Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Jane Jones.
Laura, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have been doing music and I have been a creative person for as long as I remember. It is who I am and what I do. I started as a little girl just wanting to sing, and now I not only sing, but I consider myself almost an “arts” worker in this universe we are all living in. I do music, I write music, I produce music, I also produce and mentor the next generation of artists, I have contracted music-related projects, I have my albums, and I sing on television and film projects.
I also would love to take this opportunity to announce that I am also a playwright! Yes! I am saying that out loud. I recently worked with an incredible singer in Los Angeles on a tv project, Carmen Carter, an icon in the Los Angeles singer community. You guys should interview her. She is all things! I told her and some others about my plays and she said ” YOU ARE A PLAYWRIGHT” – claim it! So I want to take this opportunity to claim that.
One is a one-woman show about Angela Davis and I am looking for funding to produce it and a theatre company that might want to produce it. I also wrote a musical which I am not ready to announce yet but I need to get the rights to the music to get that going! So… I guess I am on my journey as it may seem.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road is never smooth! Anyone who says it is smooth is not telling truth. This business is hard and crazy and not for the weak. Everyone gets knocked down, everyone has disappointments, and everyone doubts themselves with an incredible amount of second-guessing and insecurities.
This field chooses you, otherwise, why would anyone keep doing it? RIGHT? But being creative is who I am, it is all I know and at the end of the day, I love it. So just want to say all the times I have gotten knocked down I find a way to get back up!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think it is fair to say that most people in the music industry know me for singing and touring with Enrique Iglesias. But gratefully I can say I have done a lot and I mean a lot more than that. I hate it when people only find value in that credit. I recently talked to a fellow singer who seemed to “diss” background singers.
I want to make something clear, most background singers are artists in their own right usually way better singers than the artists they are even singing with or for. To “diss” a background singer or shall I say to diss an artist supporting another artist, in my opinion, is kind of ignorant, let’s not forget people like Luther Vandross, Sheryl Crow, and Mariah Carey all started out being an artist supporting another artist.
Beyond being an artist supporting another artist with numerous credits covering all genres of music, I have my own body of work, including two albums; TO MY PLANET BOO, Everything Changes, and one EP called Weep Willow several singles, like Dear Rita, Love High and recently the club hit THIS NIGHT produced by DJ Guiseppe. I also have done a lot of cool film and television projects throughout the years and some cool things will be released soon.
I also have a whole business that has grown organically where I mentor and teach the next generation of artists. I am not a full-time mentor, but I have some incredible clients and projects that I have been able to be a part of. One of these artists that are about to explode is Aisha who is living in Doha, Qatar, and signed to Katara Studios.
I have been working with her for years, she performed at the United Nations and I helped vocal produce her album which will be released soon. She is singing numerous songs (produced by RED ONE) for the FIFA WORLD CUP in Doha, Qatar this year. This young woman is just remarkable and I believe could pave the way for other Arabic Muslim singers and musicians. Please look out for her!
Lately, I am also super proud of lending my vocals to my good friend and three-time grammy winner Fantastic Negrito (Xavier Dephrepaulezz) newest album and visual film WHITE JESUS BLACK PROBLEMS. He is a mentor and produced my first album called TO MY PLANET BOO which I released in 2005.
I get to do a lot of cool things in this business but sometimes the things that you are most proud of are not the things people expect. Xavier aka Fantastic Negrito just continues to push the envelope in his way and his approach just encourages me to keep going. I highly recommend you check out his visual album…
LASTLY, I want to take this opportunity that I have a one-woman show about Angela Davis that I am looking to produce and I also have a musical (not quite ready to announce all the details) that I wrote, I need to obtain the rights some music which could be a big task but I believe the path will be revealed in how to do that!
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I think the biggest lesson learned is learning how to “READ THE SIGNS’ with people, and projects and learning when and when not to move forward with certain relationships creatively and when to pursue certain things, Energy is important. Sometimes closing a door is the necessary step to opening a new one. These are hard things to do sometimes though!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.laurajanemusic.net
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/miss_janejonez
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mizzlaurajane
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/sweetlaurajane1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/laurajanesmusic
Image Credits
Mike Quain of Quain Photography
