Tom Espinola and Lorraine Duisit live in the foothills of the blue ridge mountains in Washington, Virginia.
They perform original and traditional music on harp, mandolin, guitar, voice, and percussion.
Their music reflects an enthusiasm for traditional folk and string band music, as well as classical training and involvement with chamber, orchestral, and jazz music.
Drawing freely from the music of Europe, North and South America, the British Isles, and Africa, Espinola and Duisit extend traditions through their own work to form a unique and vital music.
Espinola has taught guitar, mandolin, music theory, composition and arranging for over twenty-five years and is experienced in bluegrass, jazz, classical, avant-garde, and traditional music.
He toured the east coast with the New Morning String Band and Nothin' Doin' Band.
He has written for chamber, orchestral, theater, and dance companies, and one of his multimedia pieces was featured in the New Music America festival in Washington, D.C.
He was commissioned to arrange music for the Paul Winter Consort and for Trapezoid, who recorded his arrangements on three of their records.
His music has been featured on All Things Considered and the N.P.R. series Voices From the Mountains.
Duisit was a member of Trapezoid for over eight years, touring the U.S., Canada, and Japan and appearing on a number of television and radio shows, including Fire on the Mountain and A Prairie Home Companion.
She recorded three albums with Trapezoid and also appears on albums by John McCutcheon and Holly Near.
Her solo album, Hawks and Herons, was selected by the Washington Post as one of the finest folk records of the year.
Her music has been featured on Voice of America and All Things Considered.
Together Tom and Lorraine have toured the U.S. and Jamaica and have appeared on the radio shows Good Morning (with Noah Adams) and Mountain Stage.
They have recorded two albums together entitled Feather River (Philo 9012) and Which Way Waltz (CLR 102).
Their new recording entitled Little Folks' Songs For Little Country People is due for release in the fall of 2001.
The following is a review of Which Way Waltz for The Washington Post by Mike Joyce: A special kind of traveling music, the latest recording by multi-instrumentalists Tom Espinola and Lorraine Duisit evokes well-spent summers in the South, a series of youthful encounters with the sound and spirit of string band music in the tobacco country of eastern North Carolina.
It was there that Espinola fell in love with old-fashioned country music, "under a massive, ancient oak tree," as he recalls in the album's liner notes, and there that the seeds for this album sprouted.
He's found a kindred spirit in Duisit, best known for her tenure with the innovative band Trapezoid, and they travel well together as like musicians, back to a time and place that still nurtures their close-knit collaborations.
As the sparkling "Blue Dress," the historical musing "Iron Horse Dream," and the melancholy title cut make clear, this is not "ragged but right" country music.
Intricately and imaginatively woven, these pieces are often marked by a shimmering beauty and exquisite precision.
Espinola plays guitar, Duisit plays harp, and both draw on various members of the mandolin family to bring additional color and texture to their performances.
Meanwhile, Ralph Gordon's acoustic bass and cello underscore the music's pulse and soul.
As tight as they are, though, the arrangements successfully capture the simple charm, heartfelt emotions and rhythmic vitality associated with old-time country music played without any commercial pretense or calculation.
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