Laura Siersema's latest (by Suzie)

         Her music sounds like sunlight on the waves, bright notes dancing on the smooth flow. 

         You can sample Laura Siersema's third CD, "Talon of the Blackwater," here and at her MySpace page, which says: "Laura melds classical, jazz, folk and an inventive, textured & rhythmic keyboard style with 'the soul and lyrics of a true poet.' (Indie-Music Reviews). CDBaby describes "Debussy with a little jazz, Rainer Maria Rilke with some wacky sticks." Click on the title song, and you can hear Laura's love of Joni Mitchell. 

        Her parents played in a folk group. She became a nurse, but finally gave in to her love of music and poetry. She studied voice and songwriting at Berklee College of Music.

         I encountered her music when I worked for a newspaper that got free CDs to review. I would look for music by women, knowing they had less chance of being heard. The majority of music critics are men, the majority of CDs they review are by men, and the majority of music played on the radio is by men. So much beautiful music goes unheard.