As the Beatles sang, we get by with a little help from our friends. In this case Laura Cortese and Christopher Pappas, members of Boston’s fertile music community will collaborate musically while touring together. Rather than the standard double bill set-up, they will perform together and separately, treating audiences to new material and older songs on each night of music. The two singer/songwriter/instrumentalists met at the vaunted Lizard Lounge during one of Session American’s musical nights; after being invited as guests and getting to know each other, Cortese joined Pappas at a residency at another artist-friendly area room, Toad. The seed was planted to perform together on tour.
Laura Cortese and Forest Fires hit their hometown on Sunday, November 8th for an 8pm show at Club Passim. At 10pm Cortese helps host the Boston Urban Ceilidh, bringing a blend of rocking Celtic music and fun social dancing from Ireland, Scotland and Cape Breton. She’ll lead an all-star band of Matt and Shannon Heaton and Matt Malikowski, while Hanneke Cassel calls the dances. They’ll be celebrating the official release of the first-ever Boston Urban Ceilidh EP. Cortese explains, «I wanted to capture the spirit of the dance that Hanneke Cassel and I founded seven years ago.»
Laura Cortese and Forest Fires w/ The Party Favors opening
Sunday, November 8th at Club Passim
7pm Show Tickets $15/$13 for members
10pm Show Tickets $10/$8 for members
47 Palmer Street in Cambridge
www.clubpassim.org617/492-7679
Laura Cortese has been at the heart of a creative renaissance in the Boston and Northeast acoustic music scene in the past few years. She’s a co-founder of the Boston Celtic Music Festival, and has played in the groundbreaking bands Uncle Earl (on double bass!), The Anarchist Orchestra (with Tao Rodriguez-Seeger of The Mammals) and even The Jolly Bankers, a subversively poppy stringband with a semi-cult following. Laura is enjoying a busy 2009. She has been featured at Madison Square Garden with Patterson Hood (Drive By Truckers) and Michael Franti (Spearhead) as part of Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration which is currently airing nationally on PBS’ Great Performances. Laura has toured Denmark, Ireland, the UK and the US in recent months under her own name. In June Laura joined indie rockers Band of Horses on a short run including a sold out Carnegie Hall show where Ben Bridwell and Laura sang their take on the Gram Parson and Emmylou Harris classic «A Song For You.» Playing live with her band Laura delivers original and traditional songs with the unusual combination of fiddle, bass, drums and voice. Laura’s many loyal fans in the Northeast traditional music scene have been hearing this sound evolve in her live shows and in her last two studio albums, Even the Lost Creek (2006) and Hush (2002). John Wenzel of The Denver Post said it best: «Ambition often follows talent, and Laura Cortese
