Laura Meets Musicians

Vince Vanguard Americana songwriter Vince Vanguard grew up surrounded by music. His father was a blues fanatic, named his son after Eric Clapton (Vince’s birth name is Eric Plein), and took Vince to his first concert, BB King. "Blues music’s idea of the struggle of the spirit, and letting those feelings out always resonated with me", Vince says. His dad also kept a bass sitting in his office, and the image of the old, cool-looking instrument made an indelible impression on the young boy. Vince’s uncle playing acoustic guitar and conducting family singalongs also had a profound effect on him growing up. It seemed only natural Vince would explore music, and he took to playing in rock bands throughout high school, college, and beyond. However, he always found he was very self-conscious about songwriting, and needed booze to access his feelings and let go of his inhabitations. "For most of my life, I recorded ideas mumbling under my breath after I was good and lubricated&q