laurel brauns: News

The cover photo on "Closed for the Season" of a young boy holding a worm was taken by Dan Biferie and the rest of the photos were taken by Azure Ray's photographer Tony Bonacci who is based in Omaha.

Thematically, there is a strong sense of place that ties the songs together. The title "Closed for the Season" references the extreme contrast between glorious summers and cozy winters in New England, but there is also and spiritual redemption implied in physical experience of appreciating the outdoors. "I think New Hampshire is the most beautiful state; the landscape is haunting and vibrant and constantly changing. I'm definitely an earth-worshipper, not in a witches-dancing-around-the-fire sense, but in the way that being close to nature is like going to church for me," Brauns says.

Internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter, Jon Nolan produced and engineered the album in an old converted carpenter's shop with no running water and slanted floors in Newmarket, NH. "There was no bathroom so we had to make a lot of trips down to Crackskulls Coffee and Books due to the amount of water I was drinking," Brauns says of the experience. The rest of the album's credits read like a who's who of the Seacoast music scene. Andy Happel (Thanks to Gravity) wrote and performed violin arrangements and Kristen Miller (Jam Magazine's Female Songwriter of the Year 2005) played cello. Nate Horton of Amigo Bianco played cello and drums on several tracks. Marc McElroy (Elroy) played bass, organ, melodica and engineered three songs. Steve Ruhm of Groove Child was called upon to playdrums for the rest of the album, and Guy Capecelatro III wrote and
performed bass arrangements. Derek Archambault of The Minus Scale provided backing vocals, and David Goolkasian of The Texas Governor created the graphic design.

My third full-length studio album will be released on February 9th, featuring twelve literate folk songs about sailors, mannequins, drunks, unborn babies and filmmakers.

This record has been a year and a half in the making. The majority of it was recorded in an old carpenter's shack in Newmarket, NH under the direction of internationally acclaimed songwriter Jon Nolan.

Chris Dahlen of Pitchforkmedia.com and Paste Magazine writes, "Laurel Brauns can do the siren singer-songwriter thing, casting her sterling voice into songs about wide skies and maze-like hearts. She brings to bear all of her Celtic and indie influences on her haunting new album where cellos and dark finger-picked acoustic guitar all but surround you with the ghosts of the by-gone characters the songs speak of."

Please order your copy now at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/brauns3 or download it or send $15 to:
1375 Nw Davenport Ave
Bend OR 97701

I'll be opening for Greg Brown!!! as part of the New Hampshire Folk Festival on April 28th, joined by my dear friends and band mates Guy Capecelatro III and Chris Greiner.

I opened for Matt Costa at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT last night. Matt is one of the new additions to Jack Johnson's label Brushfire Records and he sings upbeat retro-folk with a gorgeous voice, catchy melodies and intricate acoustic guitar. His five-piece band played an uplifting and inspiring show. These sweet boys from California had us laughing and singing long into the night. Check them out next time he comes through your town.

I was accepted at The NEMO Festival in Boston this year. I'll be at Club Passim on Sept. 29th @ 8pm.

I ended up opening up for The Wood Brothers tonight at The Stone Church very much thanks to Peter Hamlin. They were so amazing!

Come celebrate the illusion of freedom at The Freedom Rocks Festival at Prescott Park in Portsmouth, NH on July 3rd. Stop thinking about bombs and invasions and enjoy a lovely day listening to music on the harbor. Full-band show with Guy Capecelatro III and Chris Greiner. I'm thrilled to be sharing the stage with my friends The Minus Scale, The Texas Governor, Dan Blakeslee and Jason Anderson.

I'll be playing at Club Passim as part of The Campfire Festival. This Cambridge mainstay has launched the careers of Josh Ritter and Dar Williams among others, but best part is the vegetarian cafe!

Thanks so much to Patty Larkin and the kind folks at The Music Hall for the opportunity to open the show last week. That is twice in once month performing at my favorite theater! (The other was for the Spotlight Awards.)

I was recently nominated for best singer/songwriter in the Portsmouth area along with my good friends Jon Nolan and Dan Blakeslee. Take a minute to vote at the Portsmouth Herald!

I’m very happy to have completed the RPM Challenge 2006. The songs themselves are posted here http://www.rpmchallenge.com/rpm_player.html?band=Laurel_Brauns . This project was the brainchild of Jon Nolan and the wonderfully supportive folks at the Wire.

I've joined the masses:
my myspace site, www.myspace.com/laurelbrauns and sonicbids site, www.sonicbids.com/laurelbrauns/

Tony Bonnaci and his lovely girl friend Ally just flew in to Portsmouth from Omaha this weekend to take some new press photos and an album cover. We played around at the Strawbery Banke museum, the Children's Museam and at the Red Door with Nate and Kokko. Tony has done photos for Azure Ray and recently shot the new Faint video. Check out his website here, www.tonybonnaci.com/...

Was chosen as an alternate for the NACA West Showcase in Portland, OR for this October, thanks so much to Michael Winters for making a really excellent video.

Had two great shows on NHPR this month. The first was on Kate McNally's 'The Folk Show' and the second was on a program called 'The Front Porch,' that has NH authors, artists etc. Listen to it here http://www.nhpr.org/view_content/9213/

The Hush Hush Sweet Harlot series made the front page of Pitchfork last week. In many circles this online magazine is considered THE indie-rock athority, so this was pretty flattering, thank you Chris Dahlen.

I have two great last minute added shows this week. Friday, June 3rd at the Stone Church opening for Grace Potter. And Sunday, June 5th at PA's Lounge in Somerville with two of my favorites: Chris Moore and Milo Jones.

This summer we have shows at the Palace Theater in Manchester, the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, the Firehouse in Newburyport and the Lebanon Opera House all in conjunction with the indie film Dangerous Crosswinds, produced by Bill Millios. I have four songs on the sound track and I'm opening up the screenings. Please see the tour section for details.

Hello from Moscow, Idaho. (pronounced mos - coh...) Travis and I are having fun on our three week tour of the Pacific Northwest, they like us here, I think. Really great shows in Portland, Oregon at Lewis and Clark College and the Red and Black Cafe on Division. Thanks to John Weinland for co-billing with us at LC and to Justin Wescoat Sanders for the excellent write up in the Portland Mercury. Had a nice little house concert in Eugene at Jonas Lerman's and David of Testface was kind enough to drop in and play some tunes off his new record. Headed to Boise, Bend and Bozeman in a few days....