Singing | Laurelyn Dossett & Kari Sickenberger | All Levels | Period 3 | Week 2 (July 14-19, 2024)
Laurelyn Dossett and Kari Sickenberger are the founding members of the band, Polecat Creek, and have been performing and teaching music together and separately since the band’s founding in 1994. Together they have many tricks up their sleeves, and they enjoy sharing these secrets with folks who love to sing. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned songster, we will create a safe and challenging circle of song together in this class and work on what makes harmonies haunting, or pretty, or edgy, how to hold your part while singing with another, and more. Be prepared to learn some new songs, experiment with your voice, and to sing A LOT.
About the Instructors
Singer/songwriter Laurelyn Dossett lives and writes in Stokes County, NC. Her songs have appeared in film and television (Hell on Wheels, Ain’t In it for My Health) and have been recorded by many artists including Grammy-winning Levon Helm (Anna Lee) and Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops (Leaving Eden). She has written the songs for seven plays, staged at Triad Stage and Playmaker’s Repertory. Her song cycle, The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs was commissioned by the North Carolina Symphony and premiered in Raleigh in 2011. She last performed it in 2019 with the Winston-Salem Symphony. Laurelyn has written songs for various protest movements in North Carolina including My Beloved Enemy and Vote Against Amendment One. She remains a voice for social justice and environmental activism in North Carolina and beyond. The River’s Lament is her testament to the devastation of the Dan River coal ash spill. She founded and continues to host the annual “Songs of Hope and Justice” at the North Carolina Folk Festival. Laurelyn has taught songwriting and singing at the Augusta Heritage Center, as well as at many universities, workshops and festivals. She is the recipient of the Betty Cone Medal of Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship for songwriting, the Chris Austin songwriting contest at Merlefest, and has been a fellow at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.
Kari Sickenberger has been leading singing classes and workshops since 2004. She is a founding member of the Original Roots Country band, Polecat Creek, and has been singing in the Asheville Honky Tonk band, The Western Wildcats, for over a decade. She has toured, recorded, and taught with Ginny Hawker and Tracy Schwarz, and leads singing workshops around the country and in Mexico. She draws on her vast experience as a Spanish and English teacher and her lifelong love for and experience with music to create a safe, encouraging, and FUN environment for new and experienced singers alike. See www.karisickenberger.com for more information.