Music
Press
"Laura Gibson announces her presence in rich, knowing alto tones, following her melodies adroit paths through her lyrics as though hiking nimbly through a forest pausing to point out emotionally evocative moments along the way."
- Willamette Week
"Gibson uses her clear, confident vocals to keep listeners riveted while she experiments with subtle, slightly askew strums."
- Portland Mercury
Amends" is a compact but strong quilting of six songs revealing remarkable maturity and dexterity, weaving vocal influences from the soft glide of Cowboy Junkies, to harmonies akin to Buddy and Julie Miller, to the emotive push of Over the Rhine's Karin Bergquist".
- Oregonian
"Laura Gibson's first recording is solid and professional as if it was her 20th. The songs lure in the listener as they develop with a maturity and phrasing that makes her distinctive among West Coast songwriters".
- KRVM - Eugene
"Laura has a voice that compels you to stop and listen. You can
typically tell within 30 seconds if someone has what it takes. With
Laura I knew in 10." - KMTT The Mountain - Seatle
Captivating, endearing song-stories.
April, 2006 - The Oregonian
Portland's music scene is teaming with talent and creativity, so it's even more remarkable when a local artist instantly grabs your attention and holds it. Laura Gibson has a charmingly shy stage manner, but her songwriting and vocals are incredibly confident and instantly memorable.
There's a wonderfully nostalgic, almost autumnal quality to Gibson's music – both innocent and melancholy, it harks back to her small-town childhood in the best possible way. With a full-length album just completed (but not out), expect to hear much more about this rising talent in the near future.
-PORTLAND TRIBUNE 6/29/06 - Barbara Mitchell
It takes a lot for a female vocalist to win me over, but Laura Gibson has done just that. Her reflective, rainy-day ballad, "The Longest Day" pairs her creaking, aching croon with sweeping strings, melancholy piano and her carefully picked classical guitar to devastating effect. It's total sad bastard music…sung by a sad bastardess, for a change. Gibson has the kind of voice everyone likes to describe as "sepia-toned," which basically means its got a classy, old- timey quality to it (like an aged photograph), and it does. "The Longest Day" is the perfect centerpiece to this unreleased album, set amid slightly more upbeat songs that feature Rachel Blumberg's shuffling drums and shared vocals with producer Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western), and—if you're taking suggestions, Laura—I think it would make for a perfect title track to your yet unnamed album - localcut.com
Discography
Debut Full Length-"If you come to greet me"
to be released Fall 2006 on Hush Records
song "Hands in Pockets" to be featured on 2006 Pdx Popnow compilation
song "Hands in Pockets" has received Radio play on West Coast, and in the UK
Amends ep - 2004
self-released
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Laura Gibson lives in Portland, Oregon, sings songs and plays a nylon-stringed guitar. She is 26 years-old...she grew up in a small isolated logging town in the South Coast of Oregon, the daughter of a forest ranger and the town’s kindergarten teacher. She was a state champion high-jumper, and went to college on a math scholarship, and later studied counseling in graduate school...She couldn’t tell you what band put out what particular album in what year, but she could probably describe where she was, how she felt and what you talked about, when she first met you, or what the trees looked like the last time her heart was broken...she likes trees.
In November 2004, she self-released an ep called amends, produced and engineered by friend Drew Grow, on a lap-top, in a house in Newberg, Oregon. she began playing shows around that time (unless you count playing shows at local nursing homes, which she has done for some time). Since then, many have been endeared to her voice and her songs. She has performed at such fine establishments as the Doug Fir Lounge and the Triple Door and Tractor Tavern, she has toured the west coast, and has shared the stage with both old folksters and indie kids. Her music has been featured by West Coast radio stations, and at show-and-tell in her nephews kindergarten class. She thanks her lucky stars for such wonderful opportunities...
Gibson has just recently wrapped up recording her debut full-length album with the wonderful Adam Selzer (Norfolk and Western, M Ward) at his Type Foundry studios in Portland; and with Dylan Magierek (head of Badman records - Mark Kozelek, The Innocence Mission) at Closer recording studios in San Francisco.
The full-length (yet to be named) was recorded completely on 2-inch Anolog tape, highlighting Gibson's delicate voice and guitar performance. She is backed by the NW indie band Norfolk and Western, in arrangements varying from sparse to baroque. The songs themselves are haunting portraits of nostalgia and intimacy, of loneliness and of wide-eyed hope. for more information, more info, bio, press, etc. please visit http://lauragibson.net.
Links
