Laura Sullivan as a toddler with her father, courtesy.

Editor’s note: I first met Laura Sullivan at the 2013 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. She wasn’t nominated that year, but was back the next with a nomination in the Best New Age Album field, which she won, beating out the likes of Brian Eno. Last week the Bay Area artist and composer received another nomination, for Pieces of Forever, her most personal album yet. — Roman Gokhman

Laura Sullivan: Tuesday, Nov. 23 started as it usually does on weekdays. I rose early to do yoga and pack a school lunch for my daughter.

It was also the morning that Grammy nominations would be announced. We had submitted our album Pieces of Forever in the Best New Age Album category. We knew that so many talented people had submitted their work for this season, so it would be difficult for the voters to select just a few from that long list of worthy creators.

I sat down on the couch with my husband, Eric, who is the album producer, and we watched the Grammy nomination show; a little nervous, a little excited and a lot humble. Tayla Parx was announcing the New Age Album field. Suddenly I heard her say the name of our album and couldn’t believe I really heard it. I looked over and Eric was screaming. We both jumped up and down screaming and hugging!

The phone started ringing. Family and friends called with congratulations, so I screamed some more! Finally, I felt I needed a walk and some fresh air, so we went out to the local park with our sweet labrador Troupey to calm down and try to let this amazing thing that just happened sink in.

As I walked I thought back on a moment in 2014, sitting in the audience at the Grammy Premiere show, when they announced that my album Love’s River had won the award for Best New Age Album. I remember standing up in a daze, people were cheering, and somehow, I moved my legs to climb the stage. They handed me a Grammy to hold, and I turned to face my family, my friends and everyone. I was overwhelmed with every emotion possible but felt so much love and joy.

It was then that Troupey decided to do his business right in front of me.

A minute later I was kneeling, plastic bags in hand, picking up dog poop out of the grass. And I thought, wow, how glamorous is the life of a Grammy nominee!

My mom and dad would never miss a chance to laugh at something like this, and they taught me to do the same. They helped me to be so much of who I now am. Pieces of Forever is so much about my gratitude for them both. It’s why I brought together classical and country themes in the album. It was how I grew up.

The 100-year-old farmhouse my parents raised me and my siblings in is at the foothills of Mount Lassen, in Northern California. When we moved in, the old home was so run down that the plumbing and electricity barely worked. We couldn’t watch TV unless everything else in the house was turned off, or the screen would shrink to half the size.

But there were many more interesting things to do than watch TV. The 11 acres were a landscape to explore, filled with an old barn, broken-down cars, huge walnut trees, furniture and ancient junk left behind from days long ago. A rusty clawfoot bathtub filled with muddy water sat in the front yard. Attached to it with duct tape was a hand-painted sign reading “Bard Bath.”

It was my parent’s dream to own a farm, and this is what they could afford. Their vision was to transform it into a pleasant and comfortable homestead. And that is what they did. My family put in a lot of effort on the project for many years, and it became a nice working ranch with chickens, ducks, cows, horses, pigs and a throng of feisty cats and friendly dogs.

The evenings on our farm were all about music. My mom was my first classical piano teacher and my dad taught us all country songs he played on his guitar and harmonica; songs by Roger Miller, Kenny Rogers and many others. I’ll never forget that one of Dad’s favorite songs was the old traditional folk “Crawdad Song.” And so, in their memory, Pieces of Forever is really the bringing together of my mom’s classical sensibilities with my dad’s Americana influence.

Laura Sullivan’s son with her father playing harmonica, courtesy.

My mom passed away many years ago from cancer and we lost Dad this past summer during the bleak COVID-19 pandemic lockdown after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s. He still remembered how to play his favorite songs on the harmonica and the guitar even after most of his words had escaped him.

Each “Piece” on the album is a memory, a fragment, a moment of their lives, and of my life with them, that I will always treasure and hold forever. This album is about honoring the lives of my parents, the music they made, what they taught me and their love. They showed us all how to enjoy the ride.

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