“I had been waking up in a cold sweat for weeks knowing that Laura was being chased by a number of other labels,” reported Simon Raymonde, co-founder of the London-based independent record label Bella Union.  “The more I listened to her music, the more in love I fell. This woman is one of the GREATS, I mean it.” (10/02, mi2n.com, Music Industry News Network).  Bella Union will release Veirs’ new album Troubled by the Fire worldwide in March 2003, an agreement that ends a string of offers and negotiations between Veirs and several U.S. and European labels. 

Veirs’ music is known to many in Seattle and Portland, and, increasingly, in other parts of the country.  The Village Voice describes her music as “quiet, atmospheric, intermittently-yodeled sitting room folk”, and Time Out New York describes it as, “gripping.”  Northwest writers call it country, indie, “DIY,” or even “high art”.  As Stranger writer Nate Lippens says, “This is art-song country, and I mean that as a high complement.”  Barbara Mitchell, veteran Seattle promoter and manager, wrote that Veirs is “one of the more surprisingly intriguing artists I’ve heard in ages.”  In addition to Veirs on guitar, banjo and vocals, Troubled by the Fire features many other Seattle musicians, including producer Tucker Martine on drums, keyboardist and trombonist Steve Moore, guitarist Bill Frisell, saxophonist Amy Denio, banjo-punk Danny Barnes, world-class violinist Eyvind Kang, and local bassist Fred Chalenor.