Laura Harley

Drumroll please…..yes, that’s right my new online store is FINALLY finished! That means you can get your very own copy of my new album, “This One Chance”. Heck, you could even get a few copies and give them as gifts. After all, music is the gift that keeps on giving, people. And when you buy the music, you aren’t just getting some great tunes (if I do say so myself), you are also supporting my career and enabling me to continue making music for you. It is truly such a great privilege and I thank you for it.

You can go to my website and click on “buy” or you can go directly to the store: www.lauraharley.com/store.

You can order a CD and I will mail it to you OR you can download the songs. Thanks to everyone who has already bought the album and sent messages about it. I’m thrilled at the feedback! So, come on over and get your copy and let me know what you think (contact[at]lauraharley.com).

And hey, Minnesotans, I am playing a show at Plum’s Bar and Grill in St. Paul on Saturday, August 2nd at 9pm sharp. I’d love to see you there! There will be new tunes, old tunes, and even a brand new cover of a song that I love so much I just can’t stop playing it! You’ll have to come to the show to hear it….

Here it is, the new album cover! This first pic is the front album cover, designed by the very talented Dale Flattum of Copycats Media.

I wanted to have an abstract design on the cover this time, and Dale made this beautiful design. I love that it evokes so many different things:

–The black loop reminds me of a tunnel and the concept of going deep inside yourself;

–The little leaf-like image juxtaposed against the black loop reminds me of the concept of unity between spiritual and physical reality;

–The heaviness of the black loop mirrors the heaviness you can feel when thinking about the title of the album (”This Once Chance”—i.e. this one brief life) and the leaf mirrors the joy that can come from the same concept (i.e. we get this precious one chance and it is a gift).

And besides all of those deeper concepts, I just like the colors a whole lot and it just looks totally cool.

This pic is the back cover (photo by the excellent Daniel Corrigan).

Every time I pick up this new album, I have a little thrill shoot through me. yay!

And very, very soon you can have your very own copy, too….

These days, since I travel so much and am in so many places, home is an elusive concept. I find that I feel most at home when I am playing, writing, or promoting my music. Right now I am in L.A. doing a ton of music work and it feels GREAT! It is like finally coming home after a long journey, or eating a tasty Snickers bar, or swimming in a cool lake on a hot summer’s day. Ahhhhh!

I am in a little music frenzy, my friends. I am booking shows, writing songs, creating new promo plans, making videos, and meeting lots of new people with whom to share my music. Yippeee! I know some artists would cringe at the idea of having to do all that work, but for me it is like the best gift to get to spend time on it. It feels G-O-O-D. Sure, there are challenging moments, disappointments here and there. But who cares? I am pursuing my calling and that is what it is all about.

Related to that, I know I have been promising for a while that my on-line store would be ready for you to purchase the new CD. It has been taking longer than I hoped and we are having some technical difficulties. But, I have been assured by the resident technical guru here (aka Teddy) that the store should be ready very soon!! So, stay tuned and I will let you know as soon as it is ready. Thanks for your patience!

OK, back to the musical madness!

Photo by Daniel Corrigan

A couple weeks ago I held 2 special house concerts for families. The idea was to have concerts that people with young children could attend easily and bring their kids with them. There was a lot of response and what was originally going to be just one concert was turned into 2. These concerts turned out to be some of my favorite and most challenging to play. Favorite because I got to see so many adorable children, involve them in the songs, and see how they enjoyed the music. Challenging because they were SO adorable, that I would often get distracted by their expressions, dancing, and other antics!! I really loved doing it and may do it again because it turned out so well!

Here is a photo of my little buddies Gabriel and Everett, who could not WAIT to try out the piano:

Here is a photo of Olivia and me—-she is such a sweetie and she wore a special dress for the occasion of the concert! In order to involve the kids in the songs, I taught them little motions they could make to go with the words I was singing. After the concert, Olivia called me over and informed me that she did her OWN motions to not one, not two but FOUR songs :).

Here is a photo of my friends Rowan and Jessica and me. They are two of my favorite young ladies–both so intelligent, fun, and kind. They were very helpful at the concert—they helped to hand out animal crackers and juice boxes that were provided by a local children’s bookstore.

Yep, it was such a sweet experience! Thanks so much to everyone who participated.