Laura Meets Musicians

Thompson Newkirk Thompson Newkirk is New York City's southern pop-rock artist. Thompson's music is guitar forward, upbeat, and lyric based. He tells stories about love lost, getting kicked out of Canada, run ins with the law, and not letting the harsh realities of life win over the soul. His main influences stem from groups like Jason Isbell, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Dire Straits, and Phish. Almost every one of Thompson's songs start in one place and through twists, rhythm changes and breaks, end somewhere down the road. His high energy and audience participation style makes for a show that you don't want to miss.  Thompson's songwriting journey started when he was in High School - he used to write about tumultuos emotions while now he writes about stories that I have experienced throughout his life. All of his songs are about something specific and tell a specific story, he doesn't really have any party songs or songs that are just for fun. He loves catchy riff

Mariano Mallia Singer/songwriter Mariano Mallia is a familiar face for those who have followed my blog for awhile. I talked about his inspiring and challenging story when he released his debut single "Don't Change" , after a vocal injury that stopped him from making music for years (you can read here ).  Mariano Mallia, who spent childhood summers visiting family members in Italy, says that it was in Italy that his passion for music was first born.  From those times, Mallia developed a deep appreciation for music, and ultimately decided to devote his life to music. However, the young singer’s pursuit was put to a halt in December of 2018 when he suddenly lost his voice. We talked further about his journey and the challenges he had to face when I interviewed him on YouTube (see here ). Despite the difficulties, Mariano refused to give up on his dream of pursuing music. Since the beginning of 2023, he has consistently released one single each month, putting hard work, musi