Laura Veirs
NOT only a fine musician and songwriter, Laura Veirs is also a model of agile and modern creative industry practice. As we speak over Zoom to discuss the pick of her dozen-plus albums, she alludes unshowily to how she has pragmatically adapted her work to keep moving and evolving, even during quarantine.
Lately this has involved making an excellent home-made lyric video for her new single “Burn Too Bright” (which features her and her children chalking the words in a church parking lot). There have been YouTube tutorials, in which she teaches her best-known songs to disciples of her folk-rooted pop; and also teaching a series of more vocational limited-access courses in songwriting to young professionals eager to develop. She alludes to podcasts produced, strategy cards marketed and “secret poetry” groups formed.
In the bigger picture, things are also moving on for Veirs. Her career has been built in association with producer Tucker Martine – a partnership that was personal as well as professional. As of 2020, however, that is no more. This too she deals with evenly and professionally.
“It didn’t end well,” she says today. “I don’t want to get into the sordid details, but I don’t plan on working with him.” JOHNROBINSON
LAURA VEIRS
RAVEN MARCHING BAND, 1999
The fiercely strummed acoustic debut. A little PJ Harvey, a little Throwing Muses, it’s a product of its 1990s time, but shows evidence of a brimming songwriting well.
I was in college: Carlton College in Minnesota. Very cold in the winter, minus-50 wind chill. I was in a punkish quartet called Rairkx! We were young feminists wanting to be free, and that was the format to do that. We made a 7” with some friends. It introduced me to the DIY punk scene and how that works. You print your own covers with silkscreen. You print your own posters.
