Laura Cortese calls California home, although she earned her musical chops on the Boston roots music scene as she studied at the city’s prestigious Berklee School of Music. Playing alongside artists such as Band of Horses, Pete Seeger, Rose Cousins, and Uncle Earl further honed Cortese’s skills and now she has fully arrived with her band the Dance Cards. Back on 6 October, Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards released their debut recording California Calling, which features consummate musicianship, gorgeous vocals, and modern sonic arrangements married to the warmest of acoustic folk playing. It’s a stunning, forward-looking sound that charts a path for further innovation in folk music.
The perfect way to discover this group’s music is the title track “California Calling”, which Cortese penned as a loving tribute to her home state. The song takes on new poignant meaning as the wildfires rage in the Golden State. Cortese says, “My heart is breaking for those affected by the wildfires in California. Our song ‘California Calling’ was intended as a love letter to California and now seems sadly prescient. I hope the song can serve as an anthem of hope and resilience that always characterized my home state.”
Today Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards are beginning their tour and it’s a perfect chance to catch this rising folk band in concert.
TOUR DATES
10/19 Branchburg, Township, NJ, Rarity Valley Theater
10/20 Warren, RI, CommonFence Music
10/21 Portland, ME, One Longfellow Square
10/22 Cambridge, CA, Oberon
10/24 Berkeley, CA, Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse
10/25 Felton, CA, Don Quixote’s
10/26 Arcata, CA, Arcata Playhouse
10/27 Exclusive Video Screening & Live Performance – Portland, OR
10/28 Seattle, WA, Seattle Folk Lore Society
10/29 Los Angeles, CA, Hotel Cafe
11/05 Moab, UT, Moab Folk Fest
11/08 Saranac Lake, NY, Blue Seed Studios
11/09 Saratoga Springs, NY, Caffe lena
11/10 New York, NY, Rockwood 3
11/11 Easton, MD, Avalon Theater
11/12 Lancaster, PA, Tigh Mhary
11/16 Penninsula, OH, GAR Hall
11/18 Madison, WI, Crescendo Madison
11/19 Minneapolis, MN, Aster Cafe
11/29 Toronto, ON, The Burdock
12/01 Toronto, ON, Folk North Conference