My partner Dan Frechette and I had wanted to create a supporting music video for this song ever since we released it on our penultimate album, "Driving By Candlelight," back in 2018. The pieces didn't fall into place until two weeks ago. ...

Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Frechette and I are excited to share our latest music video with you! Featured on our fifth duo album After the Fire, which we released in 2022, "Colfax Harbor" is our nod to the Celtic/Irish ballad. ...

Happy Holidays!!

I hope my last post of 2022 finds you well and enjoying a joyous and restful season. It's been a busy year and I'm looking forward to spending some time with loved ones in the coming weeks, though still virtually ...

Whew! For as shutdown as 2020 and 2021 were, 2022 has been a whirlwind of activity. I've been teaching and playing a ton of events locally, but alas, there have still been very few chances to perform as Dan ...

"After the Fire," my new album with Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Frechette, released two weeks ago and I'm pleased to announce that we've sold out of our initial ...

Today, along with our "After the Fire" album release, Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Frechette and I are releasing ...

I hope your 2022 is off to a good start. What a trying couple of years it's been... The good news I have to share is that my long awaited fifth duo album, "AFTER THE FIRE" with Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Frechette releases today, along ...

Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Frechette and I just released our first single and music video from our fifth duo album "After the Fire," which we'll be releasing in its entirely January 21, 2022 (pre-order here). ...

In this episode Laurel Thomsen is interviewed by award-winning vocalist and FAR-West Board Vice-President, Susie Glaze about her experience with teaching violin and viola online. Long before the Covid-19 pandemic, back in 2009 in fact, Laurel transitioned ...

It's been a pleasure to do some remote recording sessions through the stay-at-home-orders this year. Most recently I arranged and recorded violin and viola on a handful of tracks for fingerstyle guitarist Doug Young's new Christmas album, "Forever ...

Dan Frechette and I officially release our new CD today! Driving By Candlelight is now available online around the world and at our upcoming tour stops.

You may find and preview it here: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/driving-by-candlelight/1433893249 Amazon: ...

Today we release "American Refugee," the first single from our upcoming album "Driving by Candlelight" due for release in October. It's an original song I wrote back in 2016 and while it might appear to be political, my message ...

Dan and I just returned from our duo's debut European tour - 18 shows, 6 rental cars, 9 flights, and 6 countries in 4 weeks! Does it sound like we're counting?! It was a whirlwind for sure, but we had a great ...

Just a little update to wrap up a long, but rewarding year. I also want to tell you about a few final dates I have with Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Frechette have coming up this month in California and Nevada, ...

Catching up with you from Medicine Hat, Alberta as Dan Frechette and I continue our new album take-over of North America. In all seriousness though, the road can be tough sometimes and we've been appreciating the little lights along the way.

For ...

We got to hang out with some of Dan’s favorite birds recently, making a new music video with a song from our latest album, “Between the Rain.” Thanks to the Dennis family for letting "Pancakes" and "Ruffles" take part. The song ...

Dan Frechette and I enjoyed two CD release shows this past week for our latest album “Between the Rain.” We’re very happy with how the recordings turned out, feeling it showcases a further integration of our individual talents and chemistry while presenting ...

We just released our first "single" from the new album and my debut as a videographer and video producer! I spent many hours putting this together, learning the ropes of video editing and how to sync everything with this track from our third ...

Thanks to Julie Epp of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, one of the tracks from our second album New Disguise has become a music video! We adventured out with Julie into Bird’s Hill Park on the outskirts of Winnipeg last July and are excited to share the ...

Join Laurel Thomsen and special guest co-host Dan Frechette, as well as special guests Cara Luft and Quiles & Cloud, as they share a variety of memorable stories from their experience on the road.

Learn more about Dan Frechette by visiting ...

Join Laurel Thomsen and special guest co-host Dan Frechette, as well as special guest artists Boscoe's Brood and Toby Gray, as they share a variety of wacky, intense, and memorable stories from their time on the road.

Learn more about Dan Frechette ...

It was such an honor and pleasure to open for The Wailin' Jennys over the weekend up in Grass Valley. The audience was so supportive (and thunderous!) and the Jennys were so kind and put on a very inspiring show. Above is one of our songs from the ...

Thanks to the help of 72 Kickstarter supporters who pledged their support in December, the first shipment of my latest album with Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Frechette arrived in the mail ahead of us as ...

My year started out great - relaxing after the long tours of last year in a cabin by a lake in British Columbia, starting work on a new album and planning a new show for tours later in the year...

However, soon after, unexpected developments ...

The map photo pretty much says it all - I’ve been on the road this year!!! A few of the routes were repeated, but for the most part, singer-songwriter Dan Frechette and I did a counterclockwise trek of North America, playing over 120 concerts and festivals, ...

Join Laurel Thomsen and get the blues…a Blues fiddle lesson that is, with singer-songwriter Dan Frechette. Learn the Blues scale in a variety of keys, the Blue notes, different types of Blues rhythms, bowing and note treatment, and how to get not only ...

Every month or two since early 2012 when I was included in a New York Times front page article about teaching music via Skype, I’ve received an ...

Do you:

• have technical issues you want to master?
• pieces needing polish, or a performance or audition to prepare for?
• want a second opinion about where to focus your energy and valuable practice time for the most pay ...

Flying back to California this afternoon I’m reflecting on my first Western Canada tour with Manitoba singer-songwriter Dan Frechette - 35 shows and five weeks, across four provinces!

We have been fortunate to have some “back by popular demand” ...

I hope you will enjoy these six original songs as much as I enjoyed recording them. I had the great pleasure of working with Joe Weed at Highland Studios in Los Gatos, CA and bringing in many awesome players to help bring these compositions to a new ...

Some of you have been enjoying our overdubs on Facebook, while others are finding us at shows around California. Yes, we’ve finally met and are half way through tour!

Some highlights have included playing Mandolino Waltz, our first overdub, ...

I just received my copy of “Send Me a Sign” in the mail - The Jinxes first EP which I recorded on in August. Kevin Smith and Deanna Ross are great songwriters and people. It’s always a pleasure working with them and I’m especially happy with how my ...

Whether you've been playing for months or years, the cause of jitters, sputters, and tremor type sounds in your sustained bow strokes can be so elusive they're ranked among the most annoying and frustrating issues a string player will ever encounter. ...

Learn to adjust your fingerings to harmonize perfectly with open string drones, be they in fiddle tunes or presented as "easy" double stops in classical pieces. Sounds simple? Not so much! In this episode if the Violin Geek Podcast, find ...

All chapters of my online course are now available through String Letter Publishing. Here’s a brief rundown of the contents of each chapter in case you want to dabble, otherwise, consider purchasing the complete set of 9 chapters for just $29.99!

How ...

Very happy to finally have some video footage of my new trio, Bright Side Band. Thanks Doug Young!

If you tuned in to the live webcast we did in May you may be particularly interested to check out our closing tune which was unceremoniously cut ...

In December I was interviewed by a reporter from the New York Times, Catherine Saint Louis, about teaching violin/viola over Skype. Today, the article, “With Enough Bandwidth, Many Join the Band” made the front page, A1. Very exciting to be included!

An excerpt from my Improve Your Bowing Technique online course is featured in the January 2012 edition of Strings magazine. If your bow strokes sound better on some strings than others, it could be that you need to adjust your bow’s contact point. ...

Another excerpt from my Improve Your Bowing Technique online course is featured in the December 2011 edition of Strings magazine! Want to move your bow from G to D? Or perhaps E to G? Or...A to E? No matter where you’re rocking your bow, your upper ...

I love it when CDs I’ve recorded on arrive in the mail. To enjoy the latest along with me, check out the beautiful and well crafted songs of guitarist Doug Young! I had the pleasure to add some strings on the tune "Month of January." Doug ...

An excerpt from my Improve Your Bowing Technique online course is featured in the November 2011 edition of Strings magazine. As the foundation of your bowing technique, how you hold your bow can mean the difference between beautiful tones and perpetual ...

As the holidays approach it may be time to take advantage of seasonal sales and surprise the budding string player in your life (maybe even yourself) with a new instrument. First things first though. What size? A string teacher can size students best, ...

This Renaissance carol, “Riu Riu Chiu”, has been going around in my head for weeks! I recorded this version today on Garage Band, uploaded it to YouTube (my first time!!), and wanted to share it with everyone in honor of California's Spanish heritage. ...

As we all know, music lesson regularity and continuity are essential to progress. In an effort to decrease cancellations with current students, and to provide instruction to students in rural areas and foreign countries without access to good teachers ...

This photo was recently passed along to me after years of hearing about it and I thought I’d take the time to tell the story.

The seed of my interest in alternative genres was actually planted in the first few months of my initial study of the ...

Shannon Miller and I began the recording process in April 2006 with a fairly complete idea of the songs we wanted to record and the instrumentation for each song, however, many aspects of the polished work evolved during the process of recording the ...