Laurie
McClain
Born
in
southern
California
and
being
a
child
of
the
sixties,
Laurie
announced
to
her
family
early
that
she
would
be a
singer
when
she
grew
up.
The
popular
radio
of
the
Flower
Power
Generation
carried
a
heavy
dose
of
folk
music,
and
Laurie
naturally
gravitated
to
the
sound.
She
watched
the
Johnny
Cash
Show
each
week,
where
she
first
saw
Joni
Mitchell
and
Bob
Dylan
but
also
Merle
Haggard
and
Willie
Nelson
and
she
fell
in
love
with
folk
and
country
music
at
the
same
time.
At
12,
she
and
her
family
relocated
to
Lincoln,
Nebraska.
Bored,
she
spent
more
time
listening
to
the
radio
and
was
amazed
when
she
heard
the
Joan
Baez
cover
of
Leonard
Cohen's
haunting
song,
"Suzanne."
She
pestered
her
father
for
an
acoustic
guitar
and
soon
mastered
the
instrument,
performing
at
school,
for
friends
and
family,
and
soon
in
local
talent
contests
and
open
mic
nights.
Although
her
covers
of
popular
songs
were
well
received
she
took
the
advice
of a
mentor
and
began
writing
and
performing
her
own
songs
at
age
18.
After
endless
gigs
around
the
mid-west,
Laurie
moved
to
Nashville
in
the
late
1990's
and
soon
released
her
first
album.
Her
latest
release
in
2009,
"Ascend,"
won
Folk
Album
of
the
Year
at
the
Just
Plain
Folks
Awards,
which
is
known
as
the
"Grassroots
Grammys,"
with
over
42,000
entries
in
50
categories.
