Laura Smith

Violin, Fiddle

Laura loves to play around with music. She'll take an old fiddle tune and play it the way they did in 1958. Or maybe she'll add some funky new chords, layer it with a little Bach, try adding a country riff – why not?

A native of Northern California, Laura grew up competing on the fiddle, eventually winning the California State, Nevada State and Western Open Young Adult Divisions as well as placing in the top five of the nationals in Wieser, ID. She also enjoyed playing classical violin, and soloed with the Lake County Symphony.

She traveled to the Northeast for college, completing a BA in Music Performance at Berklee College of Music, and immersed herself in the hot pickin' circles of Boston, MA. One of Laura's highlights from Boston was opening for Willie Nelson with a group of friends from Berklee.

Lessons with Laura

Laura has taught throughout her musical career and loves nothing better than to introduce students of all ages to the magic of creating their own music. As a teacher, she focuses on a balance of inspiration and explanation. Inspiration: because if you don't love your music, what's the point? And technique: because if it's easy to play and sounds good, you'll keep coming back for more!