Laurel Premo

Laurel Premo is known for her rhythmically deep and rapt delivery of roots music, voiced on finger-style electric guitar, lap steel, fiddle, and voice. The glowing heartiness and rich grit of her sound reveal a love of and complete submersion in heavy archaic roots—from the crossover of old-time and blues American traditions to darker Nordic sounds. She is a Michigan-based artist who has been writing, arranging, and touring since 2009 with vocal and instrumental roots acts, and is internationally known from her duo Red Tail Ring. Her 2021 solo release, ‘Golden Loam’, continues Laurel’s sonic raising of old wild landscape, with ruminant power, a masterful use of space, and dynamic waves of warm, gritty sustain. “Subtle but dazzling and rich in texture. Watching a live performance is pure hypnosis.” —MTV

Laurel Premo has spent her life immersed in American and Nordic folk traditions. Now both new compositions and arrangements of older music are held in a living relationship with tradition, musically revealing a bloom of underlying harmonic drones, minimalist repetition, and rich polyrhythm. “Premo viscerally threw herself into the music she played, rocking back and forth, and fully embodying the swaying nature of her compositions. There was something deeply moving about witnessing such an embodied and emotionally present performer work their magic, and I could have listened to her play for far longer than the set allowed.” —The Taos News

Her set at Earthwork Harvest Gathering 2024 will feature fiddle and voice lamentations as well as new guitar work.