Laura Roppé

In 2007, Roppé was inspired by the completion of a second marathon to release an album of original songs within the year. In early 2008, she made a demo with her cousin Matthew Embree of Rx Bandits. She brought her material to Grammy-nominated producer Steve Wetherbee, who encouraged her to make a full-length album.[1] On August 13, 2008, Roppé self-released her first album Girl Like This, where she wrote all the tracks.[1][5]

Reception

In May 2008, Roppé was named runner-up in Kenny Chesney's Next Big Star Contest in San Diego for the single of the album "Mama Needs a Girls' Night Out."[1]

In August 2008 Roppé gave a copy of her new CD to "Little Tommy" Sablan, the producer of her favorite radio morning show. The next day her song "Float Away" aired on WSTR Star 94.1, with Sablan quoting on air "I was blown away by the production and the sound. I just like the sound of her voice";[5] it became a station staple.[1] Roppé then won second place in the 2008 New Country 95.7 local talent competition, and she was signed by a United Kingdom label to distribute the album overseas.[1][2]

Cancer

In October 2008, Roppé was informed she had triple-negative breast cancer. She immediately left her job as an attorney and underwent surgery, along with seven months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.[6] She was declared cancer-free in 2009, although she was not in full remission.[2] Throughout the ordeal Roppé continued to write music.[1]

Later tour

Afterwards in 2009, Girl Like This was nominated for Album of the Year, and the single "Float Away" won American Single of the Year at the Los Angeles Music Awards in Hollywood, California.[6] She promptly launched a tour in the United Kingdom to support the album. It reached No. 5 on the Amazon.com UK charts.[2][6]

In 2011, Roppé released her second album, I'm Still Here.[2] Many of the tracks had been written while Roppé was undergoing cancer treatments. The album was produced by her cousin Matthew Embree.[6]

Reception

The February 2011 edition of Maverick Magazine said the album was a five-star "must-have," and music blog Wildy's World called it a "brilliant and emotionally naked artistic turn."[6] By February 9, 2011, Billboard Magazine had ranked Roppé as number six worldwide on their Uncharted Music Chart, which is a listing of the Top 50 emerging artists with significant internet presence.[1][2] As of May 19, 2011, Roppé had remained on the Uncharted Billboard for over 23 weeks, with a peak number of 3.[3][4][6]

During her treatments, Roppé wrote a single entitled "George Clooney". She uploaded a music video of the track onto YouTube in mid-January 2011, and within 24 hours it gained over 20,000 views.[2] It obtained 50,000 views during its first week, and charted Top 30 or higher on YouTube in thirteen countries.[1] It also earned her an interview with Billboard.[2] The single also charted on Myspace.[6]

Around the release of "George Clooney," she also posted an animated video for her song "Heart Inside a Palm,"[1] which amassed over 250,000 hits in five days.[4]

Her latest "I’m Still Here" video has surpassed a million YouTube views and had over 13,000 views during its first 12 hours online.[7]

Roppé has stated "My music is an eclectic and organic blend of Americana, pop, rock, blues, country, even a sprinkling of bluegrass when the mood strikes me. It's melodic...and typically happy and hopeful. Though sometimes a bit testy, if I have something urgent to say."[2]