Pegged by a number of local and influential DJs as a promising and 'haunting' vocalist/pianist, Laura Stevenson is certainly a Belfast star to watch out for.
Very much in the vein of Sarah Mclachlan, Duke Special and Juliette Turner, the latter of whom she supported in Downpatrick and Co.Meath, Laura is an incredibly promising talent within the local scene and something of a rarity in her originality and style. Recently featured on Slicethepie.com as a 'showcase', she unfortunately didn't make it as the winning entry to have her record financed and released, but I would say that it's only a matter of time before big record labels start taking notice of this goldmine of a performer and sign her up.
Having recently interviewed her for another magazine, I got to watch Laura perform first hand and I must say I was truly impressed. She covered the famous 'The First Cut Is The Deepest' by Yusef Islam/Cat Stevens and brought an entirely new haunting and delicately powerful form to this amazing song.
A must see for anyone travelling through Belfast, Laura Stevenson has got a natural talent for making chills run up the spine with her melodic and wrenching track 'Down' which is available to listen at her MySpace
Laura manages to retain the local accent while singing, something that many smalltown performers will know is hard to do considering the trend for English and American bands in the West, yet Laura is remeniscent of Duke Special in her grass roots style and makes no allusions or pretentious assumptions about her music. In this regard she is definetely an artist to be respected for her humble attitude to her growing recognition within Northern Ireland and the UK, not letting the exposure get to her ego as many local artists have tended to do.
It would be a shame to see such a stunning talent wasted, and I can only hope that the likes of Virgin and EMI or Universal begin to open their ears and take notice of what so many people need to hear: A fully funded and produced album from Laura.
So we wish Laura all the very best luck in the world for 2008 and know that it's only a matter of time before she's donning the radio slots of any DJ worth his broadcast salt.
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