Laura Love
Laura Love (born 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and bass guitar player. Her style has been described as "Afro-Celtic" and has also been influenced by bluegrass.
Laura Love | |
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Laura Love in 2008. | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Laura Jones |
Born | 1960 Lincoln, Nebraska, United States |
Genres | Folk, Afro-Celtic |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Years active | 1990–present (singing) 2001–present (acting) |
Personal life
Love was born Laura Jones in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1960.[1] She is of African American, Native American, and Caucasian descent.[2][3] Love had a difficult childhood, raised by a mother with schizophrenia and in foster homes. Her father, who had little involvement in her life, was the jazz musician Preston Love who played the saxophone with Count Basie, Lucky Millinder and Johnny Otis and formed his own band in the 1950s. Love's mother, Wini, had been a singer in Preston's jazz band.
Career
Love began her performing career at age 16, singing for the prisoners at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.[4] Love relocated to Seattle, Washington, where she was a member of the 1980s rock group Boom Boom G.I. She was also a member of an all-female band, Venus Envy.
After Love released three albums on her own label, Octoroon Biography, Putumayo released a collection of her songs in 1995. Her 2003 album Welcome to Pagan Place included the controversial song "I Want You Gone", about George W. Bush. In 2004 she published an autobiography, You Ain't Got No Easter Clothes, with an accompanying album of the same name.
Discography
- Z Therapy (1990)
- Pangaea (1992)
- Helvetica Bold (1994)
- The Laura Love Collection (1995)
- Jo Miller and Laura Love Sing Bluegrass and Old Time Music (1995)
- Octoroon (1997)
- Shum Ticky (1998)
- Fourteen Days (2000)
- Welcome to Pagan Place (2003)
- You Ain't Got No Easter Clothes (2004)
- NēGrass (2007)
- The Sweeter the Juice (2009)
Bibliography
- Love, Laura (2004). You Ain't Got No Easter Clothes. New York (Hyperion Books). ISBN 1-4013-0011-1
References
- Bush, James (1999). Encyclopedia of Northwest Music: From Classical Recordings to Classic Rock Performances, Your Guide to the Best of the Region. Seattle, Wash: Sasquatch Books. pp. 249–250. ISBN 1-57061-141-6.
- James M. Manheim (2008). "Laura Love Biography - Survived Group Suicide Planned by Mother, Formed Own Label after Negative Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
- "African-Native American Scholars". African-Native American Scholars. 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
- "Laura Love Biography". Pandora Internet Radio. Retrieved 2008-01-10.