Tom Rozum and Laurie Lewis photo by Don Prichard

As the year begins Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum are off to Hawaii to perform three duet shows this February then back to a spring and summer of music as Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, playing Merlefest, Wilkesboro, NC; Strawberry Park, Preston, CT; Bluegrass for the Greenbelt, Oakland, CA; and the High Mountain High Fever Festival, Westcliffe, CO. Visit LaurieLewis.com for additional tour details.

Laurie and Tom will be teaching at Augusta Heritage Bluegrass Week, Elkins, WV and riding on Echo River trips down the Rogue and Tuolumne rivers in Oregon and California.

A new solo album of Laurie’s originals with many friends is planned for release this year. Laurie has been in the studio with others over the winter producing CD projects for Ray Bierl (www.raybierl.com) and Susie Glaze (www.susieglaze.com).

Lewis has also posted more downloads on her website at www.LaurieLewis.com.

“This new section [of the website] allows us to furnish individual song and tune downloads from our self-produced CD’s and our deep catalog, as well as the “best of” from live shows. We are offering only stuff that is not available anywhere else. As we go back through the archives, we will be adding some live cuts from over the years. Please let us know what you think, and what you’d like to have made available this way. We’re listening.”Laurie Lewis

Singles Recently added to the Download section in the online store include:

Ula Ai Hawane
(Laurie Lewis/Spruce and Maple Music, ASCAP)
Laurie Lewis: lead vocal, guitar, Richard Bennett: Hawaiian guitar, Rick Cunha: ukulele, Todd Phillips: string bass, Tom Rozum, Julay Brooks, Rick Cunha: harmony vocals
This song, inspired by the music of Kalama’s Quartet, recites the names of some of Hawaii’s extinct birds: Ula Ai Hawane, Akialoa, Kaka Wahie, Kioea, and O’o.

Love Chooses You (Recorded live at Wintergrass, February 2005, by Fred Forssell)
(Laurie Lewis)
Laurie Lewis and the Right Hand

Laurie Lewis- vocal and guitar, Tom Rozum- mandolin, harmony vocal, Scott Huffman- guitar, Craig Smith- banjo, Todd Phillips- string bass

Geraldine and Ruthie Mae (Recorded live at the Cashmere Coffeehouse, Cashmere, WA, March 2007, by Fred Forssell)
(Sarah Elizabeth Campbell)
Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands
Laurie Lewis- vocal and guitar, Tom Rozum- mandolin, harmony vocal, Scott Huffman- guitar, Craig Smith- banjo, Todd Phillips- string bass

Train of Love
(Johnny Cash)
Laurie Lewis- vocals, guitar, Roy Rogers- slide guitar, Darol Anger- fiddle, Tom Rozum- mandolin, harmony vocal, Todd Phillips- bass, Billy Lee Lewis- drums
Laurie recorded this for a Johnny Cash tribute on CMH Records, called Cash on Delivery. Great slide and fiddle!

Trouble in Mind
Laurie Lewis with Lost Weekend western swing band, recorded at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, March 13, 1992 from their live CD, Swingin’ Out West (www.lostweekend.ws)
Personnel:Bobby Black- steel guitar, Chris Grampp- lead guitar, Don Burnham- rhythm guitar, Kevin Wimmer- fiddle, Doug Harman- piano, Bing Nathan- bass, “Buffalo Bill” Maginnis- drums, Jim Rothermel- reeds, Jack Minger- trumpet, Bob Mielke- trombone

Beaver Creek
(Public Domain)
Laurie Lewis, Fiddle, Craig Smith, Banjo
Craig learned this tune from fiddler Steve Thomas, who says it’s from Pennsylvania. We occasionally play it in concert. We’d play it more often if the guitar player would break more strings.

How Can I Keep from Singing?
(Public Domain)
Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, Tom Rozum: vocals

Lulalulay
(Laurie Lewis/Spruce and Maple Music, ASCAP)
Laurie Lewis: fiddle, guitar, vocal, Tom Rozum: mandola, Kathy Kallick: harmony vocal

Video: Laurie Lewis & Grant Street - Those Texas Bluebonnets

Features Laurie and Tom Rozum on twin fiddles.

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In honor of Ralph Stanley’s 72nd birthday on Feb. 25th, Murphy Method is having a sale on their Ralph Stanley Style DVD. The sale price is only $20.00 plus shipping and the sale price is good from now through February. The DVD teaches the popular “Clinch Mountain Backstep,” the huge hit, “Man of Constant Sorrow” and more.

Casey Henry has been added to the staff at Banjo Camp North, which takes place May 16-18, 2008 near Groton, Mass. Casey, along with Bill Evans, Alan Munde, Janet Davis, Bill Keith, and others will teach classes for all levels and lead jams in the evenings. There is a pre-camp show on Thursday, May 15 in Lexington, Mass.

And finally a clip from Chris Henry’s January 16th, 2008 Station Inn show earlier this month: a triple-mandolin version of “Farewell to Long Hollow.” featuring Chris, Red Henry, and Brian Frazier. The tune appears on Chris’s CD “Monroe Approved.”

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The Lewis Family

GRAMMY^® nominated and Dove Award winning Artist, Jeff & Sheri Easter, have combined their talents with the Easter Brothers and the Lewis Family, Sheri’s family, for a collection of family and musical heritage. “We Are Family” is scheduled for release March 4, 2008.

Produced by Jeff and Sheri Easter, “We Are Family” is a studio recording featuring nine fan favorites performed by at least one member of all three families and a special bonus track of the title song, “We Are Family,” written especially for the project by Woody Wright. “It’s a dream come true to be able to perform with my family, and it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been a part of,” exclaimed Jeff Easter. We Are Family includes hits like “Roses Will Bloom Again,” “Slippers With Wings,” and “Thank You Lord For Your Blessings.”

We Are Family is also set to release a live DVD with a bonus live CD recorded during the annual Mayberry Days in Mt. Airy, NC, at the Blackmon Amphitheatre. The DVD will feature interview footage and commentary from family members on this once in a lifetime event.

“Historically, this project will be remembered as a family’s legacy of gospel music,” stated Sheri Easter. “Personally, it is a scrapbook of love. Love for one another, love for the music, and love for God. I am honored to be a part of something that will marry our families’ heritages with our children’s future.”

This family project carries combined achievements of over 130 years of touring, more than 150 recordings, multiple Grammy nominations, Dove Awards and nominations and over 70 fan and industry awards. This family also holds inductions into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame, GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and the IBMA Hall of Honor, as well as impressive appearances at The Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Sidney Opera House.

The Lewis Family hit, “Slippers With Wings,” the first single currently out to Southern Gospel radio, features Polly Lewis Copsey, Sheri Easter and Morgan Easter, three generations of musical heritage.

For more information on The lewis family visit http://thelewisfamilymusic.com and information on Jeff and Sheri Easter can be found at www.jeffandsherieaster.com.

Below is a video clip from the forth coming DVD.

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YouTube video from a few years back of Sierra Hull and Ryan Holladay playing “Salt Creek.”

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Bluegrass sensations the Infamous Stringdusters play “No More To Leave You Behind” at KSUT in Ignacio, CO

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