Laura Downing  

Hi friends, Thank you for visiting my new website.

I hope you enjoy the news and, mixture of photo's I have put together for your perusal, but first, A little about me from the beginning.  

I became interested in country music after I lost a percentage of use to both of my arms. After working as a store man/person for many years I finally figured out that women weren't designed to roll 240kg drums on and off pallets.

What was to be 2 weeks complete rest, turned out to be 13 long months with an operation to my right elbow.

To this day I still don't have %100 use of my right arm, and that may never be regained but,

"SO WHAT" there are so many people out there who have injuries or sickness's far worse than me.

After I was dismissed from my place of employment (because I could no longer perform the tasks needed for the job ) I wanted to find something I could do to help with the finances of raising two little boys. Think about it !  there's not a great deal out there that can  be done without the use of two good arms, so, I decided I would be a singer.  After telling my husband my idea, I was totally guttered to hear his words ( along with much laughter), " BUT YOU'VE NEVER SUNG IN YOUR LIFE",  And that, my friends was the start of my singing career.  

My first festival was in February 1996.  It was there I heard a 12 year old girl yodelling and she was amazing,  her name was Sally Gentz.  I turned to my mother and said  QUOTE, "isn't she embarrassed to be making that ridiculous noise!"  My mother being the saint she is said ,  "unless you can do that yourself Laura DON'T criticize others".  Before I knew what I was saying I said "well how hard can it be?".  She just shook her head and by the look on her face I knew I had opened up a can of worms.

Within nine months I was the Queensland and Nth NSW Yodelling champion of champions, at 11 months the Australian yodelling champion ( Got that title in Tamworth), at 17 months the NZ yodelling champion and at 23 months the second time Queensland and Nth NSW yodelling champion of champions. 

I decided to put down a four track EP (extended play) CD which Lyn Bowtel and Duncan Toombs helped me with in Toowoomba, and after that, I pretty well left the country music circuit and moved onto other ventures.

I still enter into the bigger competitions but its really not my thing, to me the real reward is the response I get from the crowd.

The biggest thrill I ever got was in America, where I sang three songs in a Jimmy Rogers yodelling comp,  I was full of jet-lag and morning sickness and still won,   yahoo

The next biggest competition I entered was a "world professional yodelling" comp at the Arts Centre on the Gold Coast where I won first place also.  ( I was the only one in it ) wink.

To wrap this page up friends, can I just say I have always had a love for country music and was brought up on it.  My mother sings like a bird  my grandfather could yodel anything Tex or Buddy could,  my grandmother was a trained soprano and, my father would yodel the cows in so what chance did I have  LOL.     I just hope one of my sons will do the same and try to keep this dying art alive.  

" Laugh till yah yodel "

Laura  Downing  

I would like to dedicate this web site to my grandfather James "Jimmy" Smith who went to heaven when I was 18.   I still miss you so much and one day I will yodel for you while I'm looking into your eyes X