My name is Jennie Laws, a Canadian singer/songwriter/arranger/instrumentalist who recently moved to Los Angeles. Music is what I do, it's who I am. I write songs from the heart and tell them like stories in an authentic way. I can play guitar and keys and accompany myself while I sing, but I love the most to interact with a live band while I give all of myself to the audience...I love soul music. It's my passion. And I love recording LIVE instruments. It's just my THING. There's nothing like having an actual person playing each part to make a song BREATHE. And I love to love...you'll hear it in my songs ;)
Latest News
New video for Jennie's first single "Heavenly" has just been released online!!!
Introducing Jennie Laws
With distinctive and dynamic vocal artistry, unique and original songwriting skills and wide range of influences and inspirations, Jennie Laws has emerged as a beautiful and brilliantly talented new arrival on the cutting edge of today's music.
Yet for all her extraordinary gifts, the Toronto-born singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist is perhaps most notable for her ability to bring it all together in one accessible and appealing package. Small wonder word of mouth has been spreading steadily since Jennie Laws first began recording and performing, both in her hometown and for a growing fan base from New York to Los Angeles and beyond.
It's a buzz that's about to grow a lot louder with the release of her debut EP. Featuring such Laws originals as "Heavenly," "I Just Wanna Be Close To You," "So Deep" and "My Soul," it's a collection that effortlessly spans musical genres while at the same time laying claim to a style that is wholly and completely her own. Mixing contemporary urban grooves with folk-flavored nuances and jazz-tinged flourishes, Jennie Laws has fashioned an alluring soundscape that draws on a lifetime of music making and points to a promising future for this passionate and polished young artist.
Jennie has been pursuing music wholeheartedly with characteristic determination for as long as she can remember, joining a series of singing groups, studying classical guitar and, at age sixteen, recording early originals on a four-track machine. "My influences are literally too numerous to mention," she laughs. "It begins with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Louis Armstrong and then carried on to artists like George Michael and Michael Jackson. By the time I got to college, it was like I was carrying a musical encyclopedia around in my head; everyone from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder. I've also always admired artists like Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper and Lenny Kravtiz for the way in which they were able to build a solid base, one fan at a time."
It was at the Southwestern School for Musical Vocations in Iowa where Jennie plunged into an intensive study regimen that included courses in arranging and conducting as well as ample opportunities to perform with fellow students. "I toured with school jazz vocal and instrumental groups," she remembers, "and in between I was getting a great classical education. But the most important lesson I learned at the time was to never settle, to always strive to make the most beautiful music I possibly can without letting the ego get in the way."
It was a realization that she would carry with her into the next stage of her musical apprenticeship, when she received a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee School of Music. "It all came together there," she continues. "My natural inclination was toward a very earthy, gypsy style, which got filtered through the World Music I was exposed to - Latin, Indian and African - as well as hip-hop and R&B and even some classical influences like Ravel and Debussy." Jennie absorbed it all and, in the process, began to fashion a sound that, while mixing and matching a broad range of approaches, was still unmistakably her own.
The result is Jennie Laws' stunning debut EP. Showcasing her evocative and emotionally resonant singing and songwriting, the collection also boasts a impressive roster of supporting talent, including engineering by, among others, Grammy-winner Ari Raskin, and Juno-winner L. Stu Young.
Through it all, Jennie Laws had maintained her belief that music can bring wholeness and healing to the world. "My goal is simple," she concludes: "To make the best music I can." It's a goal she's reached and exceeds on her debut EP.