Laura Ballance


Laura Jane Ballance is the bassist in the rock band Superchunk and co-founder of Merge Records along with Mac McCaughan. In 2013 she announced that she would no longer be touring with the band due to her worsening hyperacusis.
- 2006

Musical History

Despite her hyperacusis and announcement that she will no longer be touring with the band, she has remained in Superchunk since 1989. Their latest album is What a Time to Be Alive, released in February 2018. Ballance and McCaughan collaborated to create the cover art for the record.

Merge Records

In 1989, Ballance alongside her bandmate Mac McCaughan, founded Merge Records for releases from Superchunk and similar artists. Ballance has also contributed to the book Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records with Mac McCaughan and John Cook.

Personal life

Ballance has described herself as an introvert as a child, who found punk music as a teenager through a music video by Adam and the Ants. Ballance lives in Durham, North Carolina with her husband and daughter.