Sometimes, the best things in music happen by accident.
Singer-songwriter Laura Teller hadn’t planned to record “More Light”—at least, not the version that ended up on her latest album. The song had been through countless iterations with lyrics that never quite felt right. But during a recording session, with unexpected time left and only one more lead sheet in hand, she decided to give it a shot.
She laid down a few takes with a group of stellar session musicians, and just for reference, added a spontaneous scat vocal. The result? Pure magic. That improvised scat felt more honest and alive than any of the lyrics she’d spent months trying to finalize. So that’s what she kept. More Light became a song without words—but not without feeling.
Laura’s journey has always been about heart over polish, instinct over perfection. Born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, her first “gig” was disrupting her family’s Seder at age two with a song of her own creation. Piano lessons came at six (prompted by her mother’s tolerance limit for off-key banging), and by her teens, Laura had already caught the attention of legendary producers Gamble and Huff.
At Yale, she sang in cover bands, led a popular folk/jazz group, and starred in a student-produced rock opera. After graduation, she spent five years as a full-time musician, followed by two at Harvard Business School—possibly its first singer-songwriter admittee—before joining McKinsey & Co.
Despite building a successful consulting practice, music never left her side. A milestone birthday prompted Laura to return to the studio, this time in Austin, Texas, where she recorded basic tracks at Bismeaux Studio with some of the city’s best musicians. Back in collaboration with veteran producer Warren Schatz (RCA Records, “Turn the Beat Around,” “Shame”), the final touches were added.
The result is More Light—an album rooted in decades of songwriting, experience, and the spontaneity of a last-minute scat.
As Laura Teller proves, sometimes the path you didn’t plan becomes the one that lights the way.
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