Laura Harley

Before I get to today’s post, I want to mention that I am playing TONIGHT, Saturday, September 29th at The Welcome Cafe in beautiful Redondo Beach, CA. I go on at 8pm and will be playing a full acoustic set. Hope to see you there! Photos/ video to come…

On Thursday night I performed at the open mic at the Magdalene Cultural Arts Center. It is a lovely place celebrating art and women’s studies and there were musicians and poets who performed. Here is a video of me performing one of my songs there. The song is called “Run Away” and it’s about the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran. I explain more about it in the video. Lyrics are below.

“Run Away”
By Laura Harley

They came to get you
Took you away
Tortured and pushed you
You breathe and pray
And pray
This prayer

No end to the pain now
But you’re not afraid
You see your Beloved
Last breath and pray
And pray
This prayer

And I can hear you now
Those last words in your heart
They can’t break you with all their lies
They can kill you, they can take it all away
It only brings you more alive

So run, run away
Run to the One you love
More than anything

She tries to find you
She’s so afraid
She knows the real truth
She falls and prays
And prays
This prayer

And I can hear you now
Those last words in your heart
They can’t break you with all their lies
They can kill you, they can take it all away
It only brings you more alive

So run, run away
Run to the One you love
More than anything

And so you died
To live a martyr’s life
And I will try
To live like you died

Here are some photos from my performance at The Viper Room in L.A. It was dark in there, so it’s a little difficult to see well…

And here is a video clip from my show at The Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. I’m playing a song called “End of a Dream”.

Last night’s show at the Viper Room was great….and challenging. I was slated to play last and most of the audience I was playing to were friends and fans of the artist that played before me (who was excellent). It was of course great to have his people stick around for my set, since an opportunity to play to new people is the best gift for an artist, but his music was quite different from mine (it was a very eclectic bill), and so I wasn’t sure what they’d think of me. In that sort of situation, you can either give into fear and just sort of check out while playing, or you can choose to just dig in and BRING IT. I chose the latter. I decided to just enjoy the moment and play as well as I could. And I had a great time and met a lot of great people! And many people were really listening and engaged. So, it was a great learning experience and sort of a personal victory for me, too. Soon I should have more photos and video to share with you from it.

One of my fave parts about playing a show is eating afterwards. After I play, I am usually ravenous and need to eat ASAP. And somehow eating after I’ve played a show is extra satisfying—like I’ve really worked for it and now I can just settle in, relax, enjoy my food, and reflect on the performance. Last night, the only thing that we could find that was open that late was a donut shop. (There are a TON of donut shops in L.A!) And I can’t argue with a good donut. Here are a couple photos of the donut excursion.

Tonight I have the night off from playing because I am going to a regular worship service for Baha’is. It is sort of like the sabbath day for Baha’is. It will be great to meet more people here and be in a reflective and meditative environment. Quite different from the chaos of playing shows! It’s helpful and very necessary for me to find a balance.

Tomorrow I have a phone interview with a magazine in the morning, then will work on writing more music, catch up on MySpace and other music promo-related work, put up fliers and hand out handbills for upcoming shows, and play another open mic in the evening. Maybe I’ll eat another donut in there somewhere, too….

Last night I sang a song at the Crimson Spot open mic at the LA Baha’i Center. WOW—there were some amazingly talented artists there—poets and musicians. It was one of those evenings you keep reflecting on and thinking about long after. There were so many powerful and beautiful ideas communicated in many different ways. SO inspiring! I sang a song of mine called “Run Away” that pays tribute to the Baha’is in Iran who have been and continue to be persecuted for their beliefs.

Here are some photos from my performance:

Tonight another open mic and tomorrow night I play an acoustic set at the Viper Room at 10:15pm. Open mics are great because I get to play to lots of new people every night!

Other than that, I’ve been continuing to explore and learn about life here in L.A. Lots of thoughts going through my mind as I experience people and places here…still letting it all percolate…

Thanks to everyone who came to the show in San Diego last night! I got to meet some wonderful people, including some great musicians. I loved getting to play to so many new people and I really appreciated people’s attention and warm response. It was a great experience! There was some video taken, but we’re having technical difficulties, so I can’t share it yet. And there were photos taken, but for some reason they weren’t in the camera when I tried to upload them. Oh well, more photos soon.

Today I arrived in Los Angeles and have spent the day getting settled in the apartment here. I’m someone who really appreciates being organized, so it’s nice to be staying in the same location for a while so I can have everything in its own place. It makes me feel calmer and more centered. Tonight I play at an open mic at the L.A. Baha’i Center. I’m really looking forward to it!

Oh and something GREAT happened this morning. I woke up with a brand new song in my head again! This seems to be happening more and more frequently these days. This time I couldn’t remember the dream that went with the song, it was just singing itself to me when I woke up. I’ll be working on finishing it this week.

This morning when I opened my eyes and started thinking about my day, I was so happy to realize that I am still on tour and get to play for people almost every day! Yay! Tonight I play at Hot Java Cafe in San Diego at 8pm.

Plus, 2 new shows have been added to the itinerary. The first one is more of an appearance: I’ll be playing a song at the Crimson Spot open mic at the L.A. Baha’i Center tomorrow night (Sunday, Sept 23rd). The open mic is from 9-11pm. AND I’ll be playing a full set at The Derby in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 4th at 10:15pm.

The rest of my day off yesterday was so great! I spent the day exploring San Diego and at the beach. I love being by the ocean. It just commands reverence and reflection. Here are a few photos from yesterday (check out the seals in the last photo!). More soon…

I’m in San Diego now! It is lovely here. My trip here was so nice because I slept for like 6 hours on my 2 plane rides here. I was so exhausted from the pace of life and it was luxurious to get to relax for so long!

Last night I played an open mic at Hot Java Cafe (where I will be playing a FULL set this Saturday night, Sept 22nd at 8pm). It was such a great experience! What I love so much about open mics is that you really feel like you are part of a community. You get to meet lots of nice and talented people who really feel passionately about their music. And sometimes there will be people for whom its taken a lot of courage to get up there. That is so inspiring to me! Anyway, everyone was great last night and I enjoyed playing for them, hearing them, and chatting with a lot of the people who came. Here is a photo of me on the stage there.

Also, this morning I slept in (today is my day off) and then had some extremely delicious and buttery french toast for breakfast. Below is a photo montage of me eating french toast, being happy about being a member of the “clean plate club”, and stealing food from someone else’s plate after eating my entire breakfast. What can I say? Touring makes me hungry! More updates soon…

Things have been so busy lately. Such a whirlwind! I’ve been getting ready to leave for my shows in L.A. and San Diego later this week. I’ll be doing shows and open mics for the next couple of weeks in Cali. I am so excited for this experience!

But preparing for it has been so busy that I almost haven’t had time to be excited. Things have been busy with coaching work, music work, community-building work, family stuff, and prep for the trip. I will still be working when I’m out there, so it won’t be a vacation or anything, but I hope it will be a break from the stress of everyday life in some ways. My goal is to be present in each moment and enjoy each moment of the experience—-both on stage and off. I also want to play REALLY well and communicate my message and emotions in a powerful way. All of this will require prayer, trust, courage, and letting go. I am ready!

I’m planning to post photos and videos of my adventures and shows while I’m travelling, so stay tuned for regular updates. I’m off now to do some more packing for the trip….