Bass, vocals

Laura Payne was born with a great love for music. She began her musical journey at the age of 9 through classical guitar training. The love of learning and playing music continued through to her teenage years, when rock n roll became the main focus. She obtained her first electric guitar and amp at 14 and started learning how to rock from influences such as Heart, Joan Jett, The Cars, Aerosmith, etc. At 18, Laura joined her first rock band as a bassist purely out of necessity because no one else wanted to play bass at that time. Laura fell in love with the instrument since that moment on and has been driven to continuously learn and improve her skills. She has been involved in many different music projects across Rock, Blues, R&B, Jazz, Folk, Big Band, Bossa Nova, etc. Some of the bands include: Misbehaven, Luna, The Limit, Roam, 1621, Basement Blues Band, Stylz, Color Scheme, Quirktet, Anything that Moves and Kitten with a Whip. While living in the Seattle area, Laura acquired an upright bass and took lessons to improve her knowledge of this instrument as well as solidify her sight-reading skills.

Outside of music, Laura holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Electronics Technology. Her contributions in the Information technology industry include: Building a world-wide knowledge community, Co-designing a knowledge management system from the ground up, presenting knowledge management concepts to thousands, and writing technical papers/chapter contributions in published books.

Although Laura has taken brief hiatus from playing in bands to spend time with family and build her computer career here and there, music has always stayed close to her heart and her dreams. She’s now back into the music she loves 120% ever since meeting and performing with Rhythm Turner by chance at a Community Center event in February 2007, then auditioning with Rhythm and the Method a few days afterward. It was a perfect fit from the get-go: musically, personally, and professionally. Laura’s passion now consists of playing, recording and sharing great music which reaches the masses alongside the best bandmates she’s ever known – the talented musicians of Rhythm and the Method!