Laura Barrett at the 2015 Slaight Music Residency Showcase

Laura Barrett is a Canadian

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

singer-songwriter, best known for incorporating the kalimba into her music. In addition to her solo work, Barrett has also performed as a member of The Hidden Cameras,

Henri Fabergé and the Adorables Henri Fabergé and the Adorables are a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2005 from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Henri Fabergé and the Adorables formed in 2005 and is a musical collective including members of The Bicycles, Born Ruffians, S ...

, Woodhands and Sheezer. A classically trained pianist, Barrett studied

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, and took up the kalimba as a hobby after buying one on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

. Her first public performance as a solo performer was a cover of " Smells Like Nirvana" at a

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

tribute concert (She had previously been a part of the band Lake Holiday). She subsequently released two EPs, and was the musical director for a New York City production of

Maggie MacDonald Maggie MacDonald (born 1979) is a writer, playwright, and musician who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Early life and education MacDonald grew up in Cornwall, Ontario, where she became active in the local independent rock music scene. She put on sh ...

's play ''The Rat King''. Barrett released her first full-length album, ''Victory Garden'', in 2008 on Paper Bag Records. In December 2008 Laura Barrett was the recipient of a CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award for "Sexiest Musician". In 2009, Barrett took part in an interactive documentary series called

City Sonic ''City Sonic'' is a documentary series about Toronto-based musicians and the places that influenced their music.http://radio3.cbc.ca/blogs/2009/8/Watch-This-City-Sonic-Film-Series The first five ''City Sonic'' films were previewed at Toronto's 20 ...

. The series, which featured 20 Toronto artists, had her talk about her first concert. The first rock concert she attended was, at the age of 12, at the Art Gallery of Ontario for the Rheostatics experimental set ''

Music Inspired by the Group of Seven ''Music Inspired by the Group of Seven'' is a 1995 album by Rheostatics. The album was commissioned by the National Gallery of Canada to accompany its Group of Seven retrospective show. The album has twelve pieces, most of which are instrumental ...

''. In 2010, Barrett accompanied

The Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel ''Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocali ...

on their 11-date North American "Realism" tour. In 2011, she participated in the

National Parks Project The National Parks Project is a Canadian music and film project. Released in 2011 to mark the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Parks of Canada system,Cadence Weapon Roland "Rollie" Pemberton, better known by his stage name Cadence Weapon, is a Canadian-American rapper based in Toronto, Ontario. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Pemberton released his first album, ''Breaking Kayfabe'', in 2005 with positi ...

and Mark Hamilton and filmmaker

Peter Lynch Peter Lynch (born January 19, 1944) is an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist. As the manager of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990, Lynch averaged a 29.2% annual return, consistently more than ...

to produce and score a short film about Alberta's

Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. It borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterto ...

References

External links

Laura Barrett
Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian women pianists University of Toronto alumni Musicians from Toronto Living people Canadian indie pop musicians Paper Bag Records artists Canadian women pop singers 21st-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian pianists The Hidden Cameras members Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century women pianists {{pianist-stub