(Photo by Tom Swinnen of Pexels)
Eugene-based musician and volcano expert Leif Karlstrom is going to be a guest on folk artist Gaelynn Lea’s Sunday Sessions YouTube concert on Sunday, April 11. Karlstrom will be sharing his violin and mandolin music, as well as chatting about his performance career with both the bluegrass band Front Country & his newer duo Small Town Therapy. He will also talk about his most recent project involving volcano music and data-driven composition, The Volcano Listening Project. The Minnesota-based violinist and songwriter Gaelynn Lea will close out the concert with some of her own music. The online audience is encouraged to get involved by asking questions of the guest artist in the chat. Captions will be provided for hearing-impaired audience members. You can tune into this LIVE performance on Sunday, April 11, at 2pm Central Time (noon Pacific, 3pm Eastern). This weekly show is free, but tips are encouraged and will be split between Lea and Karlstrom. Watch the concert at this link: youtu.be/MWMl8fxzCgY.
Important Links for Gaelynn Lea:
April 11 Concert Link: youtu.be/MWMl8fxzCgY
Gaelynn Lea’s Website: violinscratches.com
Gaelynn Lea’s YouTube: youtube.com/gaelynnlea
Gaelynn Lea’s Patreon: patreon.com/gaelynnlea
Gaelynn Lea’s Bandcamp: gaelynnlea.bandcamp.com
Gaelynn Lea’s Social Media:
Facebook: facebook.com/gaelynnlea
Twitter: twitter.com/gaelynnlea
Instagram: instagram.com/gaelynnlea
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gaelynnlea
YouTube: youtube.com/gaelynnlea
More Background about Gaelynn Lea & Sunday Sessions:
Gaelynn Lea won NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2016, and not long after, she took to the road with her husband, Paul. Before the Coronavirus hit, she had toured in 45 states and nine countries, captivating audiences around the world with her unique mix of haunting original songs and traditional fiddle tunes. Gaelynn Lea has appeared in several major festivals, including SXSW, Winnipeg Folk Festival and Reykjavik Arts Festival. She’s also opened for well-known bands such as Wilco, The Decemberists, LOW, The Jayhawks and even the industrial rock supergroup Pigface. Gaelynn has shared her perspective as a disabled touring artist on PBS NewsHour, OnBeing with Krista Tippett, The Moth Radio Hour, The Science of Happiness Podcast and through two widely-viewed TEDx Talks. Needless to say, Gaelynn Lea was a songstress on the go.
Obviously the COVID-19 pandemic threw quite a spanner in the works. Gaelynn and her husband were halfway out to a tour in Colorado when they had to turn the van around and head back to Minnesota for lockdown. Like all other musicians around the world, her in-person concerts have been paused indefinitely. But Gaelynn Lea is not easily discouraged. She quickly pivoted to online shows; starting March 22, she began performing a concert on YouTube every Sunday to fans who join her from all over the world.
This series, aptly named Sunday Sessions has evolved over the months to include not only Gaelynn’s original songs, but improvisational violin pieces based on prompts from the virtual audience, and (most recently) a different guest artist each week. Guests include some well-known folks like Bob Boilen and Jeff Tweedy from Wilco, as well as a wide variety of songwriters, photographers, painters and writers from around the country (and occasionally other countries).
In addition to her Sunday live-stream concerts, Gaelynn Lea is currently working on a memoir about her touring adventures and disability advocacy that she plans to release in 2022. You can support her work on Patreon, and check out the full archive of Gaelynn Lea’s Sunday Sessions at the playlist on her YouTube page.