Album Notes

Mountain Laurel, an exciting five-person bluegrass band based in the Grass Valley-Nevada City area, has entertained audiences at festivals, clubs and concerts throughout northern California for more than ten years. With its distinctive and engaging blend of traditional and contemporary bluegrass classics, hard-driving instrumentals and strong original material, Mountain Laurel has played at most of the major festivals in the state and has shared the stage with such acts as the Del McCoury Band, Ralph Stanley, Country Current, Lou Reid & Carolina and the All Girl Boys.

Bandleader, front man and mandolinist Pete Siegfried has been singing and playing bluegrass since he fell in love with the music growing up in rural Pennsylvania. A resident of Grass Valley, Pete does most of the lead singing in Mountain Laurel. His clear, sweet tenor voice is the centerpiece of the band's rich vocal sound. Pete is an accomplished songwriter; Mountain Laurel performs several of his songs on the band's two CDs, It's About Time and Trouble At The Mine.

Guitar player Ken Nilsson, who also makes his home in Grass Valley, is a creative guitarist who provides solid rhythm playing as well as sparkling, exciting solos that never fail to win applause. Another talented songwriter-he contributed two new instrumentals to Trouble At The Mine-Ken shares the lead vocals with Pete and adds tenor and baritone harmonies. Besides his work with Mountain Laurel, Ken has performed at the prestigious Healdsburg Guitar Show, demonstrating the guitars of luthier Randy Allen.

Banjo player Paul Siese has more than twenty years of experience performing and recording with such California bluegrass bands as A Touch of Grass and Past Due and Playable. Paul contributes baritone harmonies and his rich bass singing adds great texture and fullness to the band's quartet vocals on gospel numbers. He also sings lead on his original songs "Narrow Gauge" and "Long Gone." Paul's droll comments and laconic stage presence are the perfect complement to his explosive and exciting banjo picking.

Acoustic bass player Doug Bianchi, a resident of Nevada City, anchors the band with his driving and tasteful bass work. In addition to bluegrass, Doug's bass playing shows some western swing influences, a musical side he explores more fully with his other band, the Stardust Cowboys. Before joining Mountain Laurel, Doug played with the Pointless Sisters, a retro-country band with a great name.

The newest member of Mountain Laurel is Sacramento native Kathy Barwick, who plays resonator guitar and sings tenor harmonies on the trios. Kathy has toured and recorded with a number of bluegrass artists over the past twenty years, including the Bluegrass Philharmonic, Bill Grant & Delia Bell, the All Girl Boys and the Avocado Brothers. Kathy's playing is prominently featured on the second CD, Trouble At The Mine.

Mountain Laurel made its recording debut in 1999 with the aptly-titled CD, It's About Time. The band's second album, Trouble At The Mine, was released in September 2003. For information and bookings, call or e-mail Cindy Siegfried at 530-477-9488 or siegfried@jps.net.

Visit the Mountain Laurel website for news,
band photos, sound clips and a calendar of personal appearances:
http://www.mountainlaurel.us