Lauren R

I'm delighted you've stopped by to learn more about me! I'm a New York City based genre-bending singer/songwriter with an HBFA in Musical Theatre! You can take the girl out of the musical, but you can't take the jazz hands out of her music... my songs are shaped by sharp storytelling and wit, often with humorous twists at the end. I've got contralto pipes that landed me the title of "lowest singer" (out of the pre-pubescent boys too) at my elementary music school: The Madeleine Choir School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Not sure I still hold that title among my ex-classmates, but I still enjoy my Alto II status. :)

My musical heros are many, but I'd say the main inspirations in my songwriting include: Sir Paul and John, Carole King, John Prine, Amy Allen, and Stephen Sondheim. I also have to mention my Dad, Richard Rathbun, whose wide and refined musical palate got me hooked on everything from Alan Jackson to Aretha Franklin to Georges Bizet. 

You can find me every morning (save Nor'easters or bomb cyclones) on my beloved Hell's Kitchen apartment rooftop among my planties working out the  musical musings of my mind in my "lyrics by Lauren R" custom notebook (thanks Mom!).  When not writing or on a stage, I love to garden, meditate, phone a bestie, stroll the city, and enjoy NYC's finest offering - coffee and a bagel!