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Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival
Presented by the Redlands Community Music Association, Inc.
Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum pay tribute to Bluegrass great Bill Monroe
Laurie Lewis was first bitten by the “folk” bug at the Berkeley Folk Festivals in the late 1960s. Since then, she has won a Grammy and been twice named Female Vocalist of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. Fellow musician Sam Bush calls her “newgrass,” and Lewis, Tom Rozum, and the Guest House Band will present their concert, “A Tribute to Bill Monroe,” on Tuesday, August 9 as the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival continues.
Melding traditional bluegrass with her own style, Lewis has been performing for more than 30 years, and for 20 years with duet partner Rozum.
“Tom is a unique mandolin player,” Lewis said in a recent telephone interview. “His style is his own, he is a wonderful singer, and any band would be seriously lucky to have him in the group.”
As a dutiful child, Lewis met her instrument, the fiddle, when her parents chose it for her.
“I fell in love with the instrument, but not with classical music,” she said. “The violin was a good choice.”
She chose bluegrass because of its soul.
“It’s emotional without being maudlin,” said Lewis. “It is straight ahead, it’s about real life and real people. And I love the way the instruments work together. They are a perfect blending of instruments, and make the most rhythmic music you can find.”
Performing with Lewis and Rozum will be Grammy-winning bassist and vocalist Todd Phillips and banjo and guitar player, Scott Huffman. “Scott grew up in North Carolina playing this music,” Lewis said. “He is North Carolina’s best-kept secret, the real deal.”
Lewis and Rozum will come to the Redlands Bowl directly from the Edmonton Folk Festival in Alberta, Canada, which follows two river rafting “concert” trips.
“We love to do these trips,” she said. “We go with a commercial rafting company, ride the river and play in the water all day, then sit around the campfire all evening, just hanging around and playing music. It’s the perfect setting: outdoors, no microphones, no sound system, just us and our instruments.”
At 3 p.m. on August 9, Lewis and Rozum will present “Have a blast with bluegrass” at the Children’s Summer Festival Workshop at the First Congregational Church, 2 W. Olive Avenue in Redlands. The workshop is free and open to children ages 4 – 10.
The concert begins at 8:15 p.m. following the Community Sing at 7:20 led by Kim Hoeptner and accompanied by Harriet Talbert.
Like all Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival performances, this event is free of charge, and a free-will offering will be collected at intermission.
The ushers will be representatives of the Loma Linda Citizens Patrol, the Arts Council for San Bernardino County, and Starbucks. The intermission speaker will be Beverly Noerr, Executive Director for the Redlands Community Music Association.
The Redlands Bowl is located on Eureka Street just south of Brookside Avenue in Redlands. For information and directions, call (909) 793-7316 or visit the Web site at www.redlandsbowl.org.
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