The Avant Gardeners are fiddler and vocalist Laura
Light, George Paul on piano and accordion, and Dan Sebring on guitar. The tunes
are eclectic, original and rootsy - American hybrid variety.
Laura Light has been
fiddling for dances, festivals and celebrations for thirty 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 , played hoedowns and
raised babies in southeastern Ohio, and currently hits the national contra dance
circuit and old time festivals of the southeast. Through her work at the Augusta
Heritage Arts of Elkins, West Virginia. Laura learned from Dewey Balfa, Liz
Caroll, Buddy MacMaster, Howard Armstrong, Johnny Gimbel and Richard Forest. She
also credits her dear friend, Freyda Epstein, a lifelong inspiration violin,
vocal and artistic coach.
Laura recorded and toured with bands: Travelin' Light, UFO, Childsplay, The
Velcro Monkeys, Intuition, and musical partners, Andra Faye, Dave Wiesler,
Raymond Cushing, Freyda Epstein, Jeff Spero, TJ Johnson, to name a few,
releasing her first solo CD in 2000.
Laura performs with her husband,
pianist George Paul, and with the
Avant Gardeners. Her repertoire includes southern old time, New England,
Scandinavian, Cape Breton, Quebecois, Irish and swing tunes, and, of course, her
compositions. She loves to sing as well as fiddle for audiences all around the
country. 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. Recent tours have
taken Laura to Cuba, Alaska, South Africa, Sweden, France and Ecuador.
George was born to play piano, having been prenatally exposed to his
mother's accordion and piano playing, and growing up, first under, then at, the
piano. His influences include years of jazz, blues, funk, and country bands from
Fresno to Spokane to Anchorage, with a sprinkling of Irish sessions thrown in
for good measure. He is a prolific composer who has been dubbed, "King of contra
funk..."
www.lauralight.com/bands.html
