With five decades of music-making to her credit, multi-GRAMMY nominee Laurie Lewis has emerged as both a successor and contemporary of the many greats in bluegrass, old-time, and folk music. Unafraid to venture beyond established boundaries, she has carved out her place as a uniquely singular vocalist, songwriter, instrumentalist, and frontwoman in genres revered for their adherence to tradition, authenticity, and the canon of the forebearers.
The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) has announced that Lewis will receive a 2024 Distinguished Achievement Award at the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, taking place Thursday, September 26, at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A two-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, she also won the coveted Song of the Year award for her rendition of the now-standard “Who Will Watch the Home Place?” She has sung and recorded with Linda Ronstadt (“Pretty Bird”) and set poems by Wendell Berry to music—at his request (“Burley Coulter’s Song for Kate Helen Branch”). She’s influenced and inspired folks like guitarist phenom Molly Tuttle—one example of an entire generation of pickers and singers who call her a mentor. Ultimately, Lewis occupies a unique, superlative niche in American roots music that is all her own.
Lewis released her 24th album, TREES, on May 31 on her own label, Spruce and Maple Music. With it, she presents a profound and multifaceted perspective on life, nature, loss, and grief. While deeply ruminative, this set includes danceable music that drips with community and never feels burdened by its subject matter or apparent solitude. These songs—seven originals and a handful of covers—aren’t too concerned with genre, especially given that bluegrass and old-time tend to spout from Lewis like a bubbling mountain spring, in so many distinct manifestations.
Her band has a chameleonic quality, varying a bit across the entire sequence. It includes Lewis on guitar and lead vocals throughout (along with fiddle on one track), Hasee Ciaccio on bass, Brandon Godman on fiddle, Patrick Sauber on banjo, and George Guthrie on guitar and banjo. Special guests on the album include Andrew Marlin on mandolin, Sam Reider on accordion, and Nina Gerber on guitar.
Laurie Lewis Tour Dates:
7/19-21 - Darrington Bluegrass Festival - Darrington, WA
8/14 - Valhalla - Tahoe, CA
8/16 - Rancho Nicasio - Nicasio, CA
8/17 - The Sound Union - Palo Alto, CA
8/29 - San Miguel Mission - Santa Fe, NM
8/31 - Four Corners Folk Festival - Pagosa Springs, CO
9/1 - The Old Church - Corrales, NM
9/17-20 - Bluegrass on Whitewater - Rogue River, OR
9/22 - FreshGrass Festival - North Adams, MA
9/25-26 - IBMA Conference - Raleigh, NC
9/27 - IBMA WOB Festival - Raleigh, NC
10/5 - Hardly Strictly Bluegrass - San Francisco, CA
11/2 - McCloud River Mountain Music - McCloud, CA
11/8 - The Old Steeple - Ferndale, CA
11/9 - Soper Reese Theatre - Lakeville, CA
11/30 - Freight & Salvage - Berkeley, CA
