Laura Light has
been fiddling for dances, festivals and celebrations for thirty years.
A true American hybrid, she was born in the heartlands, spent the
seventies in folk and bluegrass clubs in the San Francisco Bay area,
homesteaded , played hoedowns and raised babies in southeastern Ohio,
and currently hits the national contra dance circuit and old time
festivals of the southeast. Through her work at the Augusta Heritage
Arts of Elkins, W. VA. Laura learned from Dewey Balfa, Liz Caroll,
Buddy MacMaster, Howard Armstrong, Johnny Gimbel and Richard Forest.
She also credits her dear friend, Freyda Epstein, a lifelong inspiration
violin, vocal and artistic coach.
Laura recorded and toured with bands: Travelin' Light, UFO, Childsplay,
The Velcro Monkeys, Intuition, and musical partners, Andra Faye, Dave
Wiesler, Raymond Cushing, Freyda Epstein, Jeff Spero, TJ Johnson,
to name a few, releasing her first solo CD in 2000.
(see recordings...)
Praise for "No Gravity"
"Fiddler, Singer, composer... Laura Light is not just one of
these, but all of them. She has a lot of loves and plays/sings/writes
about them in this heartfelt and fun album. Surrounded by a talented
group of musicians, she takes us from Quebec to Cuba, from the age
of millwheels into the new Millennium, all the while betraying the
love of tradition that I particularly love in composers."
-- singer, songwriter John McCutcheon
Laura performs
with her husband, pianist George Paul, and with the Avant
Gardeners. Her repertoire includes southern old time, New England,
Scandinavian, Cape Breton, Quebecois, Irish and swing tunes, and,
of course, her compositions. She loves to sing as well as fiddle
for audiences all around the country. As she says, "I'll do
any gig that doesn't cost me too much!" Her seemingly inexhaustible
enthusiasm for playing, especially for dancers, has kept her on
the road as a popular dance fiddler on both coasts. Recent tours
have taken Laura to Cuba, Alaska, South Africa, Sweden, France and
Ecuador.
George was born to play piano, having been prenatally exposed to
his mother's accordion and piano playing, and growing up, first
under, then at, the piano. His influences include years of jazz,
blues, funk, and country bands from Fresno to Spokane to Anchorage,
with a sprinkling of Irish sessions thrown in for good measure.
He is a prolific composer who has been dubbed, "King of contra
funk..."
Laura and George are available for concerts, school
programs, festivals, dances and dance workshops, teaching fiddle
at home. She currently plays with Dan Sebring, Dave Wiesler and
George Paul in the Avant Gardeners and
with Childsplay, a New England based fiddle
orchestra. (for booking contact laurafiddle@gmail.com)
When not on
the road, Laura and George live in White Hall, Virginia with their
dogs, Kayenne and Austin and three cats. George and Laura have three
sons and two daughters who live on the west coast from Santiago,
Chile (Toby) to Anchorage, Alaska (Will). Seth and Lisa live in
Seattle and Oakland, and both are perusing careers as professional
musicians. (TheLovemakers.com;
TheSethPaulBand.com)
Katrina is newly graduated and living in Portland, OR.
Venues:
Pinewoods, Camp,
Kentucky Summer Dance School, Buffalo Gap, Sierra Swing, Augusta
Heritage Arts, Victoria's Revenge, Blue Moon Festival, Feet Retreat,
Black Mountain Festival, John C. Campbell Folk School, Seattle's
Wannadance, Atlanta Dance weekend, Tersichore's Holiday, Bogue Banks
Boogie, Festival International -France, Festival Internationale
de Choros - Santiago, Cuba, Festival Folklorique, Ecuador, Tampa
Dance Weekend, Cumberland Music and Dance Camp, Spring Dance Romance,
Charlottesville Fall Festival, Glen Echo Ballroom Gala, Bluemont
Summer Concert Series, Institute of Musical Traditions Concert Series,
Fiddle Retreat, LaGrande, OR dance weekend, Fiddle Tunes Festival,
Bear Hug Festival, Anchorage Folk Festival, Clifftop, Childsplay
concert series, Falun Folk Festival - Sweden, Almost Heaven dance
weekend, First Night Virginia, Spring Forth Ball, and many more...
!
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