Finally, my first video is here! You can check it out here: Crowded Highway (Youtube)

I’ve been working on this one for awhile. Some of the footage I shot several years ago, and I finally put it together in a way that made sense. The locations in the video include The Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville TN, The Joshua Tree Inn & JT National Park in Joshua Tree CA, and Waycross GA (the hometown of Gram Parsons). The video is a bit of a tribute to him and features some of my good friends. I’m very happy to finally release this and I hope you like it!

…Don’t forget to visit the Gram Parsons Petition and add your signature in support of inducting GP into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Thanks for viewing!

Howdy y’all. I am pleased to be featured in Turnstyled, Junkpiled’s Townes Van Zandt Tribute Week. Check out my video cover of “When He Offers His Hand”…as well as offerings by Justin Townes Earle, Ted Russel Kamp and other groovy folks.
Hope your new year is off to a nice start.

Spirit of 73 physical albums and posters are 15% off for the entire month of December. Thank you for your support.

I have also just added 4 weeks worth of archives from my WRFN RadioFreeNashville show which you can find here. Thanks to archive.org for making this possible. Happy streaming.

Season’s greetings from Nashville, TN – stay warm and I’ll see you somewhere out there in 2012!

Spirit of 73 got its first reviews this week!  I am sitting here floored at what To Eleven music blog had to say about the album.

New L.A. Americana music zine Turnstyled, Junkpiled gave it a front page feature and a nice lengthy review – check it out!

And another review just in from blogger Dire Wolff . He’s not the first person to call it “the Joshua Tree sound” – probably the highest compliment I could ever wish for.

Thanks for stopping by.  I’m Laura Harmondale, and when I play I’m just Harmondale. I started writing music six years ago in Joshua Tree, CA, and I now live in Nashville.  My debut album is the culmination of the 5 years I spent writing and singing out in the high desert. Spirit of 73 officially released on November 5, 2011.  You can get CDs & downloads here. 

The album was recorded at Gar Robertson’s studio Red Barn Recorders. Gar is also a featured instrumentalist on the album. From pedal steel to mandolin to dobro, he is an essential element of the Harmondale sound. I’m so grateful for his enthusiasm for the project. Other guests on the album include Tim Easton, Wally Ingram, Bob Furgo, Jim Austin, JP Houston, Ryan Erskine, and Nohelle Shurley.

I’m very much into the D.I.Y. spirit and also designed the artwork, did the photography (except for one special photo by Doug Beale on the inside cover), and created my own record label to release it. I’ve always believed an artist should have as much control over their own work as possible. Even though I am an environmentalist and believe in using as little packaging as possible, I still wanted to have the artwork element of the album be available (an aspect of music that is falling by the wayside with the digital revolution), so I was happy to find a disc manufacturer that offers a Zero-Carbon-Footprint packaging option. Even the plastic tray inside is made from recycled water bottles.

You’ll see more and more updates to this site over the next coming weeks, like information about my radio show on radiofreenashville.org (and 107.1 FM)  I’m just getting started!  Peace. -LH