Laurie Rose Griffith and Pete Mealey
Laurie is a compelling singer and gifted interpreter whose rich soprano draws every nuance and emotion from a lyric. World Folk Music Association’s Dick Cerri, says, "Laurie has the ability to get right to the heart of a song.... It's easy to fall in love when you hear her sing." While steeped in the tradition of great interpreters like Judy Collins and Joan Baez, she can deliver a blues or country rocker with authority, or finesse a jazz standard with style and intensity. She has been instrumental in bringing to the stage great songs written by songwriters who otherwise would have remained in obscurity. As a guitarist, she is a strong, versatile player with an impeccable sense of rhythm and groove.
Peter is a skilled instrumentalist on guitar, mandolin, string bass, and harmonica who has been hailed for his "superlative compositional and technical skills” (Northern Virginia Rhythm), and has been nominated for Contemporary Folk Instrumentalist of the Year by the Washington Area Music Association. He’s been a first place winner in the Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Competition, and his songs brought the duo to the finals in the Kerrville Folk Festival’s national song competition. He is the author of Melodic Fingerstyle Guitar, and the No Fear instructional books for guitar, and has contributed columns and features to a variety of publications, including Bluegrass Unlimited, Acoustic Musician and the Freelance Star.
Laurie and Peter’s music is the result of two established artists versed in many styles and traditions combining complimentary talents, skills, and personalities. Whether they are drawing from their large body of original work, singing an Australian ballad, or spinning out an Irish jig, they use their formidable musical skills simply to give an audience a complete, memorable musical experience.
While Laurie and Peter are fully functional as a duo, they perform regularly as a trio with Henry Hubbard (Bass, Vocals, an Mandolin). On occasion they expand to a quartet, when a good fiddler is in town.