Lawrence
As NPR writes, “siblings Clyde and Gracie Lawrence are not your typical pair.” Clyde Lawrence, 24, and Gracie Lawrence, 21, have been writing songs and listening to countless Stevie Wonder, Randy Newman, and Aretha Franklin records together in the living room of their family’s New York City apartment since they were little kids. After years of playing together, they officially created Lawrence, an eight-piece soul-pop band comprised of powerhouse musicians who happen to be their best friends from childhood and college. The keyboard-driven rhythm section and tight energetic horns create dynamic arrangements to support Clyde and Gracie’s explosive lead vocals and catchy melodies.
Following their debut LP Breakfast (2016), which reached #6 on the iTunes R&B/Soul charts, and received attention and praise from a variety of sources ranging from NPR’s All Things Considered to Stephen Curry’s social media, Lawrence is set to release their sophomore album, which is aptly titled Living Room, on September 14th, 2018. The album ranges from R&B/funk feel-good pop songs to soulful and cinematic ballads. Co-produced by bandmates Jordan Cohen (tenor/bari saxophone) and Jonny Koh (guitar), Brooklyn-based producer Eli Crews, and Clyde and Gracie themselves, Living Roomchronicles the life of two kids growing up into (almost) fully formed human beings and the trials and tribulations along the way, including break-ups, make-ups, a family loss, and the attempt to find harmony between excitement, anxiety, melancholy, and empowerment. Sonically, the album combines elements of Lawrence’s old and new influences by mixing live with electronic, analog with digital, and meticulousness with spontaneity.
Most recently, Lawrence released Breakfast: Unscrambled (Acoustic Sessions), an EP of stripped-down, live versions of the songs off of Breakfast. The original version of Breakfast was produced by Grammy Award winner Eric Krasno (Lettuce/Tedeschi Trucks/Soulive), and it includes guest performances by NYC soul/funk mainstays including Adam Deitch (Lettuce), Cory Henry (Snarky Puppy), and Maurice “Mobetta” Brown (Tedeschi Trucks Band).
In May 2018, Lawrence will be going on The New Stuff Tour, their headline tour to introduce the material off of Living Room in a live setting ahead of the album’s release. With their high-energy sound and completelylive arrangements, Lawrence has gained a devoted following of all ages, demographics, and musical backgrounds. Lawrence has sold out headline shows across the country and appeared at festivals including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Firefly, Okeechobee, Hangout, and many more.
In addition, Lawrence has opened for notable acts suchas Lake Street Dive, Vulfpeck, Soulive, Jon Bellion, Jacob Collier, Blues Traveler, O.A.R, and others.In addition to the band, Clyde and Gracie Lawrence also work in other artistic fields. Clyde has composed songs and score for films such as Miss Congeniality (2000), Music and Lyrics (2007), The Rewrite (2015), Landline (2017), and an upcoming Disney film Noelle(2019). At age six, Clyde was admitted as the youngest member to the Songwriters Guild of America. Gracie Lawrence, in addition to singing and writing music for Lawrence, is an accomplished actress. Gracie can be seen as a series regular in the role “Julie Gardner” in the upcoming CBS All-Access murder mystery, $1alongside John Caroll Lynch, Leslie Odom Jr., and Sturgill Simpson. Additionally,Gracie has appeared on Broadway in Brighton Beach Memoirs(2009), and in films such as The Sitter (2011) , upcoming film Adam(set to be released 2018), Did You Hear About the Morgans?(2009), and in television shows such as The Good Wife(2012), The Americans(2014), and Younger(2015).