Biography

Laura found her place in the acoustic-folk world early on, picking up the guitar at age 16. Originally from the NYC area, she came to Chicago after college and soon joined the teaching staff of the legendary Old Town School of Folk Music. For over a decade, Laura was the Director of the wildly popular early-childhood Wiggleworms program. In 2009 she took a daring leap and decided to go full-time with kids’ music, showing an intense passion for creating sweet, folk-inspired songs for children and families. 
 Doherty recorded her first album Kids in the City in 2009, winning the Gold Parents’ Choice Award. The equally endearing Shining Like a Star (2011) and In a Heartbeat (2014) followed, and both won the Silver Parents' Choice Award. Animal Tracks (2016), is a collection of her most engaging animal songs, and Doherty's newest album High Five (2018), received the Gold Parents' Choice award and is getting lots of radio play across the country. It explores the themes of friendship, family and childhood. 
 Before recording her own original music, Laura co-produced Old Town School’s Wiggleworms Love You (2005), with Rich Rankin at Mosaic Music studio, and has recorded educational songs for Disney Sound. 
 Often joined by her band of Chicago talent, The Heartbeats, Doherty has performed hundreds of shows at premier venues and festivals across nationwide, including Ravinia Festival, Lollapalooza, Nashville's Pilgrimage Fest, Austin's SXSW, and many more!