Mitzi

Mitzi was born and raised on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia – home to world-renowned fiddlers and Celtic music greats. It was the perfect place to be surrounded by music and musician friends. She started playing piano at a very young age and was performing publicly by her late teens.

In 1978, she and her musical partner, David Burns from England, joined forces and started the popular showband trio Copperwood. In the first two years, they toured across Canada, mostly playing the Maritime provinces and Canada’s west coast. Due to their popularity in Nova Scotia at that time, Copperwood landed a one-hour TV special in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and opened for Merle Haggard at the North Sydney Arena. In 1984, the group came to the U.S., continuing to build their following and perform to enthusiastic audiences.

They were touring the Midwest in 1985 when Mitzi met her husband and love of her life, Joe Laws, in Alton, IL. By this point, Mitzi was doing more of what she really loved – writing her own material. In 1986 she recorded her first album, Teddybears Can’t Keep Me Warm, produced by Dave Burns and recorded by Glen Fowler in Pensacola, FL. Glen had contacts in Nashville, and she and Dave headed there with the new album in hand. Mitzi and Joe were married in 1987, and she kept a working relationship with people in Nashville, recording and still pursuing a solid offer. At this point, she also had a second album, Hey It’s the Big Time, and a financial backer who was seeking that solid offer for her.

Meanwhile, back at home, Mitzi was playing solo gigs five or six nights a week and building a following with her original music, which she often performed in St. Louis. In 1990, she won the Blueberry Hill Songwriting Contest with her song Dangerous. Interest from the Nashville music industry grew, and in 1991 a well-known producer there asked if she would consider moving to Nashville, explaining that it would be easier for him to work with her and get her in front of labels if she were there and singing locally. It would be a big step, and her supportive husband, Joe, encouraged her to follow her dream.

However, as life would have it, their first child, Andrew, had been born just a few months earlier. Mitzi knew in her heart that breaking up the family unit was not something she could ever do. However she looked at it, there was no plan that felt right. Sometimes dreams need a revamp.

So, in the early 1990s, Mitzi chose to root her life and music in St. Louis, Missouri, where she has continued to write, perform, and inspire. Her music has been featured on local radio and TV, and her albums reflect her deep connection to life, faith, family, and community.

Mitzi and Joe went on to have two more children – Holly, born in 1997, and Ashby, born in 1999. While pregnant with Ashby, Mitzi had a cancer scare. She was diagnosed with a “giant cell tumor of the bone” in her hip and underwent an emergency hip replacement while pregnant. She was assigned an oncologist but ultimately never had to see him outside of her hospital stay.

They learned that the type of tumor she had was in the cancer “family,” but unlike other cancers, it wouldn’t spread or require chemotherapy or radiation. It might return in the same spot, but for Mitzi—especially while pregnant—this was the best news she could have imagined.

As the reader might imagine, her gratitude for life and family only grew, as did her songwriting, which was reflected in her next albums – Shelter for My Soul, Here I Am, and Higher Ground.

In 2000, Mitzi started the group Keltic Reign after performing a “Notes from Home” concert of her original music at the Sheldon Concert Hall with her musical friends. They built on the Celtic aspect of it and are still going strong today. Years later, Andrew, Holly, and Ashby – who were brought up around these musicians and immersed in music lessons – began to make short appearances in the band’s shows and eventually became full-time members. It’s been a dream come true for Mitzi — a revamped dream of the best kind!

Holly and Ashby spent their formative years studying traditional Irish music and have continued to perform together for two decades. They proudly represented their music school, St. Louis Irish Arts, competing at the national level and at the world competition in Ireland, the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

Today, Mitzi continues to share her music at community venues across the region—including churches, hospitals, peace events, concerts, and special gatherings – sometimes as a solo artist and other times with her band, Keltic Reign. Her intimate style, heartfelt songwriting, and powerful voice continue to connect audiences to her music and message.