Laura Boosinger

Laura Boosinger was born in California. After living throughout the south during her teenage years, her family came to North Carolina in 1975 when Laura was seventeen. In January of 1976, she enrolled at Warren Wilson College where her life took a dramatic shift. Laura learned that she could take banjo lessons for college credit! Having no idea what she had really signed up for, she met David Holt and began a lifelong friendship with her mentor. She “designed” her own major around Appalachian Music and Studies. Laura began playing and performing with Holt and numerous other players around the Asheville area, which she adopted as her home, just as the area and its musical community adopted her. In 1984 she took over David Holt’s chair in the Luke Smathers Band, driving to Canton, NC for practice every Sunday through 1997. She learned the mountain swing style that the Smathers brothers created after hearing swing music on the radio in their formative days. They adapted tunes like “Whispering” and “Darkness on the Delta” to string band instruments and became a popular dance band throughout the region. Their repertoire included popular music from as far back as the 1920s, old-time fiddle tunes, western swing, and classic country. This band served as a training ground for Laura, and her experience with the Luke Smathers Band developed a wide repertoire and skill base.

One of Laura’s truest musical friendships has been the one she formed with George Shuffler, guitarist and bass player for the Stanley Brothers for over two decades. Shuffler helped innovate the cross-picking style of guitar so prominent throughout Bluegrass today. Cross-picked guitar and clawhammer banjo might not seem like a natural pair, but Laura and George turned the sound into a recording that artfully combines mountain tunes with Bluegrass standards, Mountain Treasures.

Laura has been a mentor for numerous young musicians in western North Carolina, always happy to sing another chorus or play a line one more time for inquiring young ears. One of those young musicians is Josh Goforth, with whom she has toured extensively in the US and Scotland. Their music is a combination of mountain standards, traditional ballads, and old pop songs. Their album, Most of All, is a striking blend of beautiful harmonies and virtuosic playing.

Currently, Laura plays with David Holt and the Lightning Bolts as well as the Midnight Plowboys. As a Lightning Bolt, Laura plays guitar and banjo and sings. Led by David Holt, the Lightning Bolts mix songs of all styles and genres with numerous instrumentations and strong doses of Holt’s characteristic history and humor. Laura began playing with The Midnight Plowboys in the late 1980’s. The band was on hiatus for about 25 years and was revived in 2012. The Plowboys features top notch musicianship and vocals, performing anything from classic country to the songs of Stephen Foster.

Laura has recorded numerous solo albums, including Let Me Linger, Down the Road, and Sing it Yourself! She is instrumental in maintaining the tradition of shaped note singing from the Christian Harmony in workshops at Merlefest and Blue Ridge Old Time Music Week at Mars Hill University and annual singings across the region. Proficient in instruments including banjo, guitar, and autoharp, she also teaches multiple instruments and offers vocal coaching. She has vast experience teaching residencies in Southern Mountain Music to public school children of all ages. In her role as Executive Director of the Madison County Arts Council she helps administer the Junior Appalachian Musician program to elementary and middle school students in Madison County, NC. She has been a mainstay at numerous festivals in western North Carolina for decades and serves as a Master of Ceremonies for The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, the oldest folk festival in the nation, and at Shindig on the Green every summer in downtown Asheville, NC. Laura also serves as a consultant to the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina project which strives to sustain the rich music traditions of the western North Carolina and the region.