Lanie Lane
Birth name Lanier Stefanie Myra Johnston
Born 11 February 1987
Origin Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres Blues, jazz, rockabilly
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instruments Guitars, percussion
Lanie Lane (born 11 February 1987) is the stage name of Lanier Stefanie Myra Johnston, an Australian blues-jazz singer-songwriter and guitarist. In October 2011 her debut album, To the Horses, peaked at No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Lane supported the album with a headlining tour of Australia. She undertook her second international tour in late 2011.
Lanie (pronounced “Lannie”) Lane was born on 11 February 1987 as Lanier Stefanie Myra Johnston and grew up in Sydney. From the age of 12 years, Lane was taught guitar by her father and older brother.
According to Lane the track is a result of somniloquy, “I woke up one morning and my boyfriend said, ‘You said the weirdest thing in your sleep last night’. He told me and said you’d better write a song about it. I wrote the song and he said, ‘Well, that’s one side of the story'”. The album was self-produced for Ivy League Records. In October 2011, To the Horses, peaked at No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
Lane has a quirky 1950s dress sense and her music draws inspiration from 1930s to 1950s Americana. Her backing band includes Zoe Hauptman on bass guitar and double bass, Paul Derricott (ex-The Rhino Factory) on drums, Aidan Roberts (Belles Will Ring, The Maple Trail) on electric guitar and backing vocals.
In March 2012, Lane covered The Black Keys’ track, “Gold on the Ceiling”, in a live performance on radio station Triple J’s program, Like a Version.
As from July 2011, Lane uses a 1957 guitar named Betty, a 1966 electric Gibson named BoDidd (after Bo Diddley) and an unnamed 1960 archtop guitar. The album track, “Betty Baby”, is dedicated to the guitar.
2011, Lane collaborated with fellow singer-songwriter, Clare Bowditch, the pair co-wrote and performed, “Now You’re Home”, which was issued by Bowditch as a single and on a seven-track extended play, Are You Ready Yet?. Bowditch explained her concept “sometimes, songwriting needs to be scary in order to be good. With this in mind, I decided in February that I would turn my hand to co-writing with some of my favourite Australian artists. I wanted the songs to sound glorious to the ear, and leave people feeling uplifted, rather than analytical. The Are You Ready Yet EP is a taste of where this experiment took me: into the homes of people like Gotye and Lanie Lane, and then straight into the studio to lay down the things we had written together”. In June and July, Lane and Bowditch performed together on the Winter Secrets Tour.
At the APRA Music Awards of 2012, Lane was nominated four times, and her song “(Oh Well) That’s What You Get (Falling in Love with a Cowboy)” was performed by Kram (Spiderbait).
Discography
Albums
To the Horses (14 October 2011) – Ivy League Music (IVY 122) – AUS No. 12
Night Shade (24 October 2014) – Ivy League Music – AUS No. 42
Singles
“What Do I Do” (2010)
“Like Me Meaner” (2011)
“Ain’t Hungry” (2011)
“Bang Bang” (2011)
“(Oh Well) That’s What You Get (Falling in Love with a Cowboy)” (2012)
“Celeste” (2014)
“No Sound” (2014)
Featured artist
“Now You’re Home” by Clare Bowditch (featuring Lanie Lane) (2011)