A Brave New Start
Laura was born in New York and spent most of her time in Manhattan. After encountering an unfortunate situation with a brilliant and talented man who was chemically dependent, Laura knew she had to choose a different path. So she looked up the Astro cartography and trusted her intuition. Two places came up, New Zealand or Taos. Laura jokes about how she couldn't afford to go to New Zealand, so Taos it was! Laura had never even heard of Taos and didn't know a soul here. She packed a U-haul and drove towards New Mexico with a cat in her lap. Along the way, Laura found herself stopped in Dollywood, TN, taking new pictures and buying postcards. She felt a new sense of freedom. Three days later, Laura arrived in Taos, New Mexico.
Her Start to Music
Since childhood, Laura has been playing the piano and was interested in playing any instrument that she could hear being played. She was also interested in singing from music sheets that were displayed in the windows of music shops.Although she tried learning music, Laura found that her passion wasn’t in being a classical musician. Instead, she liked music that cheered people up and anything that she had fun when creating. So, Laura got started in music naturally because it was a desire that she needed to fulfill and could do it effectively.
Laura's Music Journey in Taos
Laura's music journey in Taos started pretty funny and surprised her as well. Her first gig was performing at a party at Christmas. It was in El Salto, and she was asked how much she would charge to perform for the whole night.Feeling nervous, Laura only asked for $75 and was further asked if it was the charge per every hour she'll perform. Due to her shyness, Laura answered that it was for the entire night. In the end, Laura was paid $175 for the night. This showed her that she had more potential and was selling herself short. Afterward, Laura has been able to work on many projects, including performing in theaters, at high schools, and among other spaces.
How COVID Has Affected Laura's Music Playing Abilities
According to Laura, this pandemic has significantly crashed her ability to play quality music. That's because she's more of a background performer and interacts quite well with a live audience. When performing next to her audience, Laura can see who's listening to her. That is how she gets to know her fans better.Besides that, she would also play kid-friendly repertoire whenever kids were around. This attracted the kids who even dragged their parents into listening and tipping her good work. But since COVID hit, she's had a hard time performing and reaching more of her audience.Laura doesn't think that Zoom can give her the experience she had or needs with her audience. However, she's willing to give it more of a try considering how things are progressing.
How She's Coping with COVID
Like most performing musicians, Laura has had some of her shows canceled among other gigs. So, she's had to adjust her budget to manage to pay her bills and still maintain her music passion.
Laura's Holiday Perception during COVID
Unlike before, Laura doesn't plan to travel a lot and socialize with friends and family. To keep safe, she plans to stay put and enjoy her holiday season by keeping her mindset on the holiday spirit.Laura values music, and she considers it a part of her life. She still plays the piano in the house and listens to new music as well. For her, she'll continue pursuing music after the pandemic as it's something that she can't do without.
EMAIL:taospiano@gmail.com
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