Laura Roppe

Laura Roppe - Girl Like This
2008, Laura Roppe

San Diego’s Laura Roppe is determined to stand country music on its head. Moving back and forth between classic country and honky-tonk styles, Roppe brings a classy, soulful-alto voice that is much more powerful pure than your typical country crooner. On her 2008 debut, Girl Like This, Roppe unleashes a tidal wave of color and emotion that transcends her genre and raises her to a level that has legs far beyond the bounds of Nashville.

Girl Like This is a rockin' country opening that sets the tone for all that is to come. Mama Needs A Girl's Night Out is anthemic for young mothers everywhere and sounds like it might be a marketer's dream song. Free is workhorse of a song that crosses over firmly into rock and roll. Little Daughter will tug at the heartstrings particularly if you're a parent. Also be sure to check out Ooh La La, Sing A Love Song and Crazy About You And Me.

Laura Roppe is the sort of singer that could be singing most any style of music. The material here even ranges into easy listening/vocal genres at times. Girl Like This is a dynamic and winsome debut that could develop quite a following with the right breaks. Roppe's songs are very commercially viable without being commercial, and Roppe herself is a charming and warm voice. Make sure that Girl Like This is on your want list.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Laura Roppe at http://www.lauraroppe.com/, where you can purchase a copy of Girl Like This either on CD or as a download. - Wildy's World

Laura Roppe may think of herself as a “Girl Like This,” but her debut album is the work of a hard-working woman who’s been through a lot.
She’s studied theater at UCLA, practiced law, birthed and raised two daughters, ran marathons, written an album of songs, and most recently, become a runner-up of Kenny Chesney’s Next Big Star Contest. Rather than compose an album of weary, life-laden songs, Roppe wrote a rockin’ up-beat album, clearly having found her true calling.
Her best-known song, “Mama Needs a Girls’ Night Out,” is a liberating anthem for any mother, with hilarious lyrics that will draw smiles from women who’ve not yet had the opportunity. Whether mothers or daughters—this album is for all women. “Mama Needs a Girls’ Night Out” kicks off a theme of female empowerment that bullets through the whole album. In several songs, Roppe growls like a lioness. But she’s not angry. She’s passionate about her message. She believes that women should follow their own paths.
At times her lyrics border on silliness. She sings lines that only a goofy mom would sing, like “Ooh La La.” Few men will be able to get into Roppe—but this album isn’t for them.
This “Girls Only” mantra continues in the softly wrought, “Little Daughter,” where Roppe offers life lessons to her daughters. “Free” tells the story of how she left practicing law to explore songwriting. Towards the end of the record, she finds love. She finds it, but in no way has compromised her individuality to get it and hold onto it.
Some may compare her style to Sheryl Crow. Roppe delivers more country than Crow, though; as she says: “It’s where my heart and soul is.” One could be reminded of Shania Twain in her lyricism and happy melodies, except that Roppe is so much more likable, not cultivated by the industry. Roppe is true to herself, in both words and music.
Words By: Anney Ryan

- Skope Magazine

“…Back in the states—nobody came up to me and said: ‘hey would you please make an album’—I scraped my money together and I recorded the album, and wrote everything and just did it. I’d just released it in the States—and when I say release, as an independent artist I mean ‘yay, yippee, I have an album now’—there’s no red carpet. So I released it, and within two days of having the album back in my hands, I saw the producer at the biggest radio station in San Diego in the parking lot to a grocery store, a producer like the equivalent of Wogan. I see this guy and was like: ‘hey, here’s my new album’ which I happened to have in the back seat. ‘I just picked it up from the mixer’. Everyone is always shoving stuff at him of course.” On the very next day, it is on the radio, this song Float Away, and they played it. Everything blew up for me at home, 200 miles up to the north nobody knew who I was, but where I was from people were really impressed and excited and everything.”
“About a week after that, I get a message from the label here [in England], who have somehow found me too and said: ‘Hey!’—and they didn’t tell me who they were, they just pretended to be some guy—‘Hey! I have heard your album, and I really like it. Are you planning any dates in the UK?’ And in my usual style I emailed back and was like: ‘Oh! sure I would love to do that, but I don’t even know what I am doing. I don’t have a label. I don’t have management. I am just sitting around, making this stuff on my own.’ Well who am I saying this to but a record label not knowing it. And so they signed me—Right Recordings, my label here. That all takes us to early October 2008, when I signed the contract with them; my husband and I were high-fiving, we were like: ‘Yeah!!!’ and two days later I get diagnosed with breast cancer.” “So that knocked me down. But I thought, okay it’s cancer that’s cool, I will get my radiation and then go on and write about it. But no, they said: ‘I am sorry, it’s very aggressive. You need chemotherapy etc.’ So all of a sudden, I had to call up and tell them: ‘I’ll let you out of the contract if you want, thank you so much for you time, but who needs this,’ and so on. They said: ‘no we need this, we love your album and no matter what, we’re all on board.’”
“So fast forward, that was October ’08, and I immediately went through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, which takes us to May. Now I have hair, and here we are—it’s August, I flew out July 30. “So fast forward, that was October ’08, and I immediately went through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, which takes us to May. Now I have hair, and here we are—it’s August, I flew out July 30. And this is now my first experience with releasing music in the UK. I am all over BBC Radio, have got a new music video, the video director has just finished something for Oasis, so it’s just like: How did I get here? It’s amazing, like a Cinderella story. And it all started with this album that I felt an urgent need to make.”
“In retrospect, I must have subconsciously felt something because I said to my husband, knowing it would obviously cost us quite a bit: ‘I have to make this album’. And he said: ‘well can’t we just make demos, why do we have to make it of this calibre?’ I said: ‘I don’t know, all I know is I can’t go on my death bed, without doing this.’ And I didn’t have any inkling to think that anything was wrong. Yet I just remember saying those words, and then here we are, and I made it.” - Maverick Magazine (UK) Nov 2009

Apparently being the runner up in Kenny Chesney’s “Next Big Star Competition” in May of 2008 is just the springboard that Country Music’s next star needed, as Laura Roppe’s debut CD can attest to. The CD “Girl Like This” will soon take the country music scene by storm, as this engaging singer/songwriter is more than just country music ear candy.
For many years, her career in music had taken a back seat to a legal career, marriage and being a mother, but when the ‘music itch’ became too strong, she resumed her career in music. In 2006, Laura was the lead singer of the popular Southern California cover band CoolBandLuke, belting out cover tunes from artists such as Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Blondie, Lucinda Williams, and Kelly Clarkson. Combining an eclectic mix of influences (such as the Indigo Girls, Carly Simon, Shania Twain among many others) and Laura’s unique voice and fresh style, the debut CD is a compelling array of edgy country girl sounds and rare, intoxicating country flavors. Let’s explore the music:
The single, “Mama Needs A Girls Night Out,” is certain to top mainstream Country Radio and is full of fun country music, memorable lyrics (“babies on the brain” and “put your skinny jeans on”) and a “Mom’s Gone Wild” chorus that every mother who hears the cut can identify with. And when you add inventive guitar work, titillating fiddle work and stellar musicianship-you have a recipe for success. The title cut, “Girl Like This,” combines a Shania Twain-like sassiness with an infectious melody and will be right at home on the Country Music Charts.
“Fly Fly Fly,” with Edie Brickel-like vocals, is a fun, country ditty and just makes you tap your foot with anticipation and sing along. “Float Away” may remind some of Jodie Messina, but others may hear vintage Carly Simon and the song is sung with angelic precision and passion. The cut “Little Daughter” may be her signature ballad, with poignant, emotional lyrics that is sung and played with tenderness and warmth that shows you that it is sincere.
Other songs include the sashaying cut “Ooh La La,” with great guitar licks adeptly mixed with her unique country growl and spicy solos. “Come To Me” is another fantastic country number, with dreamy lyrics and achingly tender acoustics. “Sing A Love Song” is full of inventive harmonies and an irresistible chorus. And the cut, “Crazy About You And Me,” just may be a new look at love gone wrong and has a delicious catchiness to it.
All in all, there is not a weak cut on Laura Roppe’s debut CD, “Girl Like This.” The music transcends typical country music boundaries and is full of expressive vocals, polished country pop and well-crafted instrumental sections and will certainly take the country music scene by storm. This stunning debut is just what country music has been looking for and I, for one, can’t wait to hear more!


Laura Roppé Band:
Laura Roppé- vocals
Albert Margolis- hammond organ
Jann Hoff- bass
Jennifer Argenti- violin/fiddle;
Crystal Keith- vocalist;
Ricky Lewis- lead guitar;
Alex Fuller- drums
Brian Rogers- lap steel guitar

Visit Laura and hear the music:
http://www.ilike2rock.net/members/193/
www.lauraroppe.com
http://www.myspace.com/lauraroppe




Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and operates http://www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can pick up a copy of his ebook called
"The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting." Have your vinyl records appraised at www.vinylrecordappraisals.com.

- iLike2Rock.net

“Girl Like This” begins with the self-titled track; the song is one that brings forth influences from individuals as wide-spread as Carrie Underwood, the Dixie Chicks, and Sheryl Crow. The strong vocals that issue forth from the beginning of “Girl Like This” will ensure that listeners stick with the disc for a good, long time. “Mama Needs A Good Girl’s Night Out” has a guitar that immediately explodes in listeners’ ears, with Roppe’s vocals quickly taking the lead with an absolutely driven set of vocals that anyone (regardless of whether they are a mom) that has children will be easily able to identify with.
Where “Girl Like This” was a solid enough track, “Mama Needs A Good Girl’s Night Out” will be the track off of the album that rockets up the charts. Despite the fact that “Float Away” has some large shoes to fill, immediately following “Girl’s Night Out”, Roppe puts forth a track that keeps up the momentum and high quality that listeners have come to expect from “Girl Like This”. Furthermore, the track takes a much different track than anything else present on the album, going for a more sedate approach that focuses more on the interplay created by the incredibly proficient instrumentation on the track. Where the songs on “Girl Like This” push on different topics, the tracks on the album combine to tell a story that is as vibrant and as illustrative as any of literature’s classic works.
The track may sound miles away from the bulk of the tracks on “Girl Like This” – for example, the rock-heavy approach taken by “Free” – but Roppe is continuing the story of her everywoman. This character has a spirit and a fire, without losing sight of what is truly important in her life – her children and husband. Anyone that has the chance to listen to the entirety of “Girl Like This” will be able to understand exactly how momentous and impressive that this album truly is. In just 12 short tracks, Roppe has been able to distill down the essence of this everywoman into an iconic album that should show anyone listening in that, given the desire, that anything is possible. “Girl Like This” is fantastic, and it is an album that will not be taken out of my CD player any time soon.
Top Tracks: Fly Fly Fly, Sing A Love Song
Rating: 9.2/10
Laura Roppe – Girl Like This / 2008 Girl Like This / 12 Tracks / www.myspace.com/lauraroppe

- Neufutur Magazine