Laura Veirs

Laura Veirs (born 1973) is an American singer-songwriter.

Biography

Laura Veirs grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she often spent summers camping with her family, which gave her much of her songwriting inspiration. Veirs has said that she didn't seriously listen to music until she was in her 20s; instead, she just heard what was in her environment. She listened to folk, country, classical and pop music around the house and on the radio during her youth.

Attending Carleton College in rural Minnesota, Veirs latched onto feminist punk rock from the Pacific Northwest, eventually starting an all-female punk band called "Rair Kx!". Laura studied geology and Mandarin Chinese. After college, she embraced older country and folk music. Her first foray into songwriting started with a geological expedition in China, where she served as translator. She was miserable and immersed herself into writing lyrics as a way of coping.

She put out her own self-titled album Laura Veirs, recorded live and featuring just her and guitar, in 1999. She has since made six highly acclaimed records with producer Tucker Martine. 2003 saw the release of Troubled by the Fire, a full-band effort that found the artist sharing the studio with such luminaries as Bill Frisell and violist Eyvind Kang. She signed to Nonesuch Records the following year with the atmospheric follow-up Carbon Glacier. Year of Meteors followed in August 2005. She collaborated with The Decemberists on "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)", from their 2006 album The Crane Wife. Her sixth record, Saltbreakers, was released worldwide on Nonesuch Records in April 2007. In January 2010 she will release "July Flame" on her own Raven Marching Band Records (in North America) and on Bella Union (in Europe and the rest of the world). Colin Meloy has called the record his favorite of 2010 and Jim James of My Morning Jacket (who guests on the record) says of the album ?Laura?s like the queen bee and my ear is her hive; she nests and makes honey in the hairs of my cochlea,".

Veirs tours frequently in Europe, North America and Australia both solo and with a backing band consisting of a rotating cast including Karl Blau, Steve Moore, Tucker Martine, Keeley Boyle, Nelson Kempf, Eric Anderson, Kate O'Brien-Clarke and Alex Guy.

Veirs lives in Portland, Oregon where she teaches guitar and banjo when she is not touring.

Discography

Studio albums
Laura Veirs, Raven Marching Band Records, 1999
The Triumphs and Travails of Orphan Mae, Raven Marching Band Records, 2001, Bella Union, 2005
Troubled by the Fire, Bella Union, 2003
Carbon Glacier, Bella Union (UK), February 2004, Nonesuch Records (US), August 2004
Year of Meteors, Nonesuch Records, August 2005
Saltbreakers, Nonesuch Records, April 2007
July Flame, Raven Marching Band Records/Bella Union, January 2010

E.P.s
Two Beers Veirs, Raven Marching Band Records, 2008

Live albums
Lore of Ears, Kelp Monthly, 2004

Compilation appearances
"Black-Eyed Susan (demo)" on Remote Wing, Knw-Yr-Own, 2001
"The Water's Gone (But Life Is Long)" (with Danny Barnes) on Shipwreck Day, Knw-Yr-Own, 2002
"17" on Flotsam and Jetsam: 2005 What The Heck Fest Sampler", Kelp Monthly, 2005
"Cast a Hook in Me" on The Sound the Hare Heard", Kill Rock Stars, 2006
An exclusive version of "Nightingale" on "Paste Magazine Sampler 39", 2007

Also featured on
The Young Rapture Choir, RMB, 2006
"Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)," The Decemberists The Crane Wife, Capitol, 2006
Sailor System CD by Your Heart Breaks, Don't Stop Believin Records, 2006