The artistic roots of singer-songwriter Katey Laurel are both deep and diverse. Born to free-spirited, nature-loving parents in the early 1980s, she spent the first years of her life traveling coast-to-coast in a Volkswagen bus. When her family eventually made a lifestyle change from the freewheeling hippie life to settling on a ranch adjacent to national forest and 70 square mile wilderness area in rural northwestern Colorado, the isolated environment spurred Katey’s young imagination.  She naturally turned to creative pursuits. A lover of horses from an early age, she began drawing and painting her equine muses, and also began studying piano.

She draws inspiration from many musical styles—from the bluegrass and Appalachian roots records of her family’s early “hippie years” to the classic rock of Stevie Nicks and The Who; from 80s dance-pop cassettes including Debbie Gibson and Paula Abdul to the alternative rock of the 1990s; and from the classical roots of her musical training to the piano-rock of Ben Folds Five. (Throw in a bit of Sarah McLachlan, Over The Rhine and Dixie Chicks for good measure.)