photo: Tanit Sakakini
Laura Siersema (Greenfield, MA) needed some time to discover that she could write songs. After being a nurse she enrolled at the Berklee College of Music All, picking up here piano lessons and focusing on songwriting. She worked on her voice in the process, going for the classical approach with clear vowels and consonants.
Her latest labum Talon of the Blackwater may sound bit new age, but successfully sidesteps the vagueness associated with that genre - she keeps grounded in music and her stories open up a bit more after each time you have heard them. The fretless bass of Michael Farquharson is like a tug boat steering the rest of the musical crew safely through the rapids and cascades.
Stand out track is the album's closer Along the Fenway, which is just Laura on vocals and piano, Eugen Friesen (cello) and Alastair Moock (additional vocals). The three of them embark on a journey that grows into epic 13 minute plus song that gets under you skin.
Talon of the Blackwater is a self-released album. Buy it from CD Baby.
Tracks:
- Mother Mary Rose
- Talon of the Blackwater and Graces
- Go Children Slow
- Wade in the Water
- I Was Once a Sailor
- This Train
- Jumping Off the Big Board
- My Eye This Flower in Julep Runs
- Who Will Pass This On
- All My Trials
- Along the Fenway
MP3: Laura Siersema - I Was Once a Sailor
MP3: Laura Siersema - Along The Fenway
Live dates:
- 03/05 Burrito Rojo, Turners Falls, MA
- 04/07 All Soul’s Church, Greenfield, MA
- 05/08 Caffe Vivaldi, New York, NY
- 06/05 Studio 99, Nashua, NH
- 07/09 The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts & Cultural Center, Middletown, CT
» laurasiersema.com
» myspace.com/laurasiersema