Laura Gibson

A native of the small rural Oregon town of Coquille, singer-songwriter and classically trained cellist Laura Gibson is part of the Pacific Northwest folk-pop scene that centers on the Portland-based indie label Hush Records, formerly the home of the Decemberists. Former Decemberists drummer Rachel Blumberg plays on Gibson's first two albums, 2006's If You Come to Greet Me and 2009's Beasts of Seasons; fellow Oregon singer-songwriters Shelley Short and Laura Veirs sing backing vocals on the latter. Her third studio outing, La Grande, which was named for a Northeastern, Oregon town described by Gibson as a place that "people usually pass through on their way to somewhere else, but which contains a certain gravity, a curious energy", arrived in early 2011.