Laurie Lewis
Laurie Lewis (born September 28, 1950) is a fiddler, guitarist, bassist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader from Long Beach, California, who moved to Berkeley with her family at eight. In the early 1970s she played in the Bay Area bluegrass band Phantoms of the Opry, which included Pat Enright. In 1975 she was one of the five women whose open-mic set began the Good Ol' Persons, alongside Kathy Kallick, Barbara Mendelsohn, Dorothy Baxter, and Sue Shelasky. She also played upright bass and sang for many years with Dick Oxtot's Golden Age Jazz Band. She founded the Grant Street String Band in 1979, and the band released its debut album in 1983. She released her debut solo album, Restless Rambling Heart, in 1986. She and Kathy Kallick recorded the duo album Together in 1991. IBMA named her Female Vocalist of the Year in 1992 and 1994, and her "Who Will Watch the Home Place" won Song of the Year in 1994. The Oak and the Laurel (1995), her album with mandolinist Tom Rozum, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. Her 1999 album Laurie Lewis & Her Bluegrass Pals gave its name to her band, which included Rozum, Craig Smith, Mary Gibbons, and Todd Phillips. In 2006 she renamed the band Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands.
In the newsletter
- No. 3 April-June 1995
- No. 4 July—Sept. 1995
- No. 5 Oct.—Dec. 1995
- No. 6 Winter 1996
- No. 7 Spring 1996
- No. 8 Summer 1996
- No. 9 Fall 1996
- No. 10 Winter 1997
- No. 11 Spring 1997
- No. 13 Fall 1997
- No. 15 Spring 1998
- No. 16 Fall 1998
- No. 17 Fall 1998
- No. 19 Spring 1999
- No. 20 Summer 1999
- No. 21 Fall 1999
- No. 22 Winter 2000
- No. 23 Spring/Summer 2000
- No. 24 Fall 2000
- No. 26 Spring 2001
- No. 27 September 2001
- No. 28 January 2002
- No. 31 December 2002
- No. 32 April 2003
Wrote
- Laurie Lewis: Committed to Being Me (No. 22)
- Laurie Lewis Presents Alice Gerrard with Distinguished Achievement Award (No. 28)