The Songbird
Artist At Work
Like our own native ‘Redbird,’ Laurelyn Dossett creates musical magic and beauty
By aShley Wahl • PhotoGraPh By hannah SharPe
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s darkness fell across the Appalachian valley on a crisp evening winter before last, Laurelyn Dossett watched through the window of a cabin near Fancy Gap, Virginia, alone, probably barefooted. “During the day, as far as I knew, I was the only person on the planet,” says Dossett, recalling the dense woods, the fog — the sense of total isolation, save for the sounds of her old Gibson and the blanket of the surrounding natural world. “But at night, the lights slowly started to appear,” she says. Her blue eyes brighten. “I realized I was not alone.” Those lights — distant houses, proofs of life — became the inspiration behind “Lights in the Lowlands,” one of the six pieces that make up The Gathering, the song cycle Dossett was commissioned to write for the North Carolina Symphony’s upcoming Holiday Pops concert.
16 O.Henry
October/November 2011
The score, arranged by American composer Aaron Grad, sits on a worn wooden coffee table in Dossett’s den here in Greensboro. Her rocking chair creaks as she shifts forward to pick it up. She thumbs through, marveling at the intricacy. “I’m just a folk-song writer,” says Dossett, rocking softly. “I write what I see, what I hear, what the birds are doing… I wasn’t trained in composition.” No matter. Dossett has a gift: storytelling. And with that sweet, songbird voice of hers, people listen.
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Rewind the years. Before Dossett’s endeavors with the NC Symphony began. Before one of her songs appeared on Levon Helm’s Grammy-winning album, Dirt Farmer. Before collaborating with playwright Preston Lane to write music for four original Triad Stage productions. Before co-founding the roots duo Polecat Creek. Just fifteen years ago, “Mom” was Dossett’s full-time job. The Art & Soul of Greensboro