Hello Friends! Just wanted to let you know that I have a new recording up on my website! It’s an arrangement of “It is Well.” All my recordings can be found by clicking on the “Recordings” tab at the top of the website, but here is a link to get you right to this one! I hope you’re having a super day!
Love,
Laura
I have loved gardening the summer. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that this is the first time we have experienced a generous crop. Tomatoes are still coming in – several a day, and I just picked two massive zucchinis this morning. I even made some raspberry jam (from the 1/2 cup of raspberries that I harvested today) just for fun! (It exploded in the microwave, but that’s a story for another day!). Turns out gardening is fun when you get things to grow! Our other experiences have been much less rewarding. At our last house our soil, after many years of working to amend it, was declared “beach sand” by an expert. But here we are! And I can’t help but exclaiming at dinner “…and the green onions are from our garden, and the tomatoes are from our garden, and the green peppers….”
Every morning for the past month, I have woken up relatively early, let Toffee out of her pen (our border collie/Australian shepherd) put out her food and water, and then went straight to the garden. Each morning I found at least one ripe raspberry. Earlier in the month I found one or two. Today I picked over 10. Each day it has felt like a miracle. How did something delicious like this grow in MY garden? I have eaten more than my share of them, but oh how I have savored each one in the early morning stillness.
Recently I have been thinking about my music room the same way- coming up the stairs to discover what raspberries (ideas) are fully ripe, and which ones need a little more time to incubate. It’s such a miracle when ideas come. Where do they come from? How do I access them? In much the same way as my raspberries. For one thing, we have a Creator who designs all good things. He is the Giver of good gifts. Good, juicy raspberries. But it’s not a free gift in the sense that we can sit on the couch and eat potato chips all day and expect to have some raspberries handed to us. No, with His guidance, we prepare the ground, plant, support the plants, fertilize, water, allow the sun to shine and patiently wait. Music writing is much the same.
As I nurture my garden and my creativity, I feel a guiding hand, helping me to discover true principles and delight in my own growth experiences. I came home a few nights ago and wrote the basic outline for a song with this idea in mind. I feel led by the Master “gardener” who knows all things and is teaching me His ways. It’s called “Gardening with the Gardener” (until I change the title…). Perhaps one of these days I’ll share it.
Love,
Laura
Hello Friends!
I’ve been really enjoying working on music lately. One of the fun updates here is that I’ve been collaborating with other musicians! One of those musician friends is Jana Johnson. I didn’t know it until today, but we grew up in the same Stake (10 or so church congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in an area) and our families know each other quite well. She was a fair bit older than me so we didn’t cross paths directly, but we have a lot of common background and a strong connection we didn’t even realize. So joyful.
Jana wrote this beautiful song and asked if I could help with the recording and production end of it. We had a fun day in my studio working (playing!) together.
This song tells the Bibical story of Peter. Peter and other disciples are in a boat in the middle of a stormy night. Through the limited visibility, the disciples see Jesus Christ walking toward them on the water. Jesus invites Peter to “Come” and Peter steps out of the boat. Then he takes a few steps on the water. He’s walking on water, just like Jesus! The storm catches his attention and he is afraid. He begins to sink, and cries out for help. Jesus reaches out and rescues Peter. (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/new-testament-seminary-student-manual-2023/matthew-14-22-33?lang=eng)
This beautiful story is captured so well in this piece. I hope you enjoy it!
Composer: Jana Johnson
Lead Vocals: Laura Harper
Backup Vocals: Jana Johnson
Piano arrangement and piano recording: Daniel Blomberg
Arrangement of backup instruments and Production: Laura Harper
Hello friends! Hope this post finds you well!
This is my newly-finished song called “The Willow is Weeping.”
I read a poem by JRR Tolkien a few months ago that spoke to my heart (“All that is gold does not glitter”) and I decided to write music to it. Then, because Tolkien’s estate makes getting copyright permission nearly impossible, I decided to replace the original words with my own. It didn’t take me long to decide what this song would be about. The week I was trying to decide on a topic so I could begin the lyric-writing process, I had a conversation with a gentleman at a church party. He spoke of losing his father this past summer and the waves of grief he is currently experiencing. Before we left, he expressed hope that brighter days lay ahead- days where the weight of grief will ease. I went home determined to write this song about grief.
It didn’t take me long to develop the lyrics, pulling from my own experiences, as well as family members and friends who have lost loved ones. I wanted an analogy that helped me talk about grief, and the willow tree seemed like just the thing. I soon developed the verses to shift through the seasons, and loved phrases like “under the ground something’s yawning” and “the numb and the frozen are thawing.”
Enjoy!
(This is a link to youtube where you can see pictures of willow trees as the music plays.)
Years ago, I had the awesome opportunity to go to EFY in Provo at BYU. One of the classes was taught by Brad Wilcox who now is a General Authority in our church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). After his awesome class, I asked if I could take a picture with him and he (of course!) answered enthusiastically, “Yes!” I still have that picture, and feel especially excited when he speaks in General Conference.
Last fall, he gave a talk entitled “O Youth of the Noble Birthright.” It was a wonderful and inspiring talk, helping young Latter-day Saints understand their “Birthright” – their promised blessings and responsibilities from a loving Heavenly Father. I have 3 boys in those teen and pre-teen years and I thought it would be neat to put this message into a song to help them remember it.
Here is my expression of Brother Wilcox’s message in song. This is called, “Not an Ordinary Passenger.”
MELODIES OF LIGHT 