Months before the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival in May, I set my sights on writing about one specific band on the lineup.
Lawrence is an eight-member pop-soul group led by uber-talented siblings Clyde and Gracie Lawrence, Jewish singers-songwriters from New York who have been making music together since childhood. They were coming to the Bay Area, and this was my chance to meet them. As a journalist, of course.
A pro forma interview request was sent to the entertainment agency, and the response came just a day later. I opened the email with giddy anticipation.
It was a friendly “no.”
I did not care for that answer.
Long before the BottleRock schedule was announced, I had been compulsively listening to and watching Lawrence videos. There is something irresistible and appealing about this effervescent group, which is influenced by funk-soul bands of the 1960s and ’70s.
Clyde, 30, is a gifted composer, keyboardist and lead singer. Gracie, 28, is his high-energy counterpart, with brilliant vocals that can also be heard on Broadway. Six other musicians, heavy on horns, contribute to the band’s joie de vivre.
When I learned in January that Lawrence would be at BottleRock, it felt beshert — meant to be. All those hours of personal listening and watching could now count as background research and interview prep.
I could easily picture the sitdown, riffing with Clyde and Gracie like old friends, hearing about their artistic family, their childhood and their music, all peppered with Jewish cultural references. And we’d be laughing too. They are both very funny.
“While they would love to participate,” the agency rep wrote, “their schedule for BottleRock will be prohibitive unfortunately.”
OK. No interview.
Without that, I can only encourage you to visit the Lawrence website and socials on your own. You can learn about Clyde, a musical prodigy who at age 5 composed the theme song for “Miss Congeniality.” (Their father, Marc Lawrence, produced and wrote the film.) Clyde formed Lawrence with friends while at Brown University. He also testified before a Senate committee in 2023 about the Ticketmaster-Live Nation stranglehold on artists’ livelihoods. And you can read about Gracie, a “theater kid” who has been singing since she was a wee one. She is also an actress, whose star power is growing with a Tony nomination for her Broadway role in “Just in Time” as Connie Francis, alongside Jonathan Groff as Bobby Darin.
I highly recommend starting with the videos “Something in the Water” and “Don’t Lose Sight.” For Jewish-specific content, check out the “Funky Dayenu” video by Gracie with the caption: “Passover is over, but I can’t stop thinking about how hard my DAYENU went this year!!!!” or their Hanukkah-Christmas mashup.
@lawrencetheband Passover is over, but I can’t stop thinking about how hard my DAYENU went this year!!!! Duet me and make this even funkier 🤟 #passover #funk #jewish ♬ original sound – Lawrence
As for the interview that wasn’t, I believe one day the stars will align.
After all, the Lawrence agency rep ended the email on a hopeful note: “We appreciate it and hope you keep them in mind for future opportunities!”