When she was 9 years old, Laurel Isbister won her first tape recorder in a poetry contest. That red hand-held Panasonic ignited a fire, and Laurels love of pushing Record and Play has continued to this day. In 2005 she released Nona Mae's Wishes, a CD lauded for its interwoven themes of love and spirit, and for its excellent guitar work.Laurel grew up in North Carolina, and then spent the next 10 years traveling and living in various placesFlorida, France, Bulgaria, Los Angeles, Oakland. Along the way she studied music intensively, on her own and at three institutions: New College of Sarasota , the Academy of Arts and Dance in Plovdiv, Bulgaria , and UCLA in Los Angeles .In 2003 Laurel decided returned to the South, choosing to live in Mississippi, where her maternal lineage goes back nine generations. Laurels grandmother Nona Mae Prichard lived in the Mississippi delta, and every summer of her childhood Laurel visited there. Laurel now lives in the Cleary Lakes area outside of Jackson and just loves it.Laurels eclectic style reflects her years of adventures and study of music, spiritual philosophies and feminism. Some of her songs reveal a quiet, introspective grace along the lines of acoustic, inspirational music. At other times Laurel reveals just how much her style is influenced by acoustic rockers Ani DiFranco and Neil Young. Her playing becomes rowdy rhythmicassertive. It all depends on the mood of the crowd. Perhaps her most well loved numbers are songs Laurel learned while living in Bulgaria, a small country in the Balkans.
