HISTORY
Mister Laurence's Mom & Dad on their Wedding Day
(October 14th, 1940!)
Meet the Man Behind "Mister Laurence"
Laurence Bond Miller, aka "Mister Laurence," was born into a musical family of five, where he was exposed to many types of music during his formative years: Romantic Classical and Modern 20th Century orchestral music from his father, random accappella while doing the laundry from his mother, 50s Classics into 60s Folk into the 1st wave of electronic music through his older siblings, and then finally drowned in "British Invasion", Psychedelic Rock, Free-Form Jazz and New Wave Punk on his own. This variety of influences has been evident in his songwriting throughout his career.
Accomplished Musician
Singing came natural for him and brought him great attention from the girls in the 3rd grade. This behavior prompted his folks to set Miller with formal training in both piano and clarinet. He was soon playing in the school concert band, and by 6th grade managed to showcase his first performance. With teacher's permission, Mister Laurence sang and played the piano theme to the TV show, BATMAN, for the entire class. Yikes. He later taught himself how to play the guitar, bass and drums. Being left-handed and unable to afford a "southpaw" model, Laurence learned how to play his brother's right-handed guitar, upside down! Since then he has picked up the accordion, as well as the complex fingerings of the kazoo.
Laurence has since been involved in and lead many original performing groups and recording projects over the years. Musical styles have ranged all the way from rock & roll to experimental. He even tried his hand at lounge music, eventually singing in a big band! Yes, Laurence has covered quite a bit of ground in his day. Eclectic is a word often used to describe the lad.
Through the years, Laurence has acquired an unusual mix of instruments, which he stores in his home studio, "PlayRooMuzik". Here is where he taught himself how to record the music he writes. He even taught himself how to write music notation so that he wouldn't forget it. Clever, this Mister Laurence!
Music for Kids
It was in 1998 that he found his true calling - Children's Entertainment! Having children of his own, he had no trouble easing into CG rated material ("Childrental Guidance strongly suggested"!) Mister Laurence promptly began churning out a variety of upbeat and heartfelt songs and stories for children and their caregivers.
Mister Laurence began teaching music enrichment classes in Ann Arbor's surrounding children's centers. It was there that he acquired his stage name "Mister" Laurence. All teachers are addressed as such, by their first name, following the formal title. The name stuck. An accomplished musician, Mister Laurence was commissioned to compose the school theme song for Hickory Tree Children's Center. "Holly's Hickory Tree" was then featured on his first CD, Flaghorn! Mister Laurence continues to this day working with kids in preschool centers around Washtenaw County.
Single Father
His years as a single parent gave him a unique view of the work and joys of early childhood education. Although always a child at heart, Mister Laurence's three daughters (Tara, Ashia and Brittany) had a tremendous influence on his sensibility. This single-fathering experience helped fuel many of his coolest songs. Credit is given to his children on every CD he produces. NOTE: All three of his daughters graduated from college. "How can that be?" asks Mister Laurence.
How does he do it?
As a (pseudo) multi-instrumentalist, Mister Laurence performs a variety of instruments on each recording. Along with a sequencing program and creative editing, he produces the sound of an entire band. Performances are sung karaoke style along to the bulk of the prerecorded tracks. All his products are released on his own private label and publishing company, FarFetched Records and Bond Voyage Music. Since the time Mister Laurence reinvented himself, he has written, recorded and released 8 major works plus a variety of novelty Cd's. He also produced two award-winning children's music videos -- Mister Laurence in Bubbleland and Return to Bubbleland! NOTE: In 2008 Mister Laurence
took a backseat to performance, and instead worked hard in the studio
to finish his coming CD MARMALINE ~ My Music Machine!
THE MISTER LAURENCE EXPERIENCE is born!
In 2009, 10 years later, Mister Laurence brought a new member on board ~ MS. PRINCESS MELINDA! Mister Laurence then changed the name from MISTER LAURENCE and his Play Money Band to THE MISTER LAURENCE EXPERIENCE. Together, they began producing multiple episodes of their own community TV kids show, MISTER LAURENCE'S "Enchanted" GREEN TREE FORT, as well as several rockin' music videos, with STAR FISH winning 1st Place in it's category at both the West Branch Children's Film Festival and the Philo T. Farnsworth Film Festival. Their debut concert at Ann Arbor's NICOLA'S BOOKS (celebrating the release of
their new CD MARAMALINE My Music Machine) was a packed house. 2009 was a big year for these two! Today Ann
Arbor! Tomorrow the World!
P.S. Mister Laurence gets married?!?
Yes, amazing as it may seem, rumor has it that Mister Laurence
actually got hitched last fall! Below we see a short clip of
Mister Laurence and Ms. Princess Melinda, just after saying "I do" on September 19th, hand in hand, venturing out into Bubbleland! (Dig the man in sunglasses and a bandanna, directly behind them. That's their good friend, Reverend Mike Brooks!)
