Zeitgeist(UK) by Stuart A. Hamilton
"...if this were a vinyl record, you could pop the needle down anywhere and be rewarded with a righteous noise."
New Times SLO (San Luis Obispo, CA)
by Glen Starkey "The multi-instrumentalist has an arresting voice, a keen ear for penning immediately affecting folk tunes, and the kind of crisp albeit unobtrusive musicianship that'll knock you back on your heels."
Wisconsin State Journal by Rob Thomas
"Mixing agreeably rough living room recordings with more polished in-studio tracks, 'Outta My Head' showcases a powerful and personal songwriting that's grounded but not bound by acoustic folk-pop conventions."
Here Comes the Flood (blog) by Hans Werksman
San Francisco singer Anna Laube can be described is just one word: tender."
Grilladelic (blog)
"Outta My Head is a terrific blend of roots, country and folk. It absolutely floored me it was so good. In fact I had an immediate flashback to the first time, back in the day, when a friend of mine came back to Michigan, after working on the oil rigs outside of Houston. He said, “you got to check out this cassette (remember, it was back in the day). Her name is Bonnie Raitt.”
Exceprts of reviews for Pool All The Love * Pool All The Knowledge (2009):
The Onion by Scott Gordon
"Former Madisonian Anna Laube returns from California to release her new album Pool All The Love * Pool All The Knowledge, which follows up the pleasant, intimate singer-songwriter tunes from 2006's Outta My Head...Judging by new songs like "Hippie Boyfriend," Laube's still paying attention to the traditions of acoustic folk, but doesn't mind bringing the light-'n'-playful side."
Maximum Ink by John Noyd
"Wisconsin native and California transplant Laube spins hippie bohemia into rootin’ tootin’ riverboat galleries moseying on down through spirited Delta blues, roadhouse honky-tonk and funky finger pickin’ folk. "
Anna Laube’s new indie-pop/country-folk release, Pool All The Love * Pool All The Knowledge, was written in living rooms from Austin, TX to Volcano, HI, and documents a life on the road less traveled. After a series of epiphanies regarding what was—and wasn’t—truly important, Laube quit her “real job,” sold her belongings, and started exploring the country by plane, train, and automobile. Accompanied by her CD collection and her guitar, Angelina, Laube took a cue from an old Bob Dylan song:
“Go out in your country where the land meets the sun
See the craters and the canyons and where the waterfalls run
Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho
Let every state in this union seep deep down in your soul.
And you'll die in your footsteps
Before you go down under the ground.”
Though she hasn’t made it to New Mexico—yet—she’s well on her way to fulfilling Mr. Dylan’s decree. The eclectic Pool All The Love * Pool All The Knowledge kicks off with a powerful piece about presence, entitled “This Moment With Me,” and segues into the intense and flowing “I Found Love,” which starts out on Highway 101. Then comes the album’s catchy, bouncy ode to the simple life, “Hippie Boyfriend:” she’s gonna find herself a hippie boyfriend and kiss him on his hippie mouth. “Om Namah Shivaya (Ulysses)” is a thoughtful ballad in a beautifully sparse arrangement of acoustic guitar and harmony vocals, inspired by meditation and Minnesota (some loons even grace track). There’s a swampy feel in the laid back “Kihei Blues,” which pays homage to the magical and blissful island of Maui (and yeah, that’s Anna wailing away on harmonica). On “Blue Angel” she relates a winding tale that starts in a Laundromat and ends on 18th St. at Castro in San Francisco. Though she’s been leading a gypsy life for the last couple of years, she now considers San Francisco her home base.
Born in Iowa City, IA, Laube (pronounced "Lau" like "how" and "be" like "to be or not to be") began studying the piano at the tender age of three and later took up saxophone, oboe, violin, and guitar. She was a leading member in a number orchestras during high school in Madison, WI, and the year after she graduated, studied oboe at the Académie de Musique Grétry in Liège, Belgium. She gave several “coffeshop-style” performances during high school and college (even doing a short opening set for the then up-and-coming singer-songwriter, Kris Delmhorst), but until recently, didn't really think she could sing. "I didn't take voice lessons or wear scarves all the time like the girls in choir. I thought maybe I'd be a professional oboist."
On another a trip abroad, this time to study painting and printmaking, she borrowed a guitar and started writing songs. It wasn't until she finished college and took that “real job” in California that she started singing seriously. "I didn't know a soul. I figured, nobody here knows that I'm not a singer."
She’s come a long way in a short time: Laube has been described as “An artist to whom you would hand over the keys to your heart” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian with “intimate, heartfelt songs” (NPR), and her music is receiving airplay worldwide. In 2009 she’ll be touring in support of her new disc, starting with album release concerts in Madison and San Francisco and a couple of performances during SXSW in Austin, TX.
Traveling around the country wielding a guitar has its challenges, but for Anna Laube, it feels right. “I guess like ‘Ole Neil’ said, I’ve been a miner for a heart of gold.”
