Nashville-based musician, Laura Mustard, is more at home in the woods or a dog park than in a bar or club. She’s like your awkward sister who loves talking about feelings and wants to help you live your best life under the trees. This deep introspection was cultivated by Laura’s unique upbringing. Her childhood was filled with hospital visits and medical routines at home. These experiences make body positivity and self-acceptance a vital focus in both Laura’s life and her music. She grew up making up stories in her head as a way to distract from her day-to-day medical care and that easily turned into writing songs in high school. Laura grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut and played classical piano and percussion. Sara Bareilles’ piano-pop was the gateway she needed to turn her classical piano background into writing and covering pop/rock songs on her own keyboard in her bedroom. Other influences include Motown/Soul artists, such as Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gaye and the positivity pop of Jason Mraz. Lately, she has developed a love of the banjo, and has devoured songs by Greensky Bluegrass, Railroad Earth, and Abigail Washburn. This rich background of influences has helped Laura develop her upbeat pop-folk sound. 

When she moved to Massachusetts for graduate school, Laura found kindred spirits in the musicians that she met at the now-Infamous Yellow Sofa Open Mic. This community of musicians led to her joining the jam band Stillbridge as their piano player, and the classic-rock band, The SilverTone5, as their drummer. Through these bands, she played all over the Connecticut and Western Massachusetts music scenes. Laura also recognized this feeling of community with other songwriters when she visited Nashville for the first time in 2013. She made the move in 2015 in order to be a permanent part of Nashville's songwriting community and has since had “cuts” co-writing songs with other artists, including Jay Rin and Sabine. 

Releasing her debut EP, Ramble On, in 2016, she worked with producer Ben Bishop, who she first met back at Uconn in 2008. Continuing to work with Bishop, she released her sophomore project, Treehouse in 2020. This release featured a professionally produced music video that was filmed in a real treehouse and told a time traveling love story. Notable press for this project includes an interview in the major publication Tricycle Magazine and a feature on the Explicitly Sick Podcast, where Laura talked in depth about multiple operations to receive a suprapubic catheter that occurred during the release cycle of Treehouse - and how this influenced her music and perspective. Laura followed this up with her first full album release in 2022 called Typewriter, a concept album on technology that was born out of a period of reflection on technology, her body and self acceptance during the pandemic in 2020. She followed this up with her Dirty Minds & Wild Hearts EP, a retrospective collection of songs about dating with chronic illness. 

For her latest release, Laura worked with Nashville producer Nolan Sorsby to create “Salty Sea” - a cinematic sea shanty from the perspective of a siren seeking revenge. It features a banjo, washboard, cello, accordion, wave sounds from a video of her travels to Acadia National Park and a siren’s opera solo by Meghan Pulles! Mustard states, “This song is so different musically than anything I’ve ever done! I would drive home listening to mixes and think, ‘I can’t believe this song is mine!’. Also, with everything going on in the world, it has been cathartic to listen to mixes of this song as it is a healthy expression of feminine rage!” In the chorus she sings, “Daughter of the Earth turned haunted echo across the sea, for every woman who’s been broken and blamed, I’ll have my revenge and I’ll have my rage! You won’t escape my song, and you won’t escape me!” as a true siren’s call. This song will be available on all streaming platforms on February 13, 2026 - just in time for Valentine’s Day to provide some catharsis! Because the world needs a folk song about drowning men in the ocean for Valentine’s!