Laura Light and Dave Wiesler
Virginia fiddler, Laura Light, has been playing for dances, festivals and
various and sundry celebratory occasions for twenty five years. A true
American hybrid, she was born in the heartlands, spent the seventies in
folk and bluegrass clubs in the San Francisco Bay area, homesteaded and
played hoedowns and raised babies in southeastern Ohio, and currently
hits the national contra dance circuit and old time festivals of the southeast.
She spent several years working at the Augusta Heritage Arts workshops,
sitting at the feet of Dewey BaIf a, Liz Caroll, Buddy MacMaster, Howard
Armstrong, Johnny Gimbel, Richard Forest, and the like. Her new CD,
No Gravity, reflects these eclectic tastes and feature original and traditional
songs, jigs and reels, swing and salsa.
She has been on staff at Pinewoods, Kentucky Summer Dance school,
Buffalo Gap, Sierra Swing, Augusta Heritage Arts, Victoria’s Revenge, Feet
Retreat, Black Mountain Festival, John C. Campbell Folk School, Seattle’s
Wannadance, and numerous other dance and music camps. Her repetoire
includes southern old time, New England, Scandanavian, Cape Breton,
Quebecois, Irish and swing tunes and she loves to sing as well as fiddle for
dancers all around the country. Her musical travels have taken her to Europe,
South America and all over the United States. As she says, "I’ll do any gig
that doesn’t cost me too much!" Her seemingly inexhaustible enthusiasm for
playing, especially for dancers, has kept her on the road as a popular dance
fiddler on both coasts.
Dave Wiesler is one of the mid-Atlantic’s most versatile and sought-after
pianists for folk dancing. Over the last seven years he has played extensively
in the DC area for contra dances, English and Scottish country dancing, waltz
and swing dance and vintage dance. His facility with many types of music
have earned him a national reputation, and he has played at dance festivals and
camps across the country as well as in Scotland. Dave is a prolific composer of
tunes and songs representing the folk music tradition, and he plays several other
instruments besides piano, notably guitar and five-string banjo. He has been on
staff at Pinewoods, Buffalo Gap and Ashokan as well as numerous dance
weekends and festivals all over the country. He has recorded with Elke Baker,
Karen Ashbrook and Paul Qorts, Laura and the Lava Lamps, Laura Light and
Hanneke Cassel, as well as completing a new CD of his own compositions,
MUSIC IN THE CRACKS. Dave’s compositions bridge the gap between traditional
genres of dance music and the intricacies and complexities of classical music.
His new CD showcases both his versatility as a musician and his originality as a
composer. Many of his compositions can be found in his book: DaveTunes:
Original Tunes in the Folk Dance Tradition.
Laura and Dave are currently touring and serving up concerts featuring their own music as well
a rich variety of traditional dance music, gospel and swing. Be prepared to get up and dance!
For information about the tour or bookings, please call 804-974-1488 or
email: Lauralight1@juno.com
Links
Virginia fiddler, Laura Light, has been playing for dances, festivals and
various and sundry celebratory occasions for twenty five years. A true
American hybrid, she was born in the heartlands, spent the seventies in
folk and bluegrass clubs in the San Francisco Bay area, homesteaded and
played hoedowns and raised babies in southeastern Ohio, and currently
hits the national contra dance circuit and old time festivals of the southeast.
She spent several years working at the Augusta Heritage Arts workshops,
sitting at the feet of Dewey BaIf a, Liz Caroll, Buddy MacMaster, Howard
Armstrong, Johnny Gimbel, Richard Forest, and the like. Her new CD,
No Gravity, reflects these eclectic tastes and feature original and traditional
songs, jigs and reels, swing and salsa.