Dan & Laurel EPK
Meeting in 2012 via a chance YouTube sighting and fueled by a once-in-a-lifetime musical chemistry and friendship, Canadian-American Roots-Folk duo Dan Frechette and Laurel Thomsen are “prodigious players with songwriting that sets them apart.” With soaring violin, diverse guitar styles, compelling storytelling, a dash of harmonica and humor, and unique vocal rapport they deliver a dynamic, engaging, polished performance.
Based in Northern California, Dan and Laurel’s third album, Between the Rain, was top ten on Canada’s campus radio Roots charts for 2016. Touted for being both "lyrically refreshing and musically diverse,” their original songwriting and composing spans the range of Roots based genres, “pondering contemporary subject matter with vintage sensibility.”
They have toured North America extensively, playing everything from Home Routes house concert tours of the Canadian Prairies, to headlining spots at The Listening Room Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida, BBC Radio in Liverpool, UK, Canada’s definitive Winnipeg Folk Festival and Northern California’s beloved Kate Wolf Music Festival, and opening up for The Wailin’ Jennys at a sold out theater in Grass Valley, California. Besides The United States and Canada, they’ve toured a number of European countries, including Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, and Germany.
Available performance configurations:
- Acoustic Duo
- Acoustic Trio
- Full Band
Dan and Laurel released their fifth album as a duo in 2022. Recorded in the summer of 2020 in Dan’s Bonny Doon home studio under California’s Covid–19 stay-at-home order, just days before being evacuated due to a fast moving forest fire, After the Fire marks the end of an era and a fresh start; Dan’s little studio burned the morning after rescuing the rough tracks, studio equipment, and a range of instruments the duo plays, yet rarely has the space to bring with them on the road. Highlighting various guitars, drums and percussion, piano, bass, viola, cello, and harmonica, in addition to the duo's violin and acoustic 6-string guitar, showcases new dimensions of their versatility and helped them feel the joy of performing again, knowing that despite the setbacks of the past few years, their music will thrive in new ways. Each of the 10 new original songs portrays a facet of the journey from setback to reclaimed hope - finding faith in the possibility of LOVE in “Make Me Come Alive,” HOME in “Beale Street,” COMMUNITY in “Together Again” and “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong,” and one’s own STRENGTH and FORTITUDE in “If A Wave” and “Hey, It’ll Be OK.”
The Rain Don't Need These Flowers/Back Down The Aisle
Jester
Tricky
Touring Highlights
- Winnipeg Folk Festival - Manitoba (2016)
- Kate Wolf Music Festival - CA (2019)
- Home Routes House Concert tours of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (2015, 2016, 2018, 2024)
- Brandon Folk Festival - Manitoba (2013)
- Listening Room Festival - FL (2016)
- Grass Valley Center for the Arts - CA (2016)
- Trout Forest Music Festival - Ontario (2018)
- EMCA - Manitoba (2015, 2019)
- American River Music Festival - CA (2016)
- Festival Du Voyager - Manitoba (2017)
- Russ & Julie's House Concert - CA (2014)
- Je Old Jar Bar - Aberta (2016, 2019)
- Artswells Festival - British Columbia (2016)
- And too many other wonderful house concerts and listening rooms across North America and Europe to list. Big thanks to our amazing hosts and presenters!!
"After the Fire" - released January 21, 2022!
Each song portrays a facet of the journey from setback to reclaimed hope - finding faith in the possibility of LOVE in “Make Me Come Alive,” HOME in “Beale Street,” COMMUNITY in “Together Again” and “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong,” and one’s own STRENGTH and FORTITUDE in “If A Wave” and “Hey, It’ll Be OK.”
Photography by Michelle Magdalena
Additional photography by Jim MacKenzie and Mike Latchislaw