The Walnut Room

Lauren Brombert

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Lauren Brombert has intrigued music critics and music fans alike with her powerful voice, poetic sensibilities, and haunting melodies. “It is said great singers can sing the phone book and make it sound like ‘Ave Maria.’ Well then, someone hand Lauren Brombert the White Pages,” wrote Mark Guarino in the Daily Herald. Balancing strength and sensitivity, she delivers uniquely flavored, guitar-driven songs that explore the complexities of the human experience.

The first time was in a garage outside of Paris when she was fourteen. She sat in as a singer for the French band Duty Free, and was hooked. But instead of pursuing music, Lauren Brombert took a long academic detour. After a B.A. Classics, an M.A. in Russian Studies, more graduate work in Linguistics, and a couple of teaching jobs, she was about to start a career abroad as a field linguist and realized it was a now-or-never proposition. She settled in Chicago and finally abandoned herself to songwriting.

Though Brombert was born in New Haven, CT, as the daughter of a Parisian and a New Yorker, she was raised on two continents. Both parents (a professor and a writer) had strong classical music backgrounds and because of their eclectic record collection, Lauren discovered the Beatles, who made an indelible impression, at age 5. She studied classical piano for eight years, but with exposure to Deep Purple, the Who, and Jeff Beck, she switched to guitar.

Adopting the moniker Urban Nomad, Lauren Brombert started performing with her band at various Chicago venues. After deciding to move in new musical direction, Brombert began a collaboration with guitarist/arranger David Chelimsky. Their acoustic duo eventually developed into a full band, which included renowned Chicago bassist Bob Lizik (Brian Wilson) and drummer Ed Breckenfeld (the Insiders, Cathy Richardson Band). Together they recorded “From These Stones” (Tessera Records), which received critical acclaim and was chosen by “The Performing Songwriter” as a Top 12 DIY.

She has been featured on numerous radio stations and in a variety of publications. Her song “Walls” appears on “Big Fish Little Fish Vol. 2” (Sweet Pickle Music), a compilation of Chicago’s emerging female artists. She has been honored to share the stage with national artists such as Pierce Pettis, Modern English, Kurt Neumann (of the BoDeans), and Vertical Horizon. .

Brombert now lives in Denver, CO where she is working on her second CD and performing with her new band.