Laura Rullo is becoming very familiar with performing on stage. The talented singer/guitarist has been making a name for herself in the local music scene. At 13 years old, she’s playing two hour shows. Over a phone interview, I spoke with her about playing live, musical influences, and her new original song.
This past year has been a whirlwind for Laura Rullo’s musical journey – her calendar has been filling up with shows. Next year is going to be even bigger. All of this began at an early age, with Rullo learning guitar at age five. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that she was able to take music lessons and work on her craft.
“I just kinda wanted to play guitar because I’d been playing piano and singing before that,” Rullo says.
This led to seeing live music in her hometown of Greensburg, which inspired her to perform on stage.
“I saw a lot of live music,” Rullo says. “I’d see people playing guitar and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s really cool. I wanna do that.’”
Rullo comes from a musical family. Her dad plays drums. They play together on their worship team at the Journey Church in Mount Pleasant. Her sister also sings and plays piano and guitar.
At such a young age, Rullo has a powerful voice, with guitar skills and stage presence that come naturally. It looks like she’s been performing for years. Check out her version of “Time After Time” on her Instagram page. When playing live, she is open about how challenging it was at first.
“It definitely takes a while to get used to. So, the first couple of times, you know, I was nervous. But the open mics really helped me to come out of my shell a lot,” Rullo says.
After getting some experience on stage, she added songs to her setlist, all the while having encouragement from the crowd.
“I started out with only four songs and I was just doing an open mic once a month. And the people were like, ‘Hey, you gotta start getting booked places.’ So then I got more songs.”
Aside from all the music, she’s a student at Westmoreland Christian Academy. I asked her about musical influences. I was expecting something along the lines of Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo. But the answer was surprising.
“I play a lot of stuff from like the eighties and nineties,” Rullo says. “So, a lot of stuff like Pat Benatar, Journey, Fleetwood Mac.”
And what do her friends think of her music?
“Honestly I try not to talk about it much. The people that do know about it, I mean, I don’t know, they’re just like, ‘whoa, that’s cool.’”
Once Rullo started playing more shows, things began to pick up. She ended up getting booked at a summer night market, which helped her grow as an artist. She’s played a mix of breweries, festivals, restaurants, markets, social halls. For her setlist, Rullo makes sure to pick songs that she enjoys to play.
“I don’t really do a song unless I love the song,” Rullo says. “I’m currently doing two hours. I’m working my way towards three.”
As someone that has played shows, I can say that a three hour gig isn’t easy. In February, she’ll play her first three hour concert. One has to wonder if she’ll form a band in the near future.
“I play with the church band every Sunday. But primarily it’s solo stuff. With school, it’s kinda hard.”
I mention how artists are fearful of going up on stage by themselves, compared to the comfort of having a band behind them.
“It takes a while to get used to it.”
With all the excitement of playing shows, she’s been working on her own original material. She has an original song that she’s been working on. I had to ask what most people are thinking. Will she audition for American Idol, The Voice, AGT?
“People ask me that a lot honestly. I don’t think so. I just like where I’m at right now. My primary goal is pretty much just to have fun.”
Aside from all the music, she has some hobbies. She loves to read (her mom is an English and reading teacher) and she likes to take care of her chickens. Do the chickens listen to her play?
“Not really,” Rullo says.
Maybe they’ll listen one day. She’s humble about playing and doesn’t shy away from pointing out mistakes she’s made on stage.
“We’ve met a lot of great people through this. Everyone’s been super supportive. So that has really helped,” Rullo says. “I just try to have fun with it now, honestly, the hardest thing to get through is when you make a mistake, trying to push through that. So I’ve kind of been trying to get used to that when I’m in front of people.”
I told her that it’s not a bad thing when mistakes happen on stage – the audience likes to see a real moment during a show. One can’t help but wonder where she’ll be years from now. Will she be playing and releasing new music?
“Yeah, for sure,” Rullo says.
Up next, she’ll be playing at Major Stokes on Saturday, December 7th. There’s also Ponfeigh Distillery on Saturday, December 28th. For fans looking to score some cool merch, she will have stickers and there will be t-shirts coming soon.
For the latest news and upcoming shows, check out her website, www.rockwithlaura.com.
This content was provided by a local, independent contributor to Made in PGH, a lifestyle blog.
