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Earthie  ~  Indie  ~  Acoustic 








"The young lady is splendid! She gets you to sing along in call & response, and when that happens, the music is healing you. So she's a healer too. Just in case you didn't notice!"

-- ODETTA: May 31, 2008 ~ see "Homeland" video on WATCH page)




"Being part of a Laurianne Fiorentino performance is to be gently guided from the everyday to a plane of beauty and understanding that presents to us the possibilities of the psycho-spiritual worlds we all seek with our beings."

-- SEAN LA ROCHE - Music Agent/Manager,....he continues to say: "My first professional job was as an apprentice at The Oakdale Musical Theater in Wallingford, CT. (Half-way between New Haven and Hartford). I was 20--turned 21 in the middle of the summer. That was 1958. So--fifty years now. I started in the music business in 1966 as a middle-agent in NYC...buying acts for colleges. And became a real booking agent in 1968 in NYC." (May 2009)

La Roche has worked with the following artists:

Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams, Led Zep, The Who, Three Dog Night, John Gorka, Cheryl Wheeler, Mary Gauthier, Joe Cocker, Mountain, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Tom Paxton, Livingston Taylor, Herman's Hermits, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, Grand Funk Railroad, Martin Sexton, Dan Bern, Patty Larkin, Greg Brown, Richard Shindell, Lucy Kaplansky, Ten Years After, Vance Gilbert, Ellis Paul, Cosy Sheridan, Humble Pie, Janis Ian, Bob Hillman, Jeremy Wallace, David Jacobs-Strain, Elliot Murphy, McKendree Spring, T-Rex, Long John Baldry, The Jefferson Airplane, Kelly Joe Phelps---------


This site is dedicated to Sean and all his heartfelt support and encouragement! Champion, mentor, friend.

 

"Spontaneous concert experiences can be deceiving: a folk singer on stage at a free barbecue, on a beautiful sunny day, in the middle of winter, and I should be in my office - of course I'm going to be impressed. Surprisingly enough when I go back to the office, put on the CD, and continue drudging through my day, I find that it isn't such a drudge any more, and I can't concentrate on work because of this wonderful CD deserves more of my attention. Daggy, huh?

 

Still.

 

Laurianne Fiorentino, by the looks of her bio, has a complex musical background. She plays bass, guitar, organ, Native American bamboo flute, Mexican ocarina and harmonica and her history includes choral work, playing jazz, blues, classical, folk and doing soundtracks. Her CD, The Match, is a showcase of all these talents, yet avoids being some kind of ad-hoc, junction of work.

 

The album has a wonderful sense of completion, and her songs have been sensibly chosen, giving a good sense of who she is and what she can achieve. Bearing in mind that her styles are so mixed as to appeal to multiple audiences, Fiorentino has maintained a basic pop or folk theme, and worked through it some of her other genres, a tactic which works well to create a very accessible album.

 

Fiorentino’s bass playing and choral backgrounds are perhaps the most apparent here. She enjoys a simple guitar-tapping pattern or bass-line over which she hangs her seamless and mellow vocal style. Her lyrics are at once dramatic and elegant, and she is true to her singer-songwriter role with some suitably angst-ridden pieces. What appeals is her capacity to deliver these words with a deceptive amount of frankness and lucidity: she could be pouring her blood into a vase and handing it to you, or she could just be commenting on the weather.

 

-  Melanie Parkinson, Sydney University, Sydney, Australia






"Most people can't imagine soaring like an eagle through the hot lava steam of an erupting volcano but then, most people can't sing with a quiet that gently pushes the moon from big round to see you later."

-- Jim Armenti, Lonesome Brothers, Young At Heart Chorus Band



"Remember, oh, a couple of bands back when I said no one can strum a solo guitar in any original way? Well, as usual, I’m full of @#$* because Santa Fe’s Laurianne Fiorentino is amazingly resonant and accomplished. This isn’t mope-dope singer-songwriter drivel but incredibly confident and more dynamic than many full bands. Her voice is rich and complex, quite strong enough for an a capella song. She was by far the most original set of the night."

--  Wig Wam Bam, Albuquerque’s zine of music and nepotism, Ignoring objectivity since 1998, Issue 43, November



"Most artists need a band to flesh out their material. In this case, a band might hide the substance. Very unusual for a solo artist to be so gripping"

-- Showcase Judge




"Fiorentino has an un-orthodox voice that can go from a growl to a wail to a whisper. Her songs feature stunningly original lyrics, complex rhythms, honesty, and (surprisingly!) hilarity - almost all at once."

-- Memphis FolKrawl Committee




“One of the best performers on the scene…”

--  The Lobby Bar, Cork, Ireland




"...a deep and old presence that reminds me of Leadbelly....more dynamics and power than some entire bands of talented musicians"

-- NM Band Contest Judge




Laurianne is an artist unafraid to follow her instincts. Her bamboo flute playing is spacious, very free while remaining true to the spirit of the Native traditions from which Fiorentino's instrument originated."


-- Dirty Linen Roots & World Music Magazine















Laurianne Fiorentino has been described as the Georgia O’Keeffe of music - her work emphasizes simple intimacy, femininity, space and complexity.

With a guitar style at once like a drum, a bass and a bell...she creates multi-layered rhythms giving rise to songs  concerned with driving forces... with a broad, deep voice which at times sounds rough and ready, at others, soft and lush like a long velvet dress.

There's a refreshing parallel between her emotional songs (people-relationship songs) and a relationship someone might have with Earth, Herself. Fiorentino's songs and instrumental music may as well come from Earth, Herself and/or to Earth, Herself -  musical correspondence has interchangeable interpretations as such.











"Perhaps we are of this Earth,
and we temporarily, like an apple,      come out of it..."



















With music and lyrics written in the silence and solitude of an adobe hut 7000 feet above sea-level, in the out-reaching  high deserts of Chaco Canyon, Nantucket Island's Surfside Beach, and on the train en route from Edinbourough to Liverpool, Laurianne recorded a live solo concert at the Santuario De Guadalupe, a shrine to the Dark Goddess of Mexico in Santa Fe. That recording, The Match, awarded her many acolaides and a five country tour spanning two hemispheres.

(The Match has been re-released as Interview With The Planet)

The stillness of the desert combined with an education in classical and jazz studies is at the foundation of Fiorentino's acoustic music. Originally based out of Northampton, MA, Laurianne was playing the organ by age four and was self-taught on guitar and harmonica by age eleven. She toured Europe in a classical choir, earning a self-designed BA from UMASS on Right-Left Brain Studies (including three years of classical music and jazz studies). Fiorentino’s first professional work was as bassist/vocalist in commercial R&B and Blues bands.

 

Laurianne studied classical & jazz theory and history with avant-guarde saxaphonist Archie Shepp, and voice with Mitch Chakour (Musical director, keyboard &
guitar for Joe Cocker)

In addition to her skills as a musician, Laurianne Fiorentino has been a professional immuno-therapist (allergy technician), potter, graphic-artist-designer/photographer, Alaskan salmon fisherperson, leather-tooling artist, music/voice/bass/guitar teacher and
resident songwriting instructor.

She is also a published Journalist & Photographer, Painter, Tour-guide, Ortho-Bionomy Healing Arts Practitioner, and Choir Conductor.













 STUDIO SESSIONS & FILM SOUNDTRACKS:

  • Native Bamboo Flute – For the film “Trail Of The Painted Ponies”, corporate fund-raising art project narrated by Ali MacGraw, 2002
  • Native Bamboo Flute – With Michael Stearns 
  • Native Bamboo Flute with Michael Stearns (synthesizer) - Waterford Ireland Youth Drama Theater production, 2002
  • Harmonica – Paul David’s film “Timothy Leary’s Dead”, 1995
  • Bass – Erik Darling’s (“Walk Right In”)  Folk Era CD, 1993












NOMINATIONS & AWARDS:

  • Festival Honoree – Hobart, Australia, Tasmania Roots & Blues Festival
  • Lilith Fair online talent search finalist
  • Artist Of The Year - National Academy of Songwriters, Los Angeles
  • Best Live CD – New Mexico Music Industry Mic Awards
  • Second Round Finalist – New Mexico Battle of the Bands, as a solo artist
  • Critics Pick – Toronto NXNE Music Conference
  • Critics Pick -  Memphis FolKrawl Committee













FESTIVALS & CONFERENCES:

  •  Santa Fe Bandstand Summer Concert Series, 1995-2009
  • 11th Annual Science And Consciousness Conference, Santa Fe, March, 2009
  • Santa Fe Women's Celebration, 2008
  • Thirsty Ear, Santa Fe New Mexico, 2008
  • Indie Girl Showcase, Massachusetts, 2008
  • Tasmania Roots & Blues Festival, Hobart, 2001
  • Port Fairy, Australia, 2000
  • Canberra Folk Festival, Australia, 2000
  • Woodford Folk Festival, Australia, 2000
  • Wine Festival, New Zealand, 2000
  • Spraio Festival, Waterford, Ireland, 2001
  • National Association of Women Artists Conference on Spirituality & Art, San Antonio, TX, 1996
  • New Mexico Women's Voices, Albuquerque, NM, 1993










COUNTRIES TOURED:

  • USA
  • Canada
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
  • Ireland
  • England




     
   






    
photo: Sariya Wilkins