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When singer and songwriter Laura Vecchione begins to sing, room-chatter quiets as people turn to listen. Her voice is unearthly beautiful, yet deep, rich, and full of emotion, evoking wide rivers of the South that seem far from her origins in New York and Boston. Vecchione's catchy lyrics and beautiful melodies exude pop appeal. What sets her apart as an artist, though, is rare depth and maturity. She is a singer who looks you in the eye with compassion and playfulness. Listening to her songs makes us connect instantly with the heartbreak of humanity, leap at her message of hope, and clap along with her celebration of resilience.
Girl in the Band is Vecchione's triumphant sequel to her impressive debut album, Deeper Waters. Set for release in the fall of 2008 on Vecchione's indie imprint Selkie Records, Girl in the Band was recorded in Nashville and Boston with an all-star cast of seasoned session players including George Marinelli (Bonnie Raitt) on electric guitar. Mixed primarily by multi-Grammy-Award winner Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Wilco, The Dixie Chicks) the album shines with Vecchione's unique balance of pop-appeal and gravitas, and is already generating buzz and acclaim including:
***Television Placement: "Fly Home Flag Boy" and “Magnolia” played on Season Two of TNT's hit show, Saving Grace, starring Academy Award winner, Holly Hunter. That was followed by a third placement, “Jane” from Laura’s debut, Deeper Waters.
***Charitable Collaboration with Sweet Home New Orleans: On Girl in the Band, Laura covers an a cappella piece, the Mardi Gras Indian sacred song, "Indian Red," and penned her own song for New Orleans called "Fly Home Flag Boy." Proceeds from digital downloads of these songs will be donated to Sweet Home New Orleans, working to preserve the artistic and social fabric of New Orleans musical and historic culture.
***MLK, Jr Dream-On Compilation: "How We Choose to Hold" was selected out of over 400 submissions to be included in the Dream On project, an independent musical compilation set for release Nov. 2008. The project will include a charitable website honoring the continued work and vision of Dr. MLK, Jr.
Laura released her debut album, Deeper Waters in the fall of 2006. In its first week out, Deeper Waters ranked as a Top 5 Most Added on the AMA Chart and continued to climb - an impressive accomplishment for an independent, self-funded release. It reached 14 on the well-respected Roots Music Report. XM Radio was on board early, adding three tracks to its Americana programming loop and featuring the cover of Deeper Waters on its “What’s New On XM” page next to new releases by Keith Urban, Gnarles Barkley, and Lindsey Buckingham.
The story began and grew in Boston. Laura had already won Boston’s Colgate Country Showdown before the release of Deeper Waters, and with it, the praises of country station WKLB. George Knight of Boston’s commercial triple A station, WBOS began spinning her single, “Jane.” And Martha’s Vineyard’s WMVY added “Fool’s Gold” to its Fresh Produce sampler alongside artists like Melissa Ferreick and Mary Chapin Carpenter. And the Boston Globe proudly claimed, “Vecchione is all ours.”
Born in New York City, Laura’s classical voice training began at age 15. As an American Studies major at Barnard College, Laura found herself in the warm embrace of the Columbia/Barnard Gospel Choir while also studying Jazz Voice at Manhattan School of Music. Laura moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. She later studied guitar with local maestro John Curtis (Patty Griffin, Jon Pousset-Dart Band) and began writing and performing original material.
