Laura Boosinger & Josh Goforth ~ Tour Scotland

[Ptarmigan]

Here's a Scottish Tour that looks very interesting indeed.

APRIL 2008 ~ Two of America’s top roots music musicians - Laura Boosinger and Josh Goforth – return to SCOTLAND for a string of dates to promote their brand new album.

Last time they toured in Scotland, fans travelled from far and wide - some from the south of England - to see them perform.

2nd ~ Edinburgh
3rd ~ Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire
4th ~ Greenock, Inverclyde
5th ~ Glasgow
6th ~ Edinburgh
8th ~ Huntly, Aberdeeshire
9th ~ Irvine, Ayrshire
10th ~ Kirkcaldy, Fife
11th ~ Kirkcaldy, Fife

For more details, check out her SCHEDULE

Laura's Website

Laura's MySpace

YouTube of Laura playing ~ Shady Grove

Josh Goforth's Website

YouTube of Josh Goforth & friends doing ~ Lord Franklin

Cheers
Dick

[Ptarmigan]

Here's what Jim Strickland has to say about Laura Boosinger:

"I attended the Suwannee Banjo Camp on Easter weekend and achieved one of my Life Goals. I met Laura Boosinger, mountain singer and old time banjo player who lives in Asheville, NC. I’ve been playing her on my WMNF show, Mr. Ethnic’s Old Time Music Show on Community Radio, 88.5, in Tampa for many years, so it was wonderful to finally meet her. She’s known as the ‘Songbird of the Smokies’ and I’m sure there are some mighty jealous songbirds in those mountains.

"She‘s not from Western North Carolina and did not grow up playing old time music but has been immersed in the culture since moving there at age 18. Along the way she met and was influenced by such people as David Holt and became very close to the Smathers family. She later played banjo in the Luke Smather’s String Band. Brothers Luke and Harold and family played, Mountain Swing, a more sublime version of Western Swing.

"She has a voice that is sweet and clear, delicate yet strong. She can sing an old mountain song with warmth or add all the nuances of swing to her vocals. Her banjo playing is the same, delicate yet strong and she knows how to give less that is more. The music is in the spaces and the integrity of the music comes out.

"Laura has a new CD, 'Most of All', that teams her with Josh Goforth on fiddle, guitar, and mandolin. They have done lovely versions of several Carter Family songs like The Winding Stream and When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland and traditional mountain songs Cluck Old Hen and Shady Grove. The humor of I’m S-A-V-E-D shines through. The beautiful blues ballad Baby I’m Blue is from old time powerhouse Joe Newberry and really showcases Laura’s jazzy swing side. Wrapping up the package are John Hartford’s In Tall Buildings and Raymond W. McClain’s I Loved You Most of All.

"I haven’t been able to stop playing this CD since I stuck it in my player. My favorite song on the project is a real rip roaring anti-war song, Peace Precious Peace, that Laura learned from a Stringbean recording, of all places. It's on her new CD and I'm gonna learn it !"

Jim Strickland

Florida Old Time Music Championship

[Ptarmigan]

I thought you might like to read this review:

Laura Boosinger & Josh Goforth, Edinburgh Folk Club

With the superbly capable young singer, guitarist, fiddler and mandolinist Josh Goforth for company, Boosinger can follow old-time folk and gospel songs with mountain swing music and Hawaiian tongue-twisters, then pass the baton to Goforth for a Canadian reel or flat-picking guitar boogie - and it all sounds like it's coming naturally from the same place.

It's not just Boosinger's singing, guitar and banjo picking that gives her an air of Appalachian authenticity. She has the background to her songs at her fingertips, sharing stories of the Carter Family's early recording sessions as if the stories have been passed down like the songs, and passing on news of her local moonshiner's recent arrest to enrich the picture she paints of her homeland.

Read the whole piece here:
The Herald ~ April 6th 2008

Cheers
Dick