Laura Veirs

"Laura Pauline Veirs" (born October 24, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter. Laura Veirs grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she often spent summers camping with her family, which gave her much of her songwriting inspiration. Veirs has said that she didn’t seriously listen to music until she was in her 20s; instead, she just heard what was in her environment. She listened to folk, country, classical and pop music around the house and on the radio during her youth. Attending Carleton College in rural Minnesota, Veirs latched onto feminist punk rock from the Pacific Northwest. Laura studied geology and Mandarin Chinese. After college, she embraced older country and folk music. Her first foray into songwriting started with a geological expedition in China, where she served as translator. She was miserable and immersed herself into writing lyrics as a way of coping. She put out her own self-titled album Laura Veirs, recorded live and featuring just her and guitar, in 1999. She has since made seven highly acclaimed records with producer/husband Tucker Martine. Veirs’ seventh album, July Flame, was released in January 2010 on her own record label, Raven Marching Band Records, followed by “Tumble Bee: Laura Veirs Sings Folk Songs for Children,” in November 2011. Her latest release on August 20th, 2013 is “Warp and Weft”. Veirs tours frequently in Europe and North America. She lives in Portland, Oregon with Martine and their young sons Tennessee and Oz.