Bios

Laura is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native, and veteran vocalist with roots deep and broad from Classical voice training to Jazz, Blues, Rock and R&B.  As the only child of musical parents, her father Bob a jazz guitarist, and mother Mary a classical pianist, she was encouraged to explore her talent from a very young age. She has studied vocal performance at McGrail School of Voice, with Josephine McGrail, Indiana University with Dr. John Dietz and Slippery Rock University with Dr. Maribeth Knaub.

Her professional career began in Pittsburgh performing jazz standards at local night clubs. It wasn’t long thereafter that Laura assembled a band of talented rock n’roll road warriors, traveling beyond Pittsburgh as the lead vocalist hitting the rock scenes throughout the Northeast and Midwest.  Opportunity knocked when she was hired to support the tour of a performer for the TV show “Star Search.” Laura’s notable vocals led to the formation of “Body Heat,” a 6-piece high-energy dance band. As the band-leader and front person, she toured extensively for years across the eastern seaboard and Midwest, at fine resorts and hotels, under the management of John Parker Enterprises and National Artists Corporation.

Laura settled down after years on the road in Maryland, where she continued performing with her band “Body Heat” in the D.C. beltway music circuit. It was then that she enhanced her career by straddling the music industry both as a live performer as well as behind-the-scenes, working within an agency booking and promoting musical talent.  In the early 90’s, Laura added parenthood to her repertoire and relocated back to her hometown of Pittsburgh. There she regrouped as “City Heat,” an 8-piece upscale variety band featuring a horn section and led the Western Pa. market for entertainment in the private market sector.

After years in Pennsylvania working as an Account Executive, she moved her family to New England where she furthered her career as a business professional in the greater Boston Area.  It was here that she leveraged her background in the music industry to manage and promote the band “Mavara,” a globally respected Progressive Rock group on tour and establishing roots in the U.S.  Laura has also worked on a variety of projects as a vocalist and is featured most recently on a lead track entitled “Women’s Diary” from the debut album <em>Chaotic Notions</em> by “Delusive Relics,” a blend of multiple genres within Indie rock.

Missing the stage, and anxious to go “live” again, Laura formed “She Funk” in the summer of 2018, a 12-piece “old-school funk” cover band, comprised of a 5-piece horn section, 2 back-up female vocalists and a 4-piece rhythm section with four of the NH seacoast’s finest veteran musicians. Back in the saddle as the band-leader and lead vocalist, “She Funk” is a big project, built from the ground-up with lots of support from friends and other local musicians. “She Funk” is a band that Laura has wanted to put together for years, which has now come to fruition, putting the groove back in her step, and the mic back in her hand.

Gianna Alden is a life-long vocalist, fronting bands from hard rock to soul to jazz standards, and now shares her voice as part of She Funk’s backing vocals duo. Growing up in the Hartford, CT area, she was lead vocalist in her high school rock band beginning in 8th grade, performing at schools all over the state and recording an album. In addition to being a vocalist, she is trained in Suzuki violin and toured throughout the UK with a string ensemble. After attending UNH , she fronted a number of cover bands over the years, performing locally in seacoast NH and throughout New England. Gianna recently completed vocal training in Jazz at the Portsmouth Music & Arts Center with performances at the Press Room in Portsmouth and Star Theater in Kittery, Maine. In addition to She Funk, Gianna is lead vocalist for the band Third Martini, a 5- piece lounge-soul band playing at local venues in the seacoast NH area.

Originally from Upstate NY, Katie is new to the seacoast area, brought here by her time at the University of New Hampshire. As one of the younger members of the band she doesn’t have a long performance history, but she does have a longstanding and eclectic love of all things musical. Somewhere (expertly hidden from the public) there are old home videos of Katie as a toddler, rocking out to Aretha Franklin with her light up tambourine. Over the years she has played clarinet, oboe, piano, guitar, and bass, but the one thing she’s never stopped doing is singing. Throughout middle school and high school Katie was a member of several choral and band ensembles and could often be found hanging out in the band room with friends, performing angsty renditions of Green Day songs. While attending UNH she realized she couldn’t go without an outlet for her musical tendencies and decided to try something new by joining the all-female a cappella group Maiden Harmony. Post-graduation she again felt the toll of being without a musical group and jumped on the opportunity to audition for She Funk. Having always loved big laughs, loud music, and use of the word ‘funky’, She Funk was a perfect fit.

Allison Edge grew up in southern Massachusetts where she started playing the saxophone at age 10. Allison found her passion for music in the 7^th Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. While studying Music Education at the University of New Hampshire she started playing the baritone saxophone and fell in love with the deep timbre and versatility of playing in different genres.  Allison is currently a band director at the Sanborn Regional school district as well as a member of Seacoast Big Band and OURBIGBAND.

Jim Welch, originally from Southern Maryland, has a musical career path that spans across the northeast. He started playing drums at the wee age of 3 yrs. old, a junior member of his large musical family. As a young man he refined his style under private instruction from 3 different drummers from
the U.S. Air Force Jazz Band in Clinton, Maryland. He was also a member of a small but well-respected drum corps, “The Clinton Gold Diggers” and played with the Prince George’s County Youth Symphony Orchestra in Maryland.

In the late 70’s and 80’s, Jim was drumming for a popular D.C.-based Rock/Fusion cover band, “Prophyle.” Another project he was involved with during the 80’s was “I.C.U.” where he developed an interest in “new jack swing,” rap and funk styles. He later joined forces with his wife as the drummer for City Heat, a top-40 variety band also based in the D.C. area.

It was in 1991 that Jim relocated to Western Pennsylvania with his family where he formed “Dreamscape”, a 7-piece variety band, taking on the role of bandleader as well as drummer, focused primarily on upscale private parties and weddings. “Dreamscape” was one of the top bands in the area.

Several years later, Jim relocated yet again to New Hampshire where a unique opportunity presented itself with an international 6-piece prog-rock original band “Mavara,” that had been touring in the U.S. and settled in to New Hampshire. Their latest album “Consciousness” features Jim on drums and has received world-wide acclaim in this complex yet melodic genre of progressive rock.

Jim wasn’t influenced by any one artist or particular genre but rather by many, from jazz, rock, alternative, top-40 and funk. His newest project with “She Funk” is a shift in gears from progressive rock to funk, setting aside technical complexity and drawing from raw instinct driven by the groove. In addition to being a key member of the rhythm section, his integral role in “She-Funk” behind-the-scenes has been critical in the launch of the project, managing sound equipment for rehearsals.

For over a decade Jim Clark has been a fixture of New England’s diverse music scene, performing on both trumpet and bass in a variety of styles. From symphony orchestras and musical theater pits to jazz groups like Our Big Band and the Seacoast Big Band to dance bands like Soul City and She Funk, Jim’s versatility takes him all over the northeast performing exciting music.