Laura Nadine Hickson was born on Feburary 28, 1977 in Decatur, Georgia. She was raised in Lilburn, Georgia the youngest of four siblings. At age 3, Laura began dance lessons,along with her sister Rain, at the Atlanta Dance Works. Laura immediately took to tap and seemed to have a strong on-stage presence. She danced alongside her teachers Barry Thomas (from Broadway's A Chorus Line) and Patrick McCann (from Broadway's Mame) in feature performances and in a yearly Christmas ballet called La Boutique Fantasque. At age 10, she began to take violin lessons with Stefanie Graef (Rollins) Carr. As a student of the Suzuki Method, Laura progressed quickly. She was touted by locals as a musical prodigy for her ability to play songs after only hearing them once and her adult like musical expression. Over the next few years Laura received high praise and recognition for her performances including two Georgia state titles. Laura's first film project My Violin Cries (2009) was developed for a film competition at Agnes Scott College. A psychology major with no prior film experience, Laura borrowed a video camera from the college and went to work. Laura worked as the director, actor, writer, composer, film editor and performed the entire soundtrack. My Violin Cries won Honorable Mention at the ASC Film Festival.