Midwestern fiddle and dance has been shaped by a diversity of cultures, including Nordic immigrants, Indigenous and Metis musicians, French Canadians, Irish settlers, and bowing styles and polyrhythms from Southeastern-style music traveling up with folks through places like southern Illinois. Each day we’ll look at a different subregion or culture within the Midwest, explore tunes, style, and learn about some of the players from the past. Laurel will share how these various impulses have been woven into her fiddling style, and where you can look for continued learning.
Instructor Bio
Known for rhythmically deep and rapt delivery of roots music voiced on banjo, fiddle, finger-style guitar, lap steel, and voice, Laurel Premo is a Michigan-based touring and recording artist, composer, engineer and music educator. MTV News described Premo’s 2021 solo record ‘Golden Loam’ as “subtle but dazzling and rich in texture. Watching a live performance is pure hypnosis.” As a collaborator, soundtrack composer, and teacher, she’s internationally sought out as an authentic representative of her field. Drawing on American and Nordic traditions alongside new compositions borne out of that traditional vocabulary, the glowing heartiness and rich grit of her sound reveal a love of and complete submersion in these heavy archaic roots. Important mentors who have helped shape Laurel’s lens in folk arts have been her parents Bette & Dean Premo (fiddle, guitar, and traditional song, Michigan), Joel Mabus (clawhammer banjo, Michigan), Arto Järvelä (fiddle, Finland), and Ånon Egeland (fiddle, Norway).