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laurel brauns

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FEATURED SONG
Black is the Colour
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Black is the Colour
Album: 3-Song Demo
Released: Jan 21, 2006
Label:

General Info

  • Genre: Acoustic / Indie / Rock

    Location Bend, Oregon, US

    Profile Views: 29310

    Last Login: 7/5/2010

    Member Since 1/26/2005

    Website www.laurelbrauns.com

    Record Label Red Trail Records

  • Bio

         Laurel is from a small town in central New Hampshire. This background has instilled in her an obsessive love of the outdoors, and a healthy hatred of vinyl siding and SUVs. For a short time she was a member of the Gunstock Parish Militia, an organization formed to ward off encroaching developers and suburbanites from out of state, but the group soon abandoned monkey-wrenching for drinking, and became a loose association renamed Lovers of Schlitz, or LOS for short. Laurel is a singer/songwriter whose work ranges from indie americana to quiet rock. She did not sing in a punk band before getting in touch with her sensitive side. She was a trad-music geek in high school, and spent much of her time learning obscure Celtic ballads and raucous Pogues songs. After high school, she lived in Ireland, busking on the street and joining sessions in pubs. During college in Portland, Oregon, she formed a number of duos and trios, the most popular of which was Queen Anne's Lace, featuring Anna Fritz on the cello and Erica McGee on violin. She did her senior thesis on indie labels of the Pacific Northwest such as K Records, Kill Rock Stars, and Sub Pop, then started her own label after graduating. Laurel's first album, recorded in friends' apartments, has sold 2,000 copies and received reviews in Performing Songwriter and other national media outlets. Her second release, Periphery, was recorded and co-produced by Larry Crane at Jackpot! Studios (Elliott Smith, The Decemberists). Jeff Saltzman (producer Stephen Malkmus) mastered the album and hailed it as “elegantly arranged modern/folk pop” and “one of the strongest efforts I've worked on this past year.”  Logging over 100,000 miles on her car in the past few years, Laurel enjoys being out on the road. Lured by the possibility that there is something left of Kerouac's America out there on the great highways, her songs are "like wistful Polaroid's, nostalgic memories of people and places throughout the country." (Matt Kanner, The Wire, Portsmouth, NH) "It's somewhere out there that she meets her characters and gives you a peak into their stories, she puts you right out there in the cornfield under the wide-open skies..." (Melissa Bearns, The Source, Bend, OR.)  Laurel released her third album, Closed for the Season, in February of 2007, produced by Jon Nolan, and inspired by the mercurial scenery of her native New Hampshire. Chris Dahlen of Pitchfork and Paste Magazine says, "She brings to bear all of her Celtic and indie influences on her haunting new album where cellos and dark finger-picked acoustic guitar all but surround you with the ghosts of the by-gone characters the songs speak of." While living in Portsmouth, NH, she booked and promoted the Hush Hush Sweet Harlot music series, showcasing regional and national talent like John Vanderslice and the Winterpills. In 2008, Laurel moved to beautiful Bend, Oregon where she lives in a little ski cottage with her sister. She started a band called the Sweet Harlots and will be releasing a new album in the summer of 2010. .......... ............My Space or Yours?.. Myspace Layouts and more at myspaceoryours.net!...... ..........Background Artist:......Melody Hay.... ..

  • Members

    laurel (me), amy mitchell (cello), sometimes: shireen amini (percussion), Jenny Harada (violin), Patrick Pearsall (bass)

  • Influences

    older stuff is the in the ryan adams, gillian welch, singer/songwriter vein newer stuff: neutral milk hotel, decemberists, modest mouse, azure ray, matt pond pa, john vanderslice, iron & wine, be good tanyas, anais mitchell, elliott smith, lovers, deertick, elvis perkins, okkervil river, soltero, unbunny, nina nastasia, anais nin, laura veirs, the avett brothers, band of horses, blind pilot, built to spill, rem, pinback, hotel alexis, pj harvey, rachel's, rilo kiley, casey dienel, a secret history, lisa carver, coldplay, dave eggers, palace, holopaw, califone, carissa's weird, jana hunter, m.ward, sun kill moon, testface, jason anderson, tigersaw, nat baldwin, jon nolan, the texas governor, the flaming lips, the shins, white hinterland, laura gibson, jason molina, nadelle, mirah, the weeds, sarah harmer, brenda weiler, rose polenzani, leah abramson, black heart procession, death vessel, death cab, casey neill, beck, seekonk, graddaddy, jerry brookman, northern, brown bird, liz phair, tree by leaf, diana darby, the pogues, camera obscura, neko case, fleet foxes, alela diane, josh ritter, j.d. salinger, milan kundera, jack kerouac, russell banks, john irving, a separate peace, the exeter arts coalition, nick hornby, irish history, woody allen, the coen bros, six feet under, raymond carver, nick drake, bob dylan, johnny cash, seamus heaney, lobstermen, drinking in pubs, hearing music at the red door, working a million jobs and having a million big plans....

  • Sounds Like

    "New Hampshire native has released two striking albums that showcase a soaring voice with claws like Kristen Hersh." - Chris Dahlen, Pitchfork................................................................................. Combining current college pop & indie-americana with the haunting melodies of Cat Power and Sinead O'Connor, her voice is an arresting, powerful force." -Performing Songwriter Magazine

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