Laura Jane

Laura Jane began singing at the tender age of 5 years old. Her mother used to say she would go around the house hitting these high operatic notes since the age of 3. Thus, Laura janes parents put her in a community choir. Laura Janes childhood and adolescent years consisted of singing in numerous choirs in school and church. She got involved in doing theatre and participated in many musicals locally. She wrote poems, short stories,, she studied piano for a while, and started studying dance , including tap, jazz and ballet. She sang on a couple of commercials for radio as a child and her first paid job was singing in the childrens chorus of the OPERA GRAND RAPIDS. She was cast in the opera Carmen playing a young Moorish child. She grew up simply immersed in the creativity of music and performing. Laura Jane comes from right outside Detroit, where she was raised in a multicultural family. She was adopted along with 3 other young kids two of which were born in Vietnam. Her family was a bit of a united nations with almost every ethnicity covered, including Caucasian, African American, Asian, and Latin Afro Carribean. Her unique surroundings led her to follow her individuality and she was raised in a family where she was encouraged to think for herself. Laura jane was therefore the only one in the family who found a love for music and then found herself having a successful career in music. Laura Jane attended the Boston Conservatory of Music where she studied music and theatre. This training proved to be pivotal in her life. She grew more and more commmited to the idea of a career in performing in some way shape or form. Due to what she thought were the restraints of the curriculum of the BOSTON CONSERVATORY Laura Jane then transferred to the UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS in Philadelphia, Pa where she graduated with a BFA in Theatre Arts. While Laura seemed torn unsure if she wanted to pursue an acting career - it was being in Philadelphia and surrounded by a historical music scene that gave her momumental experience and where a new light bulb went off inside of her head. Laura jane did her first recording session at THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA owned by the legendary Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff with legendary producer DEXTER WANSEL singing back up for BILLY PAUL on a remake of ME AND MRS. JONES. From that experience she was selected to be in a girl group called COLLAGE that had a development deal with KENNY GAMBLE AND LEON HUFF. Laura jane got the bug and knew from there she wanted to get into recording. Collages album was never released and the group eventually broke up. LAURA JANE went on do some professional theatre touring the nation in a show paying tribute to African American History called HARLEM RENAISSANCE, she did a European tour of HAIR, and did some reputable regional theatre productions of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, BOBOS, TWIST, SLAM AND BEEHIVE. After her last run of doing the musical BEEHIVE in her hometown of DETROIT Laura jane then migrated to Los Angeles hoping to have a career in the music business. Upon landing in Los Angeles, she got in another girl group called ESWAJ that had landed a development deal . After that fell through Laura jane was soon in need of a job! She had already gained a great reputation for being great at harmony. She soon landed her first jobs as a background singer singing with the likes of Monica and Aaliyah. Laura jane - now having been in Los Angeles for many years has a solid career as a vocalist. She has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in the business, such as Latin Superstar Enrique Iglesias, Dave Matthews Band, Kelly Clarkson, Anastacia, the late Teena Marie, Smash star Katharine McPhee, Kid Rock, Joe Walsh, Aaron Neville, and Florence and the Machine. She recently recorded background vocals for the iconic rock group AEROSMITH on their highly anticipated upcoming album called MUSIC FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION. She also just recorded and did background vocal arrangements for a new album by BILLY RAY CYRUS called CHANGE MY MIND. She has appeared on numerous television shows such as the TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, Ellen Degeneres, The Today show, Regis and Kelly, The American Music Awards, the Latin Grammies, The Grammies, American Idol, So you think you can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, Americas GOT TALENT, the LAITN BILLBOARD AWARDS, MTV Music Awards and the list goes on and on. Her voice has been heard on several commercials, video games, television shows and movies soundtracks. She is featured on the LETTERS TO JULIET film soundtrack singing a remake of QUANDO QUANOD QUANDO with Chris Mann (finalist on the voice season 2) , Sex and the City 2 soundtrack and Disney’s LET IT SHINE. In addition Laura Jane also teaches vocal workshops when she has time, privately and in class form. She has mentored and or taught at LA GISELLE SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS, Musicians Institute, LAMA, and School of Rock. Laura jane is committed to giving back and sharing her knowledge and believes in teaching. Laura Jane has also branched out and pushed herself and decided to work on a solo album. Her debut album TO MY PLANET BOO was released in 2005. It truly reflected her as an artist an person and was a quilt of many different styles, such as soul, jazz, brazilian, salsa, poetry and electronic pop. Her first single off the album SUMMERTIME IN THE CITY was a drum n bass track , that pulsated and was woven with what now would be called her signature sweet vocal texture. This song got internatioal airplay and great reviews. Some other stand out tracks from the album were THE JOURNEY, THE BUZZ and DEAR RITA – an ode to her biological mother who abandoned her at such a young age. This album proved that Laura Jane was an artist to watch! Laura Jane most recently released her second solo album, called EVERYTHING CHANGES. And as the title clearly states – it is a change, showing immense growth as an artist. She describes this album as the sound she has ‘always wanted to do but was afraid to do it”. It features upright bass, acoustic piano , percussion and acoustic guitar. Laura Jane wanted to focus on songwriting and melody and lyrics. The sound is a cross between Roberta Flack and Karen Carpenter or for a newer reference Norah Jones and Corrine Bailey Rae. She enlisted Jamiseson Trotter as the producer for the album to help achieve the sound and their two heads together created beautiful tracks like Everything Changes, a thoughtful and carefully produced song that is melancholy and yet hopeful. She once again features brazilian percussion on the song THE ANSWER – which is more of a mantra than a song – and definitely has that signature Laura Jane vocal texture on it, with vocal arrangements by Jason Paige. Other stand out tracks are My Confession which is funky and soulful about a woman being scorned by a man but yet rising up to overcome it. And the beautiful duet called the VOW – featuring Jason Paige could surely be a classic love song. It seems Laura Jane is either constantly working or constantly re inventing herself. Her drive and talent makes her one to watch all the way around. She is one who claims that she loves the music business and loves being productive. She is the ultimate team player and always creating! Look out for more music from her in 2013 and her upcoming tour!