Lawrence Rothman looks to their roots with “The Plow That Broke the Plains.”

Lawrence Rothman often craves the peaceful days they spent in Missouri.

“In our family, we had a small cabin in Lake of the Ozarks that we would go to three or four times a year actually,” Rothman says. “Whenever I think back to St. Louis, I always just see Lake of the Ozarks for some reason.”

While they now live in Los Angeles, Rothman’s days spent living and growing up in Missouri are never far from their mind, days spent in their family’s “little ranch house” in Maryland Heights that was equipped with an unfinished basement where Rothman would fall in love with music.

“It wasn’t until early high school that I did start to feel the evils of the world,” the acclaimed songwriter, producer, and musician says.

Rothman’s words hang in the heaviness of the air but point to the reality that was once theirs. “Where I was situated, you had a very much, ‘split down the middle’ type of reaction to somebody who wasn’t, in their eyes, normal,” Rothman recalls. “It would either be all love and respect, or it would be severe bullying and people attacking me. My mother had me take karate lessons.”

It’s a memory that they can now chuckle at, but a memory that continues to have its place in the back of Rothman’s mind. But thanks to some deep growth, the non-binary artist says they have grown to not only appreciate their Midwestern roots but infuse them into the music of their new album, The Plow That Broke the Plains, out April 26 from KRO records. 

“I grew up on country music and folk,” Rothman says. “I was exposed to a lot of traditional songwriting growing up, and that’s what I love. And so, I’ve attempted to make a record like this since I was probably about 15 years old.”

In fact, Rothman remembers getting signed for the first time when playing with a band out of St. Louis, and it was that band—which featured the fiddle, upright bass, and the mandolin, just to name a few of the traditional sounds—whose echoes find their way into The Plow That Broke the Plains.

“This album was the moment where it really came together,” says Rothman. “I felt the confidence to be like, Okay, this is truly me right now.”

The Plow That Broke the Plains is now available to stream and purchase on all major platforms.