Lawrence
OriginNew York City, New York, US
Genres
Years active2013–present
LabelsBeautiful Mind Records
Members
  • Clyde Lawrence
  • Gracie Lawrence
  • Sam Askin
  • Sumner Becker
  • Jordan Cohen
  • Michael Karsh
  • Jonny Koh
  • Marc Langer
Websitelawrencetheband.com

Lawrence is a US-based pop-soul group founded by New York City-raised sibling duo Clyde and Gracie Lawrence, who have been singing, performing, and writing songs together since their early childhood. Today, Lawrence is an eight-piece band that has released three studio albums plus several live and acoustic albums.[1]

Their hit single "Don't Lose Sight," was featured in an international Microsoft commercial, leading to a Top 20 placement on the USA Shazam Pop Charts and a Top 40 position on the US Pop Radio Charts (making it the highest charting fully independent single of 2022), as well performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Live!

They have amassed a significant touring fanbase which has seen them headline sold-out shows across the country. They opened for the Jonas Brothers on their 2023 North America tour and have also opened for such artists as Jon Bellion, Lake Street Dive, Vulfpeck and Jacob Collier, as well as playing at festivals, including Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Outside Lands.

Lawrence family

Clyde and Gracie Lawrence, siblings aged three and a half years apart, have created music and performed together since childhood.[2] Their father, Marc Lawrence, is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and director, best known for movies such as Miss Congeniality and Music and Lyrics.[3] Their younger brother, Linus has also featured in songs such as "Come On, Brother" on their album Breakfast. He has also appeared in Lawrence music videos.[4]

Clyde Lawrence

Clyde is a singer, pianist, and songwriter. He began writing music soon after he started playing the piano at age 4. In the band he plays guitar, organ, and keyboard. He graduated from the Dalton School in 2011 and completed an undergraduate degree at Brown University in 2015.[2]

When Marc Lawrence was working on the 2000 film Miss Congeniality and was not pleased with his options for the Miss United States pageant theme song, he turned to Clyde to see what he thought was wrong. At only age five, Clyde wrote his own version, and the film's other producers chose it without knowing its writer.[3] The Miss United States pageant anthem that Clyde composed is prominently featured in the film, and his composition led him to become the youngest member of the Songwriters Guild of America.[4]

While attending high school at Dalton, Clyde continued to compose music for major motion pictures. He wrote parts of the original score for the 2007 film Music & Lyrics as well as "Dance With Me Tonight", a song that Hugh Grant performs. He wrote two tracks, one of which he performed himself, for 2009 movie Did You Hear About the Morgans? Clyde has written songs for additional films including The Rewrite (2015) and Landline (2017).[5] He also composed the songs featured in the Season 2 episode of Instinct entitled "Broken Record" which aired on July 7, 2019. Clyde, along with Cody Fitzgerald, composed the entire score for the 2019 Disney+ film, Noelle, starring Bill Hader and Anna Kendrick.

Along with bandmates Jordan Cohen and Jonny Koh, Clyde formed a production team called The Diner. Often working alongside Jon Bellion, they have written and produced a number of songs for other artists, such as “Wings” & “Walls” (Jonas Brothers), “I Feel It” (Jon Bellion with Burna Boy), “Heartbeat” (Shawn Mendes), “Missin U” (Tori Kelly), and more.

Gracie Lawrence

Gracie is a singer and actress. She attended the Dalton School, graduating in 2015.[2] She attended Brown after taking a gap year to tour with the band.[6] Gracie was set to graduate from Brown in 2020 but has since left college to play with Lawrence full time.[7]

Beyond music, she has acted on Broadway, television, and films for over a decade.[8] In 2009, she acted in the Broadway show Brighton Beach Memoirs and also played Lucy Granger in the film Did You Hear About The Morgans?. She has also acted in the 2011 film The Sitter as well as TV shows such as The Good Wife, The Americans, Younger, and Billions. In 2018, she played Julie Gardner on the main cast of thriller CBS-All Access series One Dollar, which also featured Leslie Odom Jr. and John Carroll Lynch.[8] She was featured in Town & Country magazine's "Modern Swans" September 2018 issue.[9]

Band formation

While studying at Brown University, Clyde started a band originally called The Clyde Lawrence Band for which he sang lead vocals and played keyboard. The band featured a rotating crew of Brown students as members. Gracie, still in high school, also travelled to perform with the band.[10][11] The Clyde Lawrence Band played events on campus as well as at colleges and venues across the Northeast.[2][6]

The Clyde Lawrence Band performed on Clyde's 2013 album, Homesick. When Gracie became co-lead singer after many years playing together, the band's name was changed to Lawrence.[3]

Seven of the eight members of Lawrence attended Brown.[7]

Music

Lawrence released its first full-length album Breakfast in 2016, which reached No. 6 on the iTunes R&B charts on its first day of release.[4] Produced by Grammy winner Eric Krasno, Breakfast includes musical appearances from members of Snarky Puppy and Lettuce.

Their sophomore album, Living Room, was released in September 2018. Living Room reached No. 2 on the iTunes R&B/Soul chart, earned a featured placement on Spotify's "New Music Friday" playlist, and led the band to its late-night television debut on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly.[1] The album, which combines elements of Lawrence's old and new influences while featuring themes of childhood and family issues,[1] was co-produced by bandmates Jordan Cohen (tenor/baritone saxophone) and Jonny Koh (guitar), Brooklyn-based producer Eli Crews, and Clyde and Gracie themselves.[5]

In July 2021, Lawrence released their album Hotel TV and became the first band to release music under Beautiful Mind Records, the label of Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/artist Jon Bellion, who co-produced and co-wrote the songs on the album along with Clyde, Gracie and their bandmates Jordan Cohen and Jonny Koh. The album's lead single, "Don't Lose Sight," was featured in an international Microsoft commercial, which propelled it into the Top 20 on the USA Shazam Pop Charts. The single also hit No. 33 on Top 40 radio and was played on over 100 multi-format stations across the country. The band performed "Don't Lose Sight" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, did a performance of it for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and closed both of their sets at Coachella with it.

Clyde Lawrence, Jordan Cohen, and Jonny Koh formed production trio The Diner,[12] also signed to Jon Bellion. They have worked on projects with Jonas Brothers, Tori Kelly, Jon Batiste and more. The Diner also co-writes & produces all of Lawrence’s music.

In October 2023, Lawrence was featured on Jacob Collier's single "Wherever I Go."[13]

Jon Bellion collaboration and record deal

In February 2019, Lawrence announced via social media that the band would be an opener for Jon Bellion on his summer 2019 national tour, the Glory Sound Prep Tour.[14] In June, Lawrence released its first of many Jon Bellion-produced singles, "Casualty". In July, Bellion and Lawrence announced that Bellion had launched his own record label, Beautiful Mind Records and had signed Lawrence as its first artist.[15] Bellion has stated that his intention with this new label is to "take care of artists for the rest of their careers" and to create a family of musical creators who he supports and with whom he collaborates.[16]

Touring

Touring has been a key component of the group's rise to success: The release of Hotel TV was supported by the Hotel TV Tour, a 53-city tour across major cities in North America, including sold out shows at Terminal 5 in New York City, House of Blues in Chicago, and two nights at the Royale in Boston, among others. Following that, the band completed a co-headline tour with MisterWives. The group has toured with acts such as Lake Street Dive, Vulfpeck, Jon Bellion, Jacob Collier, Soulive, O.A.R., and Bernhoft, and has appeared at major festivals including Coachella, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Firefly, Okeechobee, Hangout, and Summerfest.

In November of 2022, Lawrence threw their own 3-night festival at Brooklyn Steel entitled Staycation.[17][18] Each night had its own theme (including wedding night, Y2K night, and New York night), and featured two opening acts followed by a two-hour set from Lawrence. Each night also had its own unique set design, setlist, and costumes that corresponded with the theme. In total, the three-nights featured seven different artists and three nearly non-repeating Lawrence sets. Lawrence performed over 70 different songs across the three sold out nights.

In 2023, the band joins the Jonas Brothers on their 2023 North America tour and will continue to play festivals like Daze Between New Orleans and The Peach Music Festival,[19] as well as support acts like Jacob Collier, AJR, and Michael Franti & Spearhead. In July 2023, the band announced it would be opening for the Jonas Brothers for their 2023-2024 tour.[20]

Lawrence released a docuseries documenting their 2021 tour, with the first episode being released on their YouTube channel on August 3, 2023.[21]

Politics and activism

In December 2022, Clyde Lawrence (lead vocals, keyboards) wrote an article published by the New York Times regarding the unfair dynamics that artists face in the live music industry as a result of the merging of Ticketmaster and Live Nation.[22]

In January 2023, Clyde Lawrence and Jordan Cohen (saxophone, tour manager) were invited to testify at a U.S. Senate Judiciary hearing in Washington, D.C., on the topic of live event ticketing.[23] They sat alongside other industry professionals, as well as antitrust experts, to deliver a testimony about their experiences as a touring band playing in Live Nation-owned venues across the U.S. Lawrence and Cohen continue to spread the word about the challenges in the live event promotion and ticketing space in conversations with outlets like NBC News, Vice News, Politico, and more.

Band members

  • Gracie Lawrence – lead vocals, tambourine
  • Clyde Lawrence – lead vocals, keyboards
  • Sam Askin – drums
  • Sumner Becker – alto saxophone
  • Jordan Cohen – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, background vocals
  • Michael Karsh – bass, background vocals
  • Jonny Koh – guitar, background vocals
  • Marc Langer – trumpet, rapping

Discography

Studio albums

  • Breakfast (2016)
  • Breakfast: Unscrambled (Acoustic Sessions) (2018)
  • Living Room (2018)
  • The Live Album (Part 1) (2020)
  • The Live Album (Part 2) (2021)
  • Hotel TV (2021)

Extended plays

  • Homesick (2013) (as The Clyde Lawrence Band)

Singles

  • "Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me?" (2017)
  • "Misty Morning" (2017)
  • "Probably Up" (2018)
  • "Make A Move" (2018)
  • "Casualty" (2019)
  • "Casualty" (Acoustic) (2019)
  • "It's Not All About You" (2019)
  • "The Weather" (2020)
  • "Quarantined With You" (2020)
  • "Freckles" (2020)
  • "Freckles (Live in LA)" (2020)
  • "Don't Lose Sight" (2021)
  • "False Alarms" (with Jon Bellion) (2021)
  • "I'm Confident That I'm Insecure" (2023)
  • "23" (2023)

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rathe, Adam (May 11, 2017). "Meet Lawrence, the World Economic Forum's Favorite Rock Band". Town & Country. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Gracie and Clyde of "Lawrence" Return to Perform for High School Assembly". Dalton School. January 11, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Goodman, Lawrence (August 15, 2015). "Music Is What I Do". Brown Alumni Magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 Downtown Magazine (April 27, 2016). "Lawrence Founders Clyde and Gracie Lawrence to Headline Rockwood Music Hall on May 6". Downtown Magazine. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Cala, Christina (April 13, 2017). "Siblings Gracie And Clyde Lawrence On Touring And The Meaning Of Home". NPR. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Sounding Off". Brown Daily Herald Features. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "SOLD OUT: Brown student/alumni band, Lawrence, rocks the Bowery Ballroom!". Brownnyc.org. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Gracie Lawrence - One Dollar Cast Member, archived from the original on February 2, 2020, retrieved November 17, 2021
  9. ↑ "Meet Gracie Lawrence, Actress and Half of a Sibling Pop Duo". Town & Country. August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Music Is What I Do". Brownalumnimagazine.com. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  11. ↑ Rathe, Adam (May 11, 2017). "Meet Lawrence, the World Economic Forum's Favorite Rock Band". Town & Country. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Music Production". Clyde Lawrence. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  13. ↑ Boisvert, Lauren (October 27, 2023). "Jacob Collier Recruits Michael McDonald and Lawrence on Groovy New Single". American Songwriter. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Lawrence". Facebook.com. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  15. ↑ Lawrence – Casualty, retrieved August 6, 2019
  16. ↑ Stephan, Tiara (July 23, 2019). "Review – Jon Bellion Electrified and Improvised at the Fillmore". 303 Magazine. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Lawrence – Brooklyn Steel – November 5, 2022 - The Bowery Presents". www.bowerypresents.com. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  18. ↑ Broerman, Michael (June 28, 2022). "Lawrence Plans Staycation Festival At Brooklyn Steel, Performs At SummerStage With MisterWives [Photos/Videos]". L4LM. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Artists | The Peach Music Festival". August 3, 2023. Archived from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Jonas Brothers at Fiserv Forum on Nov. 20". FOX6 News Milwaukee. July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  21. ↑ Meet Lawrence, The Ultimate DIY Touring Band (Casualty - Lawrence Docuseries), retrieved October 5, 2023
  22. ↑ Lawrence, Clyde (December 10, 2022). "Opinion | Taylor Swift's Live Nation Debacle Is Just the Beginning". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  23. ↑ "User Clip: Clyde Lawrence - Ticketmaster Senate Testimony | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
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