Laurie Lewis is one of the pre-eminent bluegrass/Americana artists performing today. She has won a Grammy ("True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe," 1997), and twice been named Female Vocalist of the Year by the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association). Laurie appeared here last January for a memorable show with Nina Gerber. This time round she is bringing along her full band.
Laurie fell in love with American folk music as a teenager, at the sunset of the '60s folk revival. It was the vastness, the realness, the melodicism, and welcoming accessibility that drew her. "Oh, it was so exciting," she says of the Berkeley Folk Festivals where she first caught the folk bug. "Every night there were concerts, and during the day you'd be in a eucalyptus grove listening to someone making music with nothing between you and them. Every day I'd hear something new, Doc Watson or the Greenbrier Boys. Something about it just invited me to start playing it." She began plunking out simple songs on the guitar, then the fiddle. After high school, she drifted away from the music, but always kept her fiddle under her bed, though she didn't know why. In her early 20s, she discovered the Bay Area bluegrass scene. To her, it was "like opening that door all over again. Here were all these people making music together, and I could immediately see myself as part of it. It woke up all that excitement I felt as a teenager, and I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life."
The Sacramento News called her "as fine a singer as anyone on the acoustic music circuit, anywhere in the world." Billboard praised her ability to "successfully walk the high wire above esoteric country, combining elements of bluegrass and pure country to form her own seamless mix." Or as American folk icon Utah Phillips put it, "Whatever country music is supposed to be, she's at the center of it."
The Right Hands
Tom Rozum
Since joining forces with Laurie in 1986, Tom's versatility and diverse musical influences come to the fore every night on stage with the band. He plays primarily mandolin with the band, but is also an accomplished fiddle, mandola, and guitar player. His background as a rock and swing musician adds a uniquely satisfying flavor to the band. His rhythmic approach to mandolin especially punctuates the band's repertoire, adding a verve and excitement to their on-stage shows which has become a distinctive feature of their performances. He is a fine lead vocalist, the ideal harmony partner for Laurie (it's not for nothing that their duet collaboration "The Oak and the Laurel" was so highly regarded that it was a Grammy nominee for the 1996 "Best Traditional Folk Album."
Todd Phillips
Todd has been appearing regularly with Laurie since the summer of 1996. An original member of the seminal David Grisman Quintet, Todd has also played and recorded with the Tony Rice Unit; the Bluegrass Album Band; Phillips, Grier & Flinner; and Psychograss. Best known for his consummate bassmanship, Todd is also a talented mandolinist. Of late he has also carved out a second career as producer. True Life Blues "True Life Blues: a Tribute to Bill Monroe," produced by Todd for Sugar Hill Records, won the 1997 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.
Craig Smith
Craig and and Laurie first met and began playing music together at the Golden West Bluegrass Festivals in Norco in the mid-'70's. When he relocated to North Carolina to be in the bluegrass music heartland they kept in touch, and continued to record and tour together whenever possible. Craig's impeccable taste, timing and tone have made him a much-sought-after studio player, and his playing has graced the albums of, to name a few, Jerry Douglas, Bobby Hicks, Herschel Sizemore and Ronnie Bowman. He has won Grammys for his work on the "Dobro Summit" and Todd Phillips' "True Life Blues: the Songs of Bill Monroe."
Scott Huffman
Scott is North Carolina's best-kept musical secret. A consummate musician on both guitar and banjo, his singing and easy-going temperament keep him in demand as a player throughout the Carolinas, most notably with the Sea Island Ramblers. He and Craig Smith began playing music together shortly after Craig moved from California to North Carolina some twenty-five years ago. He can be heard singing and playing on Craig's Rounder CD, 'Craig Smith". Until teaming up with Laurie and Tom, Scott had rarely been heard outside of his home state. He has been touring extensively with Laurie and Tom since the release of "Guest House," in the spring of 2004, delighting audiences everywhere with his beautiful lead playing; rock-solid rhythm; and, as one listener put it, "a voice that is just right- exactly what you want to hear."
Hear Laurie's music and find out more at Laurie Lewis.
