Laurie Lewis CD Catalog
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and Laurie Lewis CD
Over the past four decades, Laurie Lewis’ name has become synonymous with the West Coast Bluegrass Scene. Her contributions to the genre through recordings, performances, songwriting, and producing have earned her two Grammy nominations, two International Bluegrass Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year awards, and deep-seated respect from her peers, inspiring multiple new generations of musicians in the process. On her new album, "and Laurie Lewis," she presents a collection of duets, joined by ten West Coast musicians with whom she has shared touchstone moments throughout her career. With the album’s thirteen tracks Lewis demonstrates her commitment to making music as an act of community building, sharing what she describes as “intimate conversations” with musicians from her past, present, and future.
Album Notes
Song Titles
* You Are My Flower * Baby, That Would Sure Go Good * Rooster Crow * My Last Go-Round * Old Friend * Mama Cry * The Lonely One * Ain’t Nobody Got the Blues Like Me * Will the Circle Be Unbroken * The Pika Song * O The Wind and Rain * Troubled Times * This is our Home *
CD Reviews
"Here comes Laurie Lewis's latest album, and it's a wonder.” —Mitch Finley, Inland Northwest Bluegrass Music Association
Mercury News ~ By Andrew GilbertSome albums provide a snapshot of a musician at a particular instant in time, capturing the mood and feel of the moment. “And Laurie Lewis,” the latest release by the Berkeley bluegrass icon, works more like a time-lapse montage, distilling a thick web of friendships forged over a lifetime.
A series of duets with some of acoustic music’s most accomplished artists, it’s an intimate portrait of her musical family tree. The album’s striking cover art conveys the depth of the relationships with an image of the intertwined roots of a California live oak and California bay laurel, It was created by Lewis’ longtime musical partner Tom Rozum (the mandolinist is featured on a haunting version of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” based on a recording by the Monroe Brothers).
“When I set out to make this album it took me a while to realize how deep the connections run,” says Lewis, 69, who earned a Grammy nomination for 1995’s “The Oak and the Laurel,” a duo album with Rozum. “Everyone is such an old friend or they are someone I’ve known almost since they were born. And they’re all West Coast people.”
In many ways “And Laurie Lewis” embodies the vital intergenerational nature of an acoustic scene that encompasses bluegrass, old-time music, jazz and kindred traditions. On the opening track “You Are My Flower” she’s joined by 27-year-old bluegrass star Molly Tuttle, a vocalist and guitarist she’s known and championed since her early teens.
“Molly was the perfect person for this traditional song I first heard on a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album,” Lewis says. “She’s a guitar goddess and she created such a beautiful blend vocally. She can just lay her voice on mine. It sounds as if she’s been listening to me her whole life,” which is pretty much the case. They also recorded “The Lonely One,” a beautiful ballad written by Emily Mann, a brilliant young banjo player, fiddler and vocalist who performs in the old-time duo Paper Wings. Much like with Tuttle, Lewis took Mann under her wing after meeting her as a young teen at the Big Sur Fiddle Camp.
The youth wave continues with two duets featuring fiddler and vocalist Tatiana Hargreaves, 24, who came into Lewis’ orbit at the age of 7 via Bluegrass at the Beach, a music camp on the Oregon coast. The Lewis originals explore divergent emotional terrain. Hargreaves evokes an anguished parent on “Mama Cry” while skittering exuberantly on “The Pika Song,” an affectionate ode to the frisky Sierra Nevada-dwelling rodent.
Their ties run deep. Hargreaves spent several years touring with Lewis and contributed some powerful fiddle work on her 2017 Grammy-nominated album “The Hazel and Alice Sessions.” It’s work that established Hargreaves as a creative force in bluegrass, a position she never anticipated before her stint with Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands.
“I never considered myself a bluegrass fiddler,” says Hargreaves, who’s on the music faculty at the University of North Carolina in Durham. “I was old-time. But in college Laurie called and recruited me for the Right Hands and she made me a bluegrass fiddler. Now I teach bluegrass fiddle at UNC. Somehow she knew I had it in me. Laurie is such an important figure connecting these different generations, and this album is such a great example of that.”
Not that the kids get all the attention on “and Laurie Lewis.” She tracked down a bevy of former bandmates for some of the album’s most memorable pieces, like a romping version of “Baby, That Would Sure Go Good” with bass master Todd Phillips and a glowing reunion with vocalist Kathy Kallick on Lewis’s “Old Friend.”
No piece better captures the breadth of Lewis’ music than Dick Oxtot’s “Ain’t Nobody Got the Blues Like Me,” a rollicking duet featuring another longtime friend, Barbara Higbie (on piano and vocals). Higbie was still a teenager in the mid-1970s when she started singing with Lewis in Oxtot’s traditional New Orleans-style Golden Age Jazz Band every weekend at The Point in Pt. Richmond, four sets a night. A banjo player, cornetist and singer, Oxtot was more than pleased to feature the talented young women.
“We were so lucky to be the youngsters on that scene,” Higbie says. “Everybody but us in that band was collecting Social Security. I played piano, Laurie played bass, and we sang a lot of duets. Even way back then her voice was a commanding force. She did a lot of big Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith blues, a real departure from bluegrass singing that showcased her voice in a different way.”
The sound is timeless, but Lewis also seems dialed into the anxiety-ridden zeitgeist on the album’s only a cappella track, the lament and clarion call for solidarity “Troubled Times.” With Leah Wollenberg joining Lewis on vocals, it’s an arresting performance that seems to speak directly to our sheltered-in-place moment, though she actually wrote the song years ago. Their rough-hewn harmonies evoke the struggles and resilience that have carried Americans through previous dark passages as they sing the refrain “We’ll face these troubled times and see them through.” Amen.
While Lewis did not record an album till 1983, our paths crossed somewhere along the bluegrass line nearly a decade before. She first stood out as women were then rare in bluegrass (except for on the progressive West Coast), then as an outstanding guitarist, and rarer still, band leader. In the intervening years she became a staple on the circuit, and now a icon, an influence and inspiration to many younger women who have taken up the mantle. This not to say that Lewis has given up the ghost, not by a long shot. Billed as an album of duets (with Molly Tuttle, Mike Marshall, Tatiana Hargreaves, Barbara Higbie, and more), and Laurie Lewis is pure Lewis while also permitting friends to pay tribute to her.
Mixing originals with covers (all but one are by women), Lewis’ brilliance shines in her reverence and quiet understatement. Of particular interest is Rosalie Sorrels’ “My Last Go-Round,” a beautiful lullaby that pretty well encapsulates Sorrels’ troubadour life. Lewis continues that theme with the original “This Is Our Home” that closes the album, an introspective piece that’s as post-modern as any younger artist could muster. As the traditional “You Are My Flower” opens the album, these 13 duets constitute a retrospective song cycle of a different sort, one that traverses where she’s been and where’s she headed.
Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association, March 28, 2020
“I can’t stop listening to this CD these last few days. I’m looking for a word: prescient perhaps. It’s as if she knew I needed to hear this collection of songs right at this time. Of course, that’s incredibly selfish for me to say. She is reaching out to all of us.” - Chris Brashear
It’s Saturday, March 28, 2020, as I look out at the empty street. New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo gives an update on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We are bombarded with hourly updates on a local, national and global scale. I sit down at my desk and absorb the magical elements in the CD cover: and Laurie Lewis.
I have known Laurie Lewis for many years, at least since the late 1980’s. I can also say that I have a pretty healthy collection of her recorded work in all of those years, and– get this– I can’t stop listening to this CD these last few days. I’m looking for a word: prescient perhaps. It’s as if she knew I needed to hear this collection of songs right at this time. Of course, that’s incredibly selfish for me to say. She is reaching out to all of us.
Artistry is not commonplace. I’m talking about the stuff that’s beyond just good pickin’ and singin’. I’m talking about how an artist, a writer and singer, grapples with her own feelings, her genre, her own station in life and processes all of this into a coherent musical message. This beautiful collection of songs transmits empathy, melancholy, intimacy and an embrace that one can only call love. With every listen, that emotional tsunami keeps getting stronger and stronger.
OK, for all bluegrassers wary of the touchy-feely, don’t take me wrong. Let me just name a few songs for you: You Are My Flower, Ain’t Nobody Got The Blues Like Me, Old Friend, O The Wind and Rain, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Troubled Times. Did I mention that all of the songs on this CD are duets? Laurie has teamed up with some long-time friends and associates for this recording. Here’s the great list of folks she has recruited: Nina Gerber, Tatiana Hargreaves, Barbara Higbie, Kathy Kallick, Mike Marshall, Todd Phillips, Tom Rozum, Craig Smith, Molly Tuttle and Leah Wollenberg. There is so much good playing and singing here. I mean, sweet Jesus, Tatiana is a fiddler’s fiddler and when Nina Gerber plays electric guitar (you’ll think sometimes it is a pedal steel) the greater trochanter of my femur starts to turn into jelly.
So, I say you should have this CD in your collection today. Pour yourself a glass of wine, go for a hike with your headset or do whatever it is you like to do to give some space for this music. Free yourself, let the tears flow if they may. Laurie Lewis has been a creative and inspirational force in bluegrass and folk music for a long time. Let her reach out and touch you. The last song is called This Is Our Home. Boy, as I look out at the lonely street today, I feel that more than ever.
– Chris Brashear
New Release ~ and Laurie Lewis
Over the past four decades, Laurie Lewis’ name has become synonymous with the West Coast Bluegrass Scene. On her new album, "and Laurie Lewis," she presents a collection of duets, joined by ten West Coast musicians with whom she has shared touchstone moments throughout her career.
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The Hazel and Alice Sessions - Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands CDSpruce and Maple Music ~ Downloads
When I was in my early 20s, I became obsessed with bluegrass music. I particulary loved the singing of Bill Monroe, Ralph and Carter Stanley, Lester Flatt, and other first-generation practioners of the bluegrass arts. As I delved deeper, I began to notice the paucity of recorded women role models, especially ones who sang in the more hard-edged, gritty style of their male counterparts (as opposed to sounding high, warble-y and sweet). Then someone gave me a copy of the then-decade-old Who's That Knocking?, the first LP by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerard. Hazel and Alice became, for me, instant mentors, a deep well of inspiration and, I'm Happy to say, good friends. In true bluegrass tradition, Hazel and Alice's repertoire drew from Carter Family songs ("Who's That Knocking?," "Darling Nellie,""Let That Liar Alone") and other early string band classics ("Train on the Island," "Walking in My Sleep"), mixed with their own original compositions. In 1989, I toured with Cris Williamson and Teresa Trull. They opened the show each night with a beautiful duet version of "Pretty Bird," which inspired the version included here. Linda Ronstadt and I recorded it as part of a Rounder Records benefit CD for Hazel over 10 years ago. As of this writing that record remains unreleased. Song TitlesCowboy Jim * James Alley Blues * Who's That Knocking? * Walking in My Sleep * Mama's Gonna Stay * Won't You Come and Sing for Me? * Darling Nellie * Farewell My Home * Let That Liar Alone * You'll Get No More of Me * Train on the Island * working Girl Blues * I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling * Pretty Bird
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Laurie & Kathy Sing The Songs of Vern & RaySpruce and Maple Music ~ Downloads
Little Birdie
Before Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick became the highly respected and successful singers, songwriters, and bluegrass bandleaders they are today, they were founding members of the groundbreaking northern California band the Good Ol’ Persons. Although Laurie remained in that group for only a short while before moving on to lead her own bands, she and Kathy forged a lifelong personal and professional friendship that endures to this day. They recorded a collaborative album, Together, in 1991, for Kaleidoscope Records, on which they performed their wonderful interpretation of the venerable "Little Annie," learned from Vern & Ray. Laurie and Kathy wrote in the liner notes, “This album is respectfully dedicated to Vern Williams and Ray Park, early sources of inspiration for both of us.” This new album, in which the two perform music exclusively drawn from the repertoires of those early mentors, is the latest coming-together of this multi-talented twosome. It is long overdue. –Randy Pitts, from the liner notes
Song TitlesOh! Susanna * Cabin On A Mountain * Cowboy Jack * Little Birdie * If I Had My Life To Live Over Again * Happy I’ll Be * Black-Eyed Susie * To Hell With The Land * Flying Cloud * Montana Cowboy * Down Among the Budded Roses * Thinkin’ of Home * Field of Flowers * How Many Times * My Clinch Mountain Home * My Old Kentucky Home * Blue Grass Style * Touch of God’s Hand
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One Evening in MaySpruce and Maple Music ~ DownloadsI'm Missing You Tonight (Listen)
The CD, recorded live at the Freight and Salvage on May 8, 2013, features Nina Gerber on electric guitar; and Tom Rozum on mandolin, mandola, guitar and vocals; and Laurie Lewis on guitar, fiddle and vocals. They are joined by the T Sisters on harmony vocals and Tristan Clarridge on fiddle. Laurie says, "The 15 songs include many written on my retreat in Wyoming in the Winter of 2012, and the performances have that shimmering excitement of their newness about them. The CD is in a lovely letterpress package designed by Tom Rozum and printed by Stumptown Printers. It's a joy to hold in the hand."
All songs written by Laurie Lewis/ Spruce and Maple Music, except "Ring of Fire" (June Carter, Merle Kilgore/ Painted Desert Music Corp), " Down to Tampa" (traditional, from Paul Brown), "Winthrop Waltz" (Nina Gerber/ Goatscape Music), and "One Sweet Hello" (Mearle Haggard/Sony ATV Tree Publishing).
Recorded live at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, CA by Ken "Easy Ed" Edwards.
Song TitlesRing of Fire * My True Love Loves Me * Barstow * Garden Grow * Sailing Boat * I'm Missing You Tonight * Kisses * En Voz Baja * Down to Tampa * Trees * Winthrop Waltz * Arson of the Heart * The Crooked Miles * One Sweet Hello * With Me Wherever I Go
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Skippin' and Flyin'Spruce and Maple Music ~ DownloadsAmerican Chestnuts (Listen)
Laurie Lewis' new CD, SKIPPIN' AND FLYIN', is a personal tribute to the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, and mixes songs from the bluegrass repertoire and contemporary writers and Lewis' originals. In turns lively, exciting, deep and heartfelt, the songs feature Lewis' expressive vocals and instrumentation by GRAMMY Award-winning bassist Todd Phillips, the legendary Craig Smith on banjo, and mandolinist/vocalist Tom Rozum. Linda Ronstadt is among the special guests.
"Bill Monroe was not a follower of styles but steadfastly played his singular music through the good times and the tough, inspiring me with his example to be free to explore my own musical path. Performed with a 'traditional' bluegrass band (fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar, and bass), all of the harmony singing stems directly from the school of Bill Monroe. This collection is an installment on those student loans and a warm thank-you to Big Mon." - Laurie Lewis (from the CD liner notes)
Recorded at LewieToons Studio, Berkeley, CA. Engineer: Laurie Lewis
Song TitlesOld Ten Broeck * What's Good For You * The Pharaoh's Daughter * Hartfordtown 1944 * Tuck Away My Lonesome Blues * I Don't Care Anymore * A Lonesome Road * Dreams * American Chestnuts * Carter's Blues * Fair Beauty Bright * Blue Moon of Kentucky * I Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow * Going Away
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Hills to Hollers ~ Live
The Napa Valley Opera House burnished its reputation for cultural diversity Friday night, presenting a rip-roaring night of country fiddling, field hollering and some mournful blues. The show, titled "Hills to Hollers," featured three musical virtuosos - soul singer and drummer Linda Tillery, bluegrass singer and fiddler Laurie Lewis and multi-genre singer-fiddler-pianist Barbara Higbie - in a two-show of rousing musicality.
The opening half featured roots music of the South and Appalachia with plenty of banjo picking, fiddle playing, with a harmonica grace note or two. The women did a lively field holler that a might passed muster among sun-baked cotton pickers, although Tillery insisted this was an "Oakland holler." She invited the crowd to join in some old-fashioned buck dancing, but accepted audience clapping as a substitute.
This Hills to Hollers trio dug deep into Delta blues, producing renditions that were faithful to the source or were recast into swinging bluegrass. The evening was all about roots music, the kind that has no commercial clout these days and would only rarely be heard no matter how many times you spun the dial on the radio. Before the Nashville sound of today, country music was much earthier. The performers resurrected several songs from the late Hazel Dickens, whose sweet lyrics evoked America's agrarian roots before TV and the Interstate began the great homogenization of our culture.
The performers, who have deep Bay Area credentials, have teamed up to use their prodigious talents to showcase American musical genres that have been blown out by today's styles. The Opera House is one of their Bay Area gigs as they prepare to record a CD and appear this summer at the Edmonton Folk Festival, Canada's premier event for traditional music. Higbie was recently at the Opera House for a Windham Hill winter solstice show, then later with the Montreux jazz group. She performed both an original piano composition, then later a madcap reel, with Lewis joining her on fiddle.
Highlights of the second half included Lewis singing Hank Williams' "I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry," and the group's show-ending "San Francisco Bay Blues." For an encore, the trio raced through two fiddle tune, raising the temperature in the room by a good 25 degrees.
"Hills to Hollers" offers up a great richness of song, reminding us that America's musical legacy is far deeper and more diverse than today's pop charts. -Kevin Courtney, Napa Valley Register
Song TitlesMidnight Special * Black Girl/In the Pines * Working Girl Blues * Here Today * Rosie * Pharaoh's Daughter * Tip the Canoe * Toots Blues * Cold Front Morning/Piano Solo * I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry * Hollerin' * San Francisco Bay Blues
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Blossoms (YouTube video)Spruce and Maple Music ~ Downloads"Here Today" (Listen)
Laurie Lewis with many others, including Tom Rozum, Kathy Kallick, Kate MacLeod, Scott Huffman, Craig Smith, Alex Hargreaves, Tristan Clarridge, Brian Rice, Nina Gerber, Todd Sickafoose, Annie, Marie, & Jeannie Burns, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, Tim O'Brien, David Grier, Todd Phillips, Brittany Haas, Suzy Thompson, Patrick Sauber, Andrew Conklin, Chad Manning, Darol Anger, Roy Rogers, Billy Lee Lewis, Noe Venable, Art Hirahara, Jim Rothermel, John Gove, and Ches Smith.
Steven Stone ~ Vintage Guitar Magazine, January, 2011 Laurie Lewis is a bluegrass pioneer, and her latest release showcases the breadth of her musical talent-singing, songwriting, and playing guitar and fiddle.
Song TitlesHow Can I Keep From Singing? * Lark in the Morning * Chains of Letters * Cool Your Jets * The Roughest Road * Burley Coulter's Song for Kate Helen Branch * Unfinished Life * Sophie's House * Beaver Creek * Return to the Fire * Here Today * Train of Love * Tell Me True * Sirens
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LiveSpruce & Maple Music"Alaska" (Listen)
"A product of the Bay Area's bluegrass scene, Laurie exemplifies the genre's universal appeal, even as she remains true to its regionalist origins. A superb multi-instrumentalist, Laurie with her group [the Right Hands] . displays its light touch and impeccable taste . they transform their influences into music that feels immediate, personal and even at times eccentric."- Ed Hurt, Nashville Scene, Festival Picks
Laurie Lewis, fiddle, Tom Rozum, mandolin, Scott Huffman, guitar, Craig Smith, banjo, Todd Phillips, string bass, with Tatiana Hargreaves, fiddle on "O My Malissa/How Old Are You?"
Recorded on location by Fred Forssell 3/9/07, First United Methodist Church, Corvallis, OR 3/10/07, Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts, Longview, WA 3/11/07, Cashmere Community Coffeehouse, Cashmere, WA.
Song TitlesAlaska * Before the Sun Goes Down * Just a Lie * Live Forever * Geraldine and Ruthie Mae * O My Malissa / How Old Are You? * Val's Cabin * Curly-Headed Woman * Tall Pines * Love Chooses You * Worried Man Blues * The Rope * Going to the West * The Wood Thrush's Song * Diamond Joe * My Walking Stick * Who Will Watch the Home Place? * Texas Bluebonnets
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The Golden WestHighTone 8194 Complete Liner Notes"Your Eyes" (Listen)
For three days in July of 2005, we five (Tom Rozum, Scott Huffman, Craig Smith, Todd Phillips, and me) lived together in the guest house at Sage Arts Studio outside Arlington, WA and recorded these songs. We had intended to be more prepared when we got there, but life in the twenty-first century being what it is, we just showed up with a general idea of what songs we could do and no arrangements to speak of.
Over the course of the three days, we played, recorded, cooked and ate together, walked in the woods, stared at the nearby Stillaguamish River, and played some more. Everything seemed so fresh and enticing to us, hearing and playing the majority of these tunes for the first time as a group.
Song TitlesYour Eyes * Burley Coulter's Song for Kate Helen Branch * Before the Sun Goes Down * Live Forever * Rank Stranger * Bury Me In Bluegrass * The Golden West * A Hand to Hold * River Under the Road * Hard Luck in Heaven * The Mourning Cloak * Goodbye Waltz
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Guest HouseHightone HCD 8167"Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes" (Listen)
Currently Out of Stock
Guest House is the new duet album from Bay Area stalwarts Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum. The album features a wide range of styles from bluegrass to folk to country showcasing their many talents. Guest musicians include Todd Sickafoose (string bass), Craig Smith (banjo), Scott Huffman (guitar), Nina Gerber (lead guitar), Mike Marshall (mandocello, guitar) and Tom Sauber (banjo).
Song TitlesWillie Poor Boy * Since You Went Away * Bad Seed * Tramps And Hawkers * Alaska * O My Malissa/How Old Are You? * My Heart's Own Love * Old Dan Tucker * Scars From An Old Love * Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes * Quiet Hills * Just A Lie * Wild Rose Of The Mountain/The Devil Chased Me Around The Stump/Glory At The Meeting House
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Steam and Steel: Songs of Railroad's Golden AgeA collection of ten songs inspired by historic stories and tales of the Golden Age of the Steam Locomotive, written by train historian Ken Hojnacki and performed by a cast of award-winning bluegrass musicians, produced by Laurie Lewis.
Featuring Laurie Lewis (vocals, fiddle), Tom Rozum (vocals, mandolin), Scott Huffman (vocals, guitars), Patrick Sauber (banjo), Chad Manning (fiddle), Bobby Black (steel & resophonic guitars), and Andrew Conklin (string bass).
Strikingly packaged with original art by Genevieve Davis, this collection is the perfect addition to any gift shop or catalogue.
"Through the sounds of old-time mountain music, bluegrass, and early country music, Laurie Lewis beautifully interprets Ken Hojnacki's timeless songs. This one will not leave your CD player!"
Ray Edlund
"What a pleasure it is to hear this bygone era come alive again to the sounds of banjos, fiddles, guitars, and bass. The singing throughout is soulful and evocative."
Kimberly Baker
Song TitlesOld Saginaw * Denver & Rio Grande* Memories, Childhood Days * The Wreck of the No. 9 * Passenger Train * Rutland Road * East Broad Top * The O & W Line * The Ballad of Bill Strauss * Four Ribbons of Light
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Seeing ThingsRounder 0428 "Visualize (Listen)
Laurie Lewis with Tom Rozum, Todd Phillips, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, Billy Lee Lewis, Rob Ickes, Sally Van Meter, Cris Williamson, and more. "Laurie Lewis is a singer, writer and performer of the pure American song. Her music feels like coming home." --Patty Larkin Seeing Things captures Laurie Lewis at her best, expanding on her legacy as a singer / songwriter and acoustic musician and stepping out rhythmically and lyrically into new territory. Accompanied by a cast of stellar West Coast musicians, Laurie delivers her most energized performance to date.
Song TitlesBlue Days, Sleepless Nights * The Refugee * Visualize * Kiss Me Before I Die * Let The Bird Go Free * Bane and Balm * I'll Take Back My Heart * Tattoo * Angel On His Shoulder * Manzanar * The Blackest Crow
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Earth & SkyRounder 0400
"Girlfriend, Guard Your Heart" (Listen)
Laurie Lewis with many others, including Tom Rozum, Tim O'Brien, Sam Bush, Mike Marshall, Kathy Kallick, Russ Barenberg, Jerry Douglas & Mark Schatz. "All of Laurie Lewis' qualities as a vocalist, an instrumentalist and a bandleader are on display here; but the real purpose of this collection is to remind us of what an extraordinary songwriter Laurie is. The terms bluegrass and folk certainly apply, yet her songs stretch far beyond those categories. You'll find Caribbean currents, new age air and the fire of love, as well as the earth of her homegrown country, folk and bluegrass tunes as you listen. Her scope may be broad and her styles diverse, but Laurie Lewis has a singular, steadfast gift -- songs that abide with us and linger in our hearts. Songs that endure. Songs that last like earth and sky." --Robert K. Oermann, from his liner notes Earth & Sky contains highlights from Laurie Lewis' three Flying Fish albums, plus four previously unreleased tracks.
Song TitlesGirlfriend, Guard Your Heart * Green Fields * Don't Get Too Close * Love Chooses You * Texas Bluebonnets * Fine Line * Old Friend * The Maple's Lament * The Bear Song * The Light * The Point of No Return * Restless Rambling Heart * I'd Be Lost Without You * The Hills of My Home * Haven of Mercy * Magic Light
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Winter's Grace CDDog Boy Records SIG 1251 Snowy Road (Listen)
"Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum celebrate not just the Christmas holiday, but the entire winter solstice season... they explore winter's beauty, joys and hardships. Winter's Grace is one of the few seasonal recordings worth hunting down."
"Good music for the holidays can be hard to come by. So when a gem like this comes by, grab it!"
Song TitlesThe Messenger * The Snowy Road * If We Make It Through December * Earth Moves In A Mysterious Way * Wassail Song * The Gift * Christmas Time's A-Comin' * Hot Buttered Rum * Heiligste Nacht * Wintergrace * Cold Frosty Morning
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The Oak and the Laurel
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Laurie Lewis & her Bluegrass Pals (YouTube video)Rounder 0461 "Blow, Big Wind (Listen)
"This album is a kind of homecoming for Laurie Lewis, a return to the music that claimed her heart as a teenager and set her on her course as a musician. Today she's one of bluegrass music's established stars, a virtuoso picker, fine singer, dynamic bandleader, and unique storyteller. Laurie Lewis and Her Bluegrass Pals -- Tom Rozum, Todd Phillips, Craig Smith and Mary Gibbons, all talented musicians in their own right -- emphasize the joy of playing bluegrass in a band setting: five people singing and playing acoustically to create a rich and ever-changing musical fabric." --Neil V. Rosenberg, from his liner notes
Song TitlesTall Pines * Stepping Stones * Blow, Big Wind * Going to the West * When I Get Home * Black Waters * Big Eddy * Acony Bell * Wind at Play * Weevily Wheat * Hard Luck and Trouble * The Wood Thrush's Song * Beyond the River Bend
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Singin' My Troubles AwayFlying Fish 515 "Diamond Joe (Listen)
Laurie Lewis & Grant Streetwith Tom Rozum, Scott Nygaard, Tony Furtado and Tammy Fassaert
Originally a classically trained violinist, Laurie Lewis became a California bluegrass and old-time fiddle champion in the 1970s, and went on to found the Good Ol' Persons (along with Kathy Kallick) before forming her own Grant Street String Band in 1979. Mandolinist Tom Rozum joined Grant Street in 1987 and the pair's exquisite vocal blend and sympathetic instrumental interplay immediately became a key part of the trademark Grant Street sound. In addition to Laurie Lewis on fiddle and vocals and Tom Rozum on mandolin, guitar, vocals, the 1990 version of the Grant Street Band includes Tony Furtado on banjo, Scott Nygaard on guitar and Tammy Fassaert on bass and vocals. Songs included come from the repertoire of the Louvin and Delmore Brothers, Jimmie Rodgers, the Maddox Brothers & Rose and others.
Song TitlesDiamond Joe * Don't Get Too Close * The Rope * Beautiful Bouquet * Overdrive * Heartache * When the Cactus Is In Bloom * I Wish It Had Been A Dream * New Day * Singin' My Troubles Away * Hell Among the Yearlings * Raleigh and Spencer * I Miss the Mississippi and You
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Love Chooses YouFlying Fish 487 Love Chooses You (Listen)
This 1989 collection of eight Lewis originals, and covers of Mark Simos' "When the Night Bird Sings," Sean O'Riada's "The Women of Ireland" and the traditional "Ryestraw," features co-producer Russ Barenberg (guitar, mandolin), Jerry Douglas (Dobro), Mark Schatz and Mark Hembree (acoustic bass), Kenny Malone (drums), Tom Rozum (vocals), Craig Smith (banjo), Sam Bush (mandolin), Pat Enright (guitar), Buddy Emmons (pedal steel), Jim Horn (tenor and soprano saxophones) and others.
Song TitlesOld Friend * The Hills Of My Home * The Point Of No Return * I Don't Know Why * I'd Be Lost Without You * When The Night Bird Sings * The Women Of Ireland/Ryestraw * The Light * Texas Bluebonnets * Love Chooses You
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Blue RoseSugar Hill 3768 Currently Out of Stock Laurie Lewis, Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer, Molly Mason, Sally Van Meter
Song TitlesRiver Of Change * Geraldine And Ruthie Mae * Blue Love * Little Birds * Your Friendship Carries Me * Sad But True * Wild Rose Of The Mountain * Careless Love * Train Of Life * Time Has Made A Change
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Kristin's StorySpruce & Maple Music"Kristin" (RA) (Listen) I'm pleased to announce the release of "Kristin's Story" on CD.
This charming and imaginative tale for young listeners was written by my dad, Louis W. Lewis, for my older sister when she was little. That's been some time ago now, but the music and story have stuck with me all these years. I finally decided that we just had to record it. My dad, an accomplished flutist who played for a little while with the Dallas Symphony, wrote not only the narrative but the flute music as well. We enlisted the help of Matt Eakle (of the David Grisman Quintet) to play flute and Heather Rowntree to read the story. Artwork was supplied by (my best friend since fourth grade) Dana Everts Boehm.
Louis W. Lewis says:
The Great God Pan invented the Panpipes, which was a bundle of hollow reeds of different lengths, on which he could play music. (If a reed, or any hollow tube, is closed at one end, and you blow across the open end, you can produce a musical tone. Each tube plays one note, depending upon its length. Blowing across the end of a pop-bottle would have the same effect).
Our little elf made his instrument the same way Pan did--- from a bundle of reeds of different lengths. His reeds, or pipes, have a different sound than the sound of the silver flute that plays the rest of the music. Can you hear this different sound?
This story was written for Kristin when she was two years old. When she grew up, she also became a flute player! It's fun to play a musical instrument."
It is recommended for children 7 years and under. I, of course, recommend it for everyone.
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True StoriesRounder 0300 Who Will Watch The Home Place (Listen)
Laurie Lewis with Tom Rozum, Peter McLaughlin, Cary Black, Rob Ickes, Mike Marshall and others. Few artists in the country/folk field today wear as many hats as Laurie Lewis. Many know her as the smoothly melodic, thoughtful songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Kathy Mattea and Patsy Montana. Others know her as one of the premier fiddlers and vocalists in bluegrass and New Traditionalist circles. Her own band, Grant Street, is a fixture on bluegrass and folk circuits. Although her roots dig deep into many traditional and contemporary music forms for strength and inspiration, the music she makes is always very much her own. This is a collection of classic Lewis songs -- songs sung straight from the heart. --Scott Alarik. Lewis won 1994 International Bluegrass Music Awards for Best Female Vocalist and Best Song (for "Who Will Watch the Home Place").
Song TitlesSinging Bird * Val's Cabin * Knocking On Your Door Again * Long Way 'Round * So Beautiful * You'll Be Leaving Me * Sand, Water, Waves * Swept Away * Here Comes the Rain * The Mill * Slow Learner * Still a Fool * Who Will Watch the Home Place? ('94 IBMA Song of the Year!)
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JublieeDog Boy Records (SIG 1246) Download Tunes
Tom's Debut CD Produced by Tom Rozum with Laurie Lewis with: Todd Phillips, Herb Pederson, Mike Marshall, Rob Ickes, Darol Anger, Craig Smith, Bobby Hicks, Charles Sawtelle, Mary Gibbons, Peter McLaughlin, Cary Black, Sylvia Herold
Song TitlesDon't Fix Up The Doghouse * Jubilee * One Sweet Hello * Sweet Sally Brown * On The Old Kentucky Shore * Muddy Weather/Jeff City * Love Is A Lonely Street * Without My Walking Stick Ramblin' Blues * Mason's Lament * Walk Downtown
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Good Ol' PersonsLaurie Lewis: fiddle, mandolin, vocals Kathy Kallick: string bass, vocals Barbara Mendelsohn: banjo, hammered dulcimer, spoons, vocals Paul Shelasky: mandolin, fiddle, vocals Dorothy Baxter: guitar Laurie says: "This was my very first time in a recording studio, and I like to think that we've all improved a bunch since then... but it is very charming, and the song selection is excellent. " The original Good Ol' Persons recorded this in 1976, at Bay Records, in Alameda, CA. It was issued in 1977 on the Bay label, after Laurie had left the band. The CD reissue features a bonus track, and the music is still fresh and new-feeling, even after nearly thirty years. A must for the complete-ist among you. Midwest Record Recap (June, 1978) had this to say: "The classic back porch record. In which we are delighted to the California hippie version of old-time bluegrass music. It works well in its non-commercial way."
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Craig SmithRounder Records 0357 "Rose Of Alabama" (RA) (Listen) Laurie also sings a lot on this one. "Craig Smith is a neat banjo player in the same way I think Allen Shelton is -- clever, witty, precise, orderly and logical. His album is full of neat tunes, breaks, licks, chord selections and timing intricacies. Taken altogether, Craig demonstrates a deep understanding of music and the five-string banjo tradition. His innovations can and will become welcome additions to the standard five-string banjo fare. Craig's playing is a pure pleasure to listen to." --Alan Munde Song TitlesSandy River Belle * Two Long Years * St. Louis Blues * Charade * Curly Headed Woman * Humoresque * The Memory of Your Smile * The Girl I Left Behind Me * Annie Laurie * Rose of Alabama * Clinch Mountain Backstep * My Old Kentucky Home * Moscow Nights
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True Life Blues ~ The Songs of Bill MonroeSugar Hill 2209 "True Life Blues" (RA) (Listen)
GRAMMY WINNER! 1997 IBMA Album of the Year!30 bluegrass greats pay tribute to the father of bluegrass music. Includes performances by Sam Bush, Vassar Clements, David Grisman, John Hartford, Tim & Mollie O'Brien, Del & Ronnie McCoury, Jerry Douglas, Laurie Lewis, Peter Rowan, David Grier, Alan O'Bryant, and many more. Extensive liner notes trace Monroe's career. Song TitlesMolly and Tenbrooks * True Life Blues * I'm On My Way Back to the Old Home * Highway of Sorrow * Old Ebenezer Scrooge * Memories of You * Rawhide * Can't You Hear Me Callin' * Letter from my Darlin' * Sittin' Alone in the Moonlight * Big Mon * Get Down on Your Knees and Pray * Used to Be * Scotland * Travelin' This Lonesome Rd. * Heavy Traffic Ahead * Little Cabin Home on the Hill ('97 Grammy Winner!)
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Together ~ Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick
Rounder 0318 Laurie Lewis & Kathy Kallick with Tom Rozum, John Reischman, Charles Sawtelle, Sally Van Meter and others From the first duet that Kathy and I sang, there was an immediate feeling of ease and excitement, which heralded the beginning of a collaboration which has lasted over 15 years. In a way, we cut our bluegrass teeth singing together. After a few years together in the Good Ol' Persons, I left to follow my own musical path, and Kathy took charge of the group. Although the time was right for us to move on, I guess it took me a while to really find my own voice without Kathy's. Now, coming back together for this project is in a way like coming back home -- that instant ease is still there, but there's the added excitement of our own personal growth and change (we've gotten better). In a way this project is long overdue, and in a way we just weren't ready until now. It's great to be back home."
Song TitlesLost John * Going Up On The Mountain * Don't You See That Train? * Just Like Rain * Don't Leave Your Little Girl * That Dawn the Day You Left * Is the Blue Moon Still Shining? * The Touch of the Master's Hand * Hideaway * Maverick * Lay Down My Old Guitar * Count Your Blessings
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Masters of the BanjoGourd Music 122 ~ Arhoolie Records 421 "Sweet Fern" (RA) (Listen)
Live performances from the acclaimed tour, Masters of the Banjo, organized by the National Council for the Traditional Arts.
Song TitlesThe Eldest of All*A Family Quarrel on Sunday*If You Come, Come*If You Go, Go*John Brown's Dream*Let Me Fall*Yellow Rose of Texas*Oh My Little Darling*The Wild Fox*Wind Chimes and Nursery Rhymes*Cherry Blossom Waltz*Hand In Hand*Bird In The Tree*Charleston / Mason's Apron*Lark In The Morning Medley*Laurie Lewis and Dudley Connell: The Lover's Return*The Johnson Boys*McMitchen's Reel*Say Old Man, Can You Play The Fiddle?*Mississippi Sawyer*Sweet Fern*On My Mind*Evergreen*Nobody's Love Is Like Mine*I Just Think I'll Go Away*Children, Go Where I Send Thee*Frailing Medley
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Charles Sawtelle
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Cliffs of Vermilion
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Bird SongSpruce and Maple"The Wood Thrush's Song" (RA) (Listen) A compilation of eleven songs that have in common abundant bird imagery. Some of them are taken from previously released CD's, and I thank Rounder, Sugar Hill, Dog Boy record companies, and all the writers and publishers, for letting me use these cuts on a royalty-free basis for this worthy fund-raiser. The beautiful artwork on the cover was painted by Debby Cotter Kaspari, former banjo-player with the SF bay area's All Girl Boys. In addition to the previously-released material, I recorded two more songs especially for this CD.
Audubon Canyon Ranch (ACR) is a non-profit organization that owns and operates three nature preserves in Marin and Sonoma Counties, California: The Bolinas Lagoon Preserve in Stinson Beach, the Bouverie Preserve in Valley of the Moon and Cypress Grove Preserve in Marshall.
Each year more than 22,000 people visit the Bolinas Lagoon Preserve during its open season from March to July. Resource management research and environmental education programs are conducted throughout the year. Last year, more than 3,000 school children learned about the preservation of the immediate area's habitats and the biology of its flora and fauna. The Bolinas Lagoon Preserve is currently looking for volunteers who would like to be trained to lead these programs. - Laurie
All profits go to Audubon Canyon Ranch. For more information visit their web site or call ACR at 415/868-9244.
Song Titles
Bird in the Wood * Tell Me True * The Wood Thrush's Song * When the Night Bird Sings * Singing Bird * Let the Bird Go Free * Haven of Mercy * Acony Bell * Solitary Singer * Little Birds * The Blackest Crow
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In the PinesTodd Phillips Gourd Music 122
Laurie plays fiddle, with Stuart Duncan, Tim O'Brien, Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Tony Trischka, Scott Nygaard and others.
Song TitlesRye Straw * Train on the Island * Bury Me not on the Lone Prairie * Liza Jane * Midnight on the Stormy Deep * Sugar in the Gourd * Down in the Valley to Pray * In the Pines * Spotted Pony * I Truly Understand * Whistlin' Rufus * In the Willow Garden * Sally Ann
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