Eddy Lawrence
Image from : Palmer Street Coffeehouse, Plattsburgh, New York, 2009
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Eddy Lawrence spent a decade in New York City before settling in the North Country of New York State in 1992. His songs and recordings have garnered critical praise in many publications, including Dirty Linen, Acoustic Guitar, The Village Voice, CMJ, Folk-Roots, Performing Songwriter, New Country, and Sing Out!.
Eddy has appeared at clubs, coffeehouses, and festivals across North America, both as a headliner and as an opening act for many well-known artists. These days, he performs in concert with his wife, Kim, who accompanies him on upright bass. The duo has recently released a new all-acoustic CD called “My Second Wife’s First Album”. The recording is their first together and the ninth album of Eddy’s original songs.
Eddy first gained attention in New York City’s thriving East Village music scene of the early 1980s. He got his start with the seminal NYC roots-rock band, LESR, before releasing his first solo album, “Walker County” in 1986. That LP was an acoustic homage to his home state of Alabama, recorded in his Lower East Side walk-up apartment, using sparse instrumentation: acoustic guitar, mandolin, and bass. For the next 15 years, Eddy worked the folk music circuit, playing coffeehouses, festivals, and clubs in support of the acoustic albums he was releasing. He mainly toured in the Northeastern US, but sometimes traveled farther afield and crisscrossed the US several times. “Going to Water”, released in 2001, harked back to his rock and roll days, featuring electric guitars, bass, and drums. In 2004 he released “Inside My Secret Pocket”, an album that featured both acoustic and electric material.
Shortly after the release of “Secret Pocket”, Eddy scaled back promotion of his own albums and songwriting in order to focus on producing recordings by Native American artists, several of which were released on his own Snowplow label. These CDs, which he produced, arranged, recorded, and played on, were well-received in Indian Country and two of them were nominated for Native American Music Awards (NAMMYs).
With “My Second Wife’s First Album”, Eddy has reentered the world of the singer-songwriter, returning to the acoustic sounds that first brought attention to his music back in the 1980s. Growing up in Alabama, with deep roots in the red clay of then-rural Walker County, Eddy was immersed in the old-time folk, country, blues, and bluegrass traditions that flourished there. He has called the area where he came from “the place where the Appalachians meet the Delta”, in reference to the musical melting pot that fused traditional European and African elements, spawning the folk, blues, gospel, rock, and soul music that heavily influenced popular music worldwide in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Eddy’s songs have appeared on many compilation albums, including NPR’s “Car Talk Car Tunes” and nine Fast Folk albums, which have been acquired by the Folkways division of the Smithsonian.
Venues where Eddy has performed include: The Birchmere, the Bluebird Café, The Bottom Line, Bound for Glory, Caffe Lena, Johnny D’s, Middle East Nightclub, Minstrel Coffeehouse, Ram’s Head Tavern, Roaring Brook Concerts, Vancouver Folk Music Festival (main stage) and many others.
Make No Bones About It 