Laura Jane Ballance (born February 22, 1968) is the bassist in the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

Superchunk Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the ...

(also contributing occasional backing vocals) and co-founder of

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

along with

Mac McCaughan Ralph Lee "Mac" McCaughan (; born July 12, 1967) is an American musician and record label owner, based in North Carolina. His main musical projects have been Superchunk since 1989 and Portastatic since the early 1990s. In 1989 he founded the ind ...

. In 2013 she announced that she would no longer be touring with the band due to her worsening

hyperacusis Hyperacusis is the increased sensitivity to sound and a low tolerance for environmental noise. Definitions of hyperacusis can vary significantly; it can refer to normal noises being perceived as: loud, annoying, painful, fear-inducing, or a combina ...

Musical history

Despite her

and announcement that she will no longer be touring with the band, she has remained in

since 1989. Their latest album is ''Wild Loneliness'', released in February 2022.

Merge Records

In 1989, Ballance alongside her bandmate

, founded

for releases from

and similar artists. Ballance has also contributed to the book ''Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records'' (2009) with Mac McCaughan and John Cook.

Personal life

Ballance has described herself as an introvert as a child, who found punk music as a teenager through a music video by

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...

. Ballance lives in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

with her husband and daughter.

References

Merge Records artists Living people 1968 births American rock bass guitarists Musicians from Raleigh, North Carolina Women bass guitarists Merge Records Guitarists from North Carolina 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century women musicians Superchunk members {{US-bass-guitarist-stub