Laura Pauline Veirs (born October 24, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter based out of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. She is known for her

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

records and live performances as well as her collaboration with

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cri ...

and

k.d. lang Kathryn Dawn Lang (born November 2, 1961), known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop (music), pop and country music, country singer-songwriter and occasional actress. Lang has won Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical perfor ...

on the

case/lang/veirs case/lang/veirs is a Canadian-American supergroup consisting of Neko Case, k.d. lang, and Laura Veirs, formed in Portland, Oregon in 2013. The group launched with a June 2016 eponymous album, followed by a 19 city summer 2016 tour. History The ...

project. Veirs has written a children's book and hosts a podcast about parenting and performing.

Early life and education

Veirs graduated from

General William J. Palmer High School General William J. Palmer High School, commonly referred to as Palmer High School (PHS), is a public high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship high school of School District 11 and has the oldest Internationa ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. In 1997, Veirs graduated from

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...

, where she was a geology major and studied Mandarin Chinese. During this time, she worked as a translator for a geological expedition in China.

Career

Laura_Veirs_and_José_Medeles_play_at_Mississippi_Studios

Growing up, Veirs heard folk-country, classical, and pop music at home; however, she did not "listen seriously," she says, until in her 20s. At Carleton, she joined all-girl

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band, Rair Kx! After graduation, her taste moved to older country and folk, and during her time in China she began writing lyrics. In 1999, Veirs released a self-titled album, which was recorded live and featuring just herself and guitar. 2003 saw the release of ''

Troubled by the Fire ''Troubled by the Fire'' is the third studio album by Laura Veirs Laura Pauline Veirs (born October 24, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter based out of Portland, Oregon. She is known for her folk/ alternative country records and live per ...

'', accompanied by veteran musicians such as

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

. She then signed to

Nonesuch __NOTOC__ Nonesuch may refer to: Plants * ''Lychnis chalcedonica'', a wildflower * ''Medicago lupulina'', a wildflower Places and structures *Nonesuch, Kentucky *Nonesuch Island, Bermuda *Nonesuch Mine, Michigan *Nonesuch Palace, mis-spelling of ...

and released ''

Carbon Glacier Carbon Glacier is located on the north slope of Mount Rainier in the U.S. state of Washington and is the source of the Carbon River. The snout at the glacier terminal moraine is at about above sea level, making it the lowest-elevation glacier in ...

''. She also signed to

Bella Union Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde. History After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twi ...

for European distribution. ''

Year of Meteors ''Year of Meteors'' is the fifth studio album by Laura Veirs, released in 2005. On August 7, 2018, it was announced that this album, along with the rest of her releases through Nonesuch would be reissued for the first time in over ten years on b ...

'' followed in August 2005, and was selected by the New York Times as a "critic's choice". Veirs released her final album for Nonesuch, ''

Saltbreakers ''Saltbreakers'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Laura Veirs. The album was released in Europe and Australia on March 17, 2007, and in the U.S. on April 10, 2007. It was released on Nonesuch Records, who also released t ...

'', in 2007. In January 2010, Veirs released ''

July Flame ''July Flame'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Laura Veirs, released on January 12, 2010. The title comes from a type of peach Veirs saw at a farmer's market. Jim James of American rock band My Morning Jacket contributes ...

'' on her own Raven Marching Band Records. The album received praise from ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' among other publications. In November 2011, Veirs released the album ''Tumble Bee: Laura Veirs Sings Folk Songs for Children''. The album presented mostly traditional songs, and featured an array of guest musicians, including

Colin Meloy Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acousti ...

Jim James James Edward Olliges Jr. (born April 27, 1978), professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums. ...

and

Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, bringing the instrument from its bluegrass roots to jazz, classi ...

. ''Tumble Bee'' won a

Parents' Choice Award The Parents' Choice Award was an award presented by the non-profit Parents' Choice Foundation to recognize "the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels." It was considered a "prest ...

in 2012. In September 2012, her first feature film soundtrack was released: ''Hello I Must Be Going'', for the

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

of the same name. The exclusive soundtrack featured eight instrumental versions of previously released songs, five catalog favorites and one new vocal track, "Spring Song". In August 2013, she released '' Warp & Weft''. In 2015, she worked on the album ''

Carrie & Lowell ''Carrie & Lowell'' is the seventh studio album by American musician Sufjan Stevens. It was released on March 31, 2015, by Asthmatic Kitty. It is executively produced by Stevens, and features guest contributions from Thomas Bartlett, Sean Car ...

'' by

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...

. Veirs' long term collaborator and then husband,

Tucker Martine Tucker Martine (born January 14, 1972) is an American record producer, musician and composer. In 2010, ''Paste'' Magazine included Martine in their list of the 10 Best Producers of the Decade. Early life Tucker Martine, the son of singer and son ...

, engineered some of the album. Veirs was lead songwriter for the 2016 album ''

'', a collaborative project between Veirs,

and Neko Case. The album received positive reviews and a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

rating of 82. In April 2018, she released her tenth studio album '' The Lookout'' on her own label Raven Marching Band in North American and

in the rest of the world. It was a concept album about the fragility of precious things. It featured contributions from

and was produced by Tucker Martine. Earlier, in January 2018, she had launched a podcast, ''Midnight Lightning'', about the lives of musician parents. The first season featured weekly interviews with 14 mother musicians such as

Corin Tucker Corin Lisa Tucker (born November 9, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney. Tucker is also a member of the alternative rock supergroup Filthy Friends, and previously recorded ...

(

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member J ...

Carol Kaye Carol Kaye (née Smith, born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years. Kaye began play ...

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

Rhiannon Giddens Rhiannon Giddens (born February 21, 1977) is an American musician. She is a founding member of the country, blues and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she is the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player. Giddens i ...

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

Amanda Bergman Amanda Bergman is a Swedish singer-songwriter from Dalarna. She has previously performed and released music under the stage names Idiot Wind (from Bob Dylan's song of the same name) and Hajen. Career Karin Amanda Bergman Hollingby began her prof ...

among others. In early 2018,

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco-based American publisher of books for adults and children. The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publisher of the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. ...

published her first picture book, ''Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten''. A story about folk musician

Elizabeth Cotten Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten ( Nevills; January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987) was an American folk and blues musician. She was a self-taught left-handed guitarist who played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down. This po ...

(aka "Libba") it was illustrated by

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh Tatyana Fazlalizadeh (born 1985) is an American artist, activist, and freelance illustrator. She is best known as the creator of the campaign and art exhibition Stop Telling Women to Smile. Biography Fazlalizadeh was born in Oklahoma City, Okla ...

. ''Libba'' was a

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samuel W. Craig and H ...

selection and received the

. On

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

2020, Veirs released the song "I Was a Fool", exploring her divorce. In July, her eleventh studio album ''

My Echo ''My Echo'' is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Laura Veirs, released on October23, 2020 by Raven Marching Band. The album received a positive reception from music critics. Recording and release On Valentine's Day 2020, Veir ...

'' was made available for

pre-order A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...

with a scheduled release in October. Veirs continued to write and record, finishing most of an album's worth of material by the time, ''

'', was released.

Touring band members

* Laura Veirs – vocals, guitar, banjo * Eli Moore – bass, guitar, synth *

Eyvind Kang Eyvindur Y. Kang (born 23 June 1971) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. His primary instrument is viola, but has also performed on violin, tuba, keyboards and others. In addition to his solo work, Kang has worked extensively with ...

– viola * Karl Blau – guitar, bass, saxophone, keyboards, vocals * Steve Moore – piano, keyboards, bells, euphonium, vocals

Production

Tucker Martine was a producer on many of the albums including ''Carbon Glacier, Year of Meteors,'' ''Saltbreakers'', ''July Flame'', ''Tumble Bee and'' ''Warp & Weft''.

Raven Marching Band records

Veirs runs a record label, Raven Marching Band Records, that has released her own and other artists' music. In 2016, the label released '' Introducing Karl Blau'', which was crowdfunded.

Style

In 2007, Veirs said about her lyrics, "I like to be personal in my writing, but not overly confessional." Many of her lyrics are inspired by literary works. The song "Saltbreakers" on her 2007 album ''

'' was partially inspired by

A. S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy ( Drabble; born 24 August 1936), known professionally by her former marriage name as A. S. Byatt ( ), is an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been widely translated, into more than t ...

's ''

Possession Possession may refer to: Law * Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance * Drug possession, a crime * Ownership * ...

''. Another song on the same album, "Don't lose yourself", was partially inspired by

José Saramago José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE ComSE GColCa (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010), was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony ith which heco ...

's novel, ''

Blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

''.

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

was an inspiration for the song "Margaret Sands" on ''The Lookout''.

Personal life

Veirs lives in

. Around 2000, Veirs married Tucker Martine, who has collaborated with her musically. The couple have two children born 2010 and 2013, but in November 2019, Veirs announced she and Martine were divorcing.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

Laura Veirs Laura Pauline Veirs (born October 24, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter based out of Portland, Oregon. She is known for her folk/alternative country records and live performances as well as her collaboration with Neko Case and k.d. lang on ...

'' (1999) * ''

The Triumphs and Travails of Orphan Mae ''The Triumphs and Travails of Orphan Mae'' is the second studio album by Laura Veirs, self-released in 2001. It was subsequently re-released under the Bella Union Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Ra ...

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2005) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2010) * ''

Tumble Bee ''Tumble Bee'' is the eighth studio album by Laura Veirs Laura Pauline Veirs (born October 24, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter based out of Portland, Oregon. She is known for her folk/ alternative country records and live performances ...

'' (2011) * '' Warp & Weft'' (2013) * ''

'' (2016), with

and

* '' The Lookout'' (2018) * ''

'' (2020) * '' Found Light'' (2022)

Works and publications

References

External links

* * * *
Raven Marching Band Records
– record label
Laura Veirs
at

Bella Union Records Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde. History After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twins ...

Midnight Lightning
– podcast
case/lang/veirs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veirs, Laura American women singer-songwriters Carleton College alumni Musicians from Colorado Springs, Colorado Musicians from Portland, Oregon 1973 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from Oregon 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Bella Union artists Nonesuch Records artists Singer-songwriters from Colorado American women podcasters American podcasters