Laurelyn Dossett
listen now children a story I’ll tell …

The Gathering string band

It wasn’t too long ago that Rhiannon and first I worked together at Triad Stage. She was one of the holiday singers in “Beautiful Star,” one of the first Appalachian music-with-play projects I co-wrote with Preston Lane. For me, her take on “O, Holy Night” changed that song forever.

We’ll share the stage together again when “The Gathering” string band performs there Tuesday, December 6 at 8 pm. This special show is a string-band only performance by “The Gathering” band featuring Rhiannon, Mike Compton, Joe Newberry, Jason Sypher and myself.

We’ll play some songs from “The Gathering” record, which includes a special version of Rhiannon singing “O, Holy Night,” and I think we can reprise a version at Triad Stage … for old times sake.

Tickets are available now. And thank you sweetly, in advance. Just remember to unwrap that hard candy before you head into the theater.

A Winter Concert at Triad Stage
8 pm December 6 at Triad Stage, Greensboro NC
Buy Tickets

The Gathering record
Available now on CD Baby
Buy now

World premier of “The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs”
November 25 and 26
Buy Tickets

Hello friends … after a road trip that took me from an Alabama lake week with the extended Dossett family to the swashbuckling pirate shows in Manteo and Cary with the NC Symphony, I am safely ensconced in North Carolina and looking forward to some shows closer to home.

Good things are in the works, read on …

Tuesdays at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen are going strong! Here are the next few weeks:

• Tuesday, July 19 — Laurelyn with Scott Manring
• Tuesday July 26 –Laurelyn with Scott Manring
• Tuesday August 2 — Molly McGinn

August

Appalachian String Band Festival
I am off to get my annual fix of old-time music at the Appalachian String Band Festival in Clifftop, WV (so much for being safely ensconced in NC).

August 1 – 4
Clifftop, WV

The Best of Our State
Check out this weekend package of performances and presenters at the historic
Carolina Inn for The Best of Our State. I’ll be singing with Scott Manring on Friday night.

August 5-7
Pinehurst, NC

November and “The Gathering”

Much to my delight and wonder, the North Carolina Symphony has commissioned me to write and perform a set of songs for the November 25-26 Holiday Pops concerts.

I have finished the song cycle, called “The Gathering,” and arranger Aaron Grad is finalizing the score for symphony and string band.

Joining me will be Rhiannon Giddens Laffan on vocals and fiddle, Joe Newberry on banjo and vocals, and Mike Compton on mandolin and vocals.

Tickets for these three performances will go on sale August 8.

Recording in the studio

In preparing for the symphony shows, the four of us decided to go ahead and record a string band version of these songs, as well as other original and traditional winter holiday songs.

We record with Joe (“JoeBass”) DeJarnette in August; I’ll keep you posted.

CD or DVD copies

Levon Helm’s Ramble at the Ryman, recently released on cd and dvd, has a great live rendition of “Anna Lee,” a song I wrote for Triad Stage’s Brother Wolf about a hundred years ago. If you are a Levon fan, a music fan, you will love this recording.

It’s on sale here.

Virgina Center for Creative Arts

If the Virginia scenery isn’t inspiring enough, there’s always a night at the “dive in movie.”

I’m spending a little time away from home here at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts in Amherst, Virginia. The creative retreat provides quiet time and ample freedom for a small group of writers, composers and visual artists to develop new ideas (or recover from the last one).

Past Fellows are recipients of some prestigious fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as winners of National Book Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, and MacArthur genius awards.

Whatever they put in the water here, has good effect.

On the drive up, I had some time to think about this last year. 2010 brought some new and challenging projects, and I wanted to thank all of you who shared in the creation, production, and performance of each of them:

Providence Gap
Beautiful Star
Songs in the Rear View Mirror
Redbird Round
Polecat Creek and Steep Canyon Rangers

A walk around this gorgeous campus is helping me settle in. A few conversations with some Fellow guests will help, too. And there’s always the pool.

Residents here turned the empty pool into a “dive in” movie. Just the kind of creative idea I’d like to dive into.

See you when I get back.