Laurie Lewis is an innovative American singer, musician, and songwriter in the genre of bluegrass music.

History

Laurie Lewis was born in Long Beach, California on September 28, 1950. Her family moved regularly from place to place until she was eight years old, when they settled back in Berkeley. Her family strongly encouraged Laurie and all her siblings to play music. She started on piano and violin until a friend took her to the Berkeley Folk Festival where she first caught the

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

bug:

Oh, it was so exciting. Every night there were concerts, and during the day you'd be in a
eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...
grove listening to someone making music with nothing between you and them. Every day I'd hear something new,
Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...
or the
Greenbriar Boys The Greenbriar Boys were an American northern bluegrass music group. who first got together in jam sessions in New York's Washington Square Park. Biography In 1958, guitarist and vocalist John Herald formed The Greenbriar Boys, along with Bob Y ...
. Something about it just invited me to start playing it.Official Website
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She began picking simple songs on the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, then the fiddle. After

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, she drifted away from the music, but always kept her fiddle under her bed, not knowing exactly 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 bluegrass scene of Northern California was a powerful mix of the region's historic

progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tec ...

and ardent devotion to musical tradition. Nobody minded that young Laurie was a woman, a non-southerner, or a novice. They didn't mind if she didn't want to learn, chapter and verse, the gospels of

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

and

Ralph Stanley Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016) was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. Stanley began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of ...

. The scene gave her a rock-ribbed foundation in the rudiments of American roots music.

It really was a different deal coming to bluegrass in the
San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
. There weren't a lot of cutting contests; it was all about making music together, a focus on interdependency rather than individual prowess.

In the early 1970s she played with The Phantoms of the Opry, a Bay Area bluegrass band that also included Pat Enright (later of the

Nashville Bluegrass Band The Nashville Bluegrass Band is an American bluegrass music ensemble founded in 1984. The group's members first played together in 1984 as a backing band for Vernon Oxford and Minnie Pearl; each of the members was an established musician from t ...

). When the Phantoms broke up she co-founded the Good Ol' Persons, an all-female bluegrass band with Kathy Kallick. In 1979 she founded the Grant Street String Band, also including Beth Weil, Tom Bekeny,

Greg Townsend Gregory Townsend Sr. (born November 3, 1961) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders in the fourth round of the 1983 NFL Draft. Townsend also played for the Philadelph ...

, and Steve Krouse, in which her own

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

came to the forefront. In the late 1980s, she formed "Laurie Lewis and Grant Street". Since then, she has recorded solo and duo albums, usually accompanied by mandolin artist and singer, Tom Rozum. Nowadays, she often plays under different names with a fairly regular roster of musicians, calling themselves "Laurie Lewis and her Bluegrass Pals," "the Guest House Band;" in 2006, she renamed her group "Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands." Many years ago, Lewis twice won California's Women's Fiddling championships. She is a versatile musician, having for many years played bass and sung with Dick Oxtot's Golden Age Jazz Band, as well as with the Bay Area band the Arkansas Sheiks. Lewis plays guitar and other string instruments. As a crossover artist, Lewis is comfortable with

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and some

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

. She writes her own lyrics as well as composing the music. Her ''Songbook'' contains most of the songs she wrote in the twentieth century, as well as photographs from her from early life and the early days of her career. She has received a Grammy, and was previously nominated for that honor.

Style and sound

In addition to being well-known in the bluegrass world, Laurie has crossed many boundaries and played many genres, from bluegrass to folk and Americana. While she has always been firmly grounded in the traditional roots music of America, the nuances she brings to the table have helped her branch out, even bringing the sound of California bluegrass to a wider audience and receiving recognition for it from her musical peers.

"She is newgrass in the truest sense of the word, in that she uses bluegrass instruments to create new original music: it's music for now. As a
fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...
, she could be from the 1940s or from 2010; it's timeless. As a
singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
, she knows the rules of bluegrass and how to sing in her own voice. She's probably one of the few female singers who really knows the nuances of the
Ralph Stanley Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016) was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. Stanley began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of ...
." -Sam Bush (Newgrass Revival founder and mandolin player) "To ask how Laurie Lewis’s music is relevant in this day and age, in the broader folk, Americana, and bluegrass scenes as a whole, would be similar to asking how a brick in a home’s foundation is relevant to its structure. Her influence, her reach and her artistic intent are quiet stalwarts on which so much has been built." -Justin Hiltner, Bluegrass Situation

Recordings and performance

Lewis, accompanied by Tom Rozum, has appeared at the Grand Ole Opry and several times with Garrison Keillor on '' A Prairie Home Companion''. She was the program director for a music camp on the Oregon Coast called Bluegrass at the Beach which she has done with Tom Rozum, from 1992 until 2005. She was the director of Bluegrass Week at the Augusta Heritage Arts Workshops for 10 years, from 1986 until 1996. Lewis's songs have been recorded by others, including

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that reac ...

, and she has accompanied

Holly Near Holly Near (born June 6, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist. Early years Holly Near was born in Ukiah, California, United States, and was raised on a ranch in Potter Valley, California. She was eight years ...

. She has been invited to accompany many other artists, including Kato Sanden,

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

, and

. Besides producing her own CDs, Lewis's skill in the recording studio has resulted in her being asked to produce recordings for a number of other artists, including Scott Nygaard, Erica Wheeler, The T Sisters, Alice Gerrard, American Nomad, Melody Walker and Jacob Groopman, Ray Bierl, and Diedre McCalla. She is also in demand as a teacher on fiddle and

, vocals, and songwriting. Lewis has toured widely in many parts of the world, including most

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an countries, China, and Japan. When not on tour, she makes her home in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Golden Gate Park San Francisco CA October 2009

Personnel

Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands comprises: *Laurie Lewis: Fiddle, Guitar, Vocals * Tom Rozum: Mandolin, Vocals * Chad Manning: fiddle * Patrick Sauber: banjo * Andrew Conklin: string bass

Distinctions and awards

*Laurie Lewis twice won California's Women's Fiddling championships. *Song of the Year at IBMA in 1994 for "Who Will Watch the Home Place *Contributed fiddle and vocal performances for '' True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe'' that won a Grammy in 1997 for Best Bluegrass Album.

Todd Phillips (musician) Todd Phillips (born April 21, 1953) is an American double bassist. He has appeared on a number of acoustic instrumental and bluegrass recordings made since the mid-1970s. A two-time Grammy Award winner and founding member of the original Dav ...

is credited for winning the award as producer of the album. *She was nominated with Tom Rozum for a Grammy for their collection of duets, ''The Oak and the Laurel'', in the category of Best Traditional Folk Album of 1995. *Twice named Female Vocalist of the Year at the

International Bluegrass Music Awards The International Bluegrass Music Awards is an award show for bluegrass music presented by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). Awards are voted based on professional membership in the IBMA. Award winners 2021 award winners Th ...

, in 1992 and 1994. * She received the Collaborative Recording of the Year award three times: 1997, 2001, and 2020. In 1997 for ''True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe,'' in 2001 for ''Follow me Back to the Fold: A Tribute to Women in Bluegrass,'' and in 2020 for "The Barber's Fiddle", which she recorded alongside Becky Buller and a range of other artists.

Discography

*''Grant Street String Band'' (1983) *''Restless Rambling Heart'' (1986) *''Blue Rose'' with

Blue Rose A blue rose is a flower of the genus ''Rosa'' (family Rosaceae) that presents blue-to-violet pigmentation instead of the more common red, white, or yellow. Blue roses are often used to symbolize mystery or attaining the impossible. However, beca ...

: Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Molly Mason, and Sally Van Meter (1989) *''Love Chooses You'' (1989) *''Singin' My Troubles Away'' with Grant Street Band (1991)

Flying Fish Records Flying Fish Records was a record label founded in Chicago in 1974 that specialized in folk, blues, and country music. In the 1990s the label was sold to Rounder Records. Bruce Kaplan, the label's founder, was a native of Chicago and the son of ...

— ASIN: B000000MOQ *''True Stories'' (1993
Rounder / Umgd
— ASIN: B0000002L5 *''Together'' with Kathy Kallick (1995
Rounder Select
— ASIN: B0000002M1 *''The Oak and the Laurel'' with Tom Rozum (1995
Rounder / Umgd
— ASIN: B0000002N6 *''Earth & Sky: Songs of Laurie Lewis'' (1997
Rounder / Umgd
— ASIN: B0000002PL *''Seeing Things'' (1998) *''Laurie Lewis and Her Bluegrass Pals'' (1999
Rounder / Umgd
— ASIN: B00000IP88 *''Winter's Grace'' with Tom Rozum (2003) *''Birdsong'' *''Guest House'' with Tom Rozum (2004)

Hightone Records HighTone Records was an American independent record label based in Oakland, California, United States. HighTone specialized in American roots music including, country, rockabilly, western swing, blues and gospel. The label was created by Larry ...

— ASIN: B0001LJCQ6 *''The Golden West'' with The Right Hands (2006)

— ASIN: B000H5V8T0 *''Live'' - with The Right Hands (2008) Spruce & Maple *''Blossoms'' (2010) Spruce & Maple *''Skippin' and Flyin (2011) Spruce & Maple Music *''One Evening in May'' (2013) Spruce and Maple Music *''Laurie & Kathy Sing the Songs of Vern & Ray'' (2014) Spruce and Maple Music (with Kathy Kallick) *'' The Hazel and Alice Sessions'' (2016)

References

External links

Official Website
Laurie Lewis
MySpace page
Laurie Lewis
Bluegrass at the BeachVideo: 9/06 Interview on myfoxla.com.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Laurie 1950 births Living people Musicians from Long Beach, California American women singers Songwriters from California American bluegrass fiddlers Musicians from Berkeley, California Old-time musicians Singers from California Country musicians from California Signature Sounds artists Rounder Records artists Flying Fish Records artists 21st-century American women