“My great love is sharing with an audience my own folk songs and ballads mixed with raw rock, stripped down country and blues -- you can call it Americana but it is just continuing on the road started by my musical heroes…”
"Thousands of people have sent me their personal messages sharing their journeys, struggles, pains, joys, challenges and inspirations. I'm very humbled that the songs have touched people, each in their own way. All of you have become my teachers and inspiration."
“Growing up our house was full of music. Bob Dylan, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Kris Kristofferson were big early influences on me as songwriters. I started to write songs in college and it has become an essential part of who I am. My earliest interaction with the music industry was an Atlantic Records A&R exec taking an interest in a song I had written called “Bye Bye Baby” about a young model who went out to LA and ended up dead. I started the process of showcasing for Atlantic in New York City and they decided to send me to Nashville to record with producer Garry Tallent (E-Street Band).
Then my path suddenly changed after I met a mystic in Central Park and I started a journey that led me to meet my wife and start a family. Along the way always performing and the songs have continued to come down to me - starting with a lyric and sometimes as a melody. Every morning I carve out time to sit alone with the guitar surrounded by nature and get into the flow - it keeps me going and makes it possible to cope with the painful struggle of this world and to be able to spread joy.”
“As a young songwriter and guitar player, I loved Neil Young with his super sensitive acoustic and singing just suddenly firing it up with searing guitar. I first heard Stevie Ray Vaughn live at 14 and my father also took me to hear Santana - those were life-changing experiences - seeing masters who performed on a level of prayer through music on stage. That set my mind and heart on playing music for life.”
In 2015, Lots of Love Records put out Lazer Lloyd's first major international release of new material, a self-titled album that introduced Lloyd's songwriting and unique sound became one of the top blues rock records that year getting widespread critical acclaim with "Burning Thunder" reaching number one on the blues rock chart.
Lazer’s second major international release "Freedom's Child" was dropped in September 2017 including 12 new tracks: 11 originals plus Lazer’s take on Dylan and Hendrix’s "All Along the Watchtower" recorded with Grammy nominated producer & engineer David Ivory at his studio near Philadelphia. The album shot up the Americana charts as awareness of Lloyd’s music grew into an expanded fan base of roots music lovers.
Canadian music sage John Kereiff wrote, “Critics have noted Lloyd’s skill as a lyricist, saying he is 'able to elevate life’s joys and struggles into inspirational material'. Couple that with supple musicianship, and that makes “Freedom’s Child” one of the most compelling discs of 2017. Watch out, though - this one’s gonna hit you right in the feels. Five Stars" John Kereiff (Gonzo Okanagan).
On tour in Connecticut in October of 2017, Lazer stopped off at Horizon Studios to record a few of his new songs with wizard of sound, Vic Steffens in West Haven. The result was several tracks including the Americana anthem “Backstreets” which was released as a single on Thanksgiving Day and went on to pass a million streams on Spotify, going viral on Facebook and Youtube as well.
As "Freedom's Child" was shooting up the Americana chart and “Backstreets” was going viral, Lazer was already on to the next project - recording an album with Eric Paul (Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson etc) at Ricky Skaggs Studio in Nashville featuring (Michael Rojas on keyboards, Michael Spriggs on rhythm guitar, Eddie Bayers on drums, and bass players Mark Fain and Eli Beaird). The brilliant band created by Eric and led by Lazer Lloyd produced music that is sheer heaven. To complete the album, Lazer found inspiration in the red dirt of Oklahoma and Texas working with many times Grammy nominated Chris Bell (Don Henley, Eagles, Erykah Badu, Luther Dickinson, Eric Johnson etc) at Billy Crockett’s Blue Rock Studios in Wimberley with a group of young Tulsa musicians. The sound achieved by Chris is warm, real and soul transforming. Music from both the Nashville and Blue Rock sessions plus the title track “Tomorrow Never Comes” recorded in Memphis at the historic Young Avenue Studios will be released in May 2020 by Lots of Love Records. The release was moved up in response to the COVID-19 mass cancellation of live music in an effort to provide fans with new music.
Selected Reviews
“"Lazer Lloyd's "The Simple Life" is like coming home to comfort food for the soul. He's managed to hit on a growing universal longing for simple living, fueled by the turbo- charged pace of life in the age of technology and materialism. A cathartic anthem of healing for the masses, "The Simple Life" aims to help one refocus on life's true priorities." Wes Cobb, Westart
“Razor sharp guitar and exuberant vocals.” Downbeat
"He puts soul into every note he sings and plays." Tahoe Onstage
"Johnny Cash meets Steve Earle..." Digital Journal
"Lloyd’s guitar skills are impeccable, with a rich, deep vocal delivery...a consummate musician, writer, and storyteller" Don & Sheryl Crow (Nashville Blues Society)
“Tough blues-rockers, soul ballads, and funky Hendrix-inspired rock.” Vintage Guitar
“Razor sharp guitar and exuberant vocals.” Downbeat
"He puts soul into every note he sings and plays." Tahoe Onstage
"Johnny Cash meets Steve Earle..." Digital Journal
"Lloyd’s guitar skills are impeccable, with a rich, deep vocal delivery...a consummate musician, writer, and storyteller" Don & Sheryl Crow (Nashville Blues Society)
Vintage Guitar magazine featured him as a talent to watch showing off his chops on "tough blues-rockers, soul ballads, and funky Hendrix-inspired rock".
“Fasten your seatbelts!” wrote 1970s Rolling Stone rock music sage Gary von Tersch of the self-titled "Lazer Lloyd" CD. He added, “I’m impressed by Lazer’s tight compositions”, “deeply expressive writing, plangent vocals and crackerjack guitar and harmonica”.
Elmore Magazine´s Jim Hynes compares Lazer to “Santana at his best”
Canadian music & arts veteran writer, Bob Mersereau calls him "Muddy Waters on electric steroids."
Wasser-Prawda in Germany, "This is sacred music..."
Keys and Chords from Belgium's wrote, "Palestinians and Israelis, listen to Lazer Lloyd and there will be peace".
Blues Matters in the UK wrote of the 2015 self-titled album, "This CD was a revelation" and went on to do an extensive interview with Lloyd in 2016.