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Click to hear episode #99 (time = 53:07, size = 48.7 mb)

I *almost* met Florida-based songwriters Laurie Jennings and Dana Keller when they made their first trek to the east coast two years ago. We had a near-miss on a cobill and never had a chance to cross paths. I was looking forward to meeting them and figured that we would whenever it was supposed to happen. I got the chance a few months back when they made their next trip out here to the left coast. They spent some time in town, dropped into my little songwriter series out in Corralitos to do a guest set (see clip below), and visited with me the next day to share their story.

Laurie and Dana travel tour using an RV for homebase. We chatted in their motor home and ended up with a very thorough conversation on songwriting, putting together a tour after staking out a few house concerts, and how library gigs help backfill much of their schedule.

In this episode of “Songs and Stories”, we’ll hear about Laurie’s New York theater background, how she ended up in Florida running her own songwriter venue, and how that evolved into her writing and performing her own material. We’ll also hear Dana’s background as a dobro and steel guitar player with a very impressive resume. (He’s shared the stage with folks like Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Dave Mason.)