Red Canoe and Laura Too is Laura Newman, a sing-songwriter from Montreal, Québec. Why the name? It was inspired by a 50 year old cedar strip canoe that is very close to her heart. To her, it represents a calmness and reverence for nature, and a feeling of connection. Throw in a little nostalgia, and voila!

Laura’s been side-stepping towards music since childhood - but sometimes slow and steady wins the race. It can be difficult to let yourself be vulnerable and to believe you are good enough, and she is shipping away at it. This is a long game.

She was a finalist in the 2014 Festival Western St. Tite french-language country songwriting competition, and she self-released her Ep I was just thinking in 2018, produced & recorded by Esther Spiegelman of Let’s Be Giants.

More recently, she was accepted into the Banff Musician In Residence program, and the Banff International Singer Songwriter Residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Aside from music, Laura is passionate about the environment and conservation. She is an alumnus of the CWF’s Canadian Conservation Corps program, as well as Ocean Wise’s Ocean Bridge, and CPAW’s Wilderness Stewardship Program. She has written several education ocean-themed songs, and plans to write more.