Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards

• Fiddle
• Folk
• Singer/Songwriter

Laura Cortese might best be described as a sonic magpie: a curious and resourceful adventurer traversing great distances, collecting melodies and rhythms that glitter like jewels in the sun. Driven by the gravitational pull of human connection, her tendency towards exploration and collaboration have led her into countless niches, each providing its own unique feather with which to decorate her distinct and ever-evolving sound. But all of these explorations have one thing in common: the power of strings. This may seem limiting to some. To her, it is anything but. “Strings are at the core of what I do,” she says. “Genre is secondary to that palate.”

With her band the Dance Cards, Cortese showcases all of her varied experience and expertise–as a master fiddler, an instructor, a leader, and a musical collaborator–using it to craft a new sound from whole cloth: a nearly symphonic hybrid of countless traditions and influences, full of layered vocal harmonies and rich interplays of virtuosic string instrumentation. Expanding on the boundaries of what an indie folk band can be, Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards take their extensive string music background, add their knowledge and appreciation of folk and roots music and incorporate an edgy pop sensibility.