Laurie Lewis and bluegrass music will be part of the 11th Annual Monterey Cowboy Music & Poetry Festival this year in beautiful Monterey, California. Here are the details below. 

About Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum

Since forming a musical partnership in 1986, when Tom first joined Laurie’s acclaimed band, Grant Street, Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum have recorded 12 albums and performed around the globe. These Grammy-nominated artists (for their 1995 album The Oak and the Laurel) are widely regarded as among the leading lights of modern bluegrass and are highly-prized by their peers as sidemen and producers.

International Bluegrass Music Association executive director Dan Hays calls Laurie “one of the preeminent bluegrass and Americana artists of our time.” Acclaimed musician Sam Bush puts it more simply, calling her “a great singer, terrific fiddle player, fine songwriter, and one very good band leader.” Laurie also performed on both the Grammy-award winning, 1997 IBMA album of the year True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe, and the Grammy-nominated Ralph Stanley & Friends’ release Clinch Mountain Country.

New England native Tom Rozum “possesses an earnest tenor voice in the vein of contemporary bluegrass great Tim O'Brien, and peels off rhythmically crisp licks on mandolin and guitar.” —Derk Richardson In 1998, he released his debut solo album Jubilee on Dog Boy Records. “Without reservation, one of 1998’s most rewarding acoustic releases.”

TICKETS TO GO ON SALE JUNE 1ST FOR THE 11TH ANNUAL
MONTEREY COWBOY POETRY & MUSIC FESTIVAL
AND WESTERN ART & GEAR SHOW TO BE HELD DECEMBER 11-13 2009 IN MONTEREY, CA

   August, 2009, Monterey, CA – Tickets are on sale on Monday, June 1st for the 11th Annual Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival and Western Art & Gear Show  to be held from Friday through Sunday, December 11, 12, and 13, 2009.  The festival will be held at the Monterey Conference Center located at One Portola Plaza, in downtown Monterey, CA. This popular annual event for all ages celebrates Monterey’s contribution to our western heritage with cowboy poetry, song, dance, and a first class western art and gear show. The festival brings together people from all over the United States to enjoy and learn more about the “cowboy way of life,” including its history, current values and culture. This year’s featured entertainers include

   The festival features seven outstanding shows scheduled over the three days, a Christmas Western Art & Gear Show and Sale, and Silent Auction. There is also Sunday morning Cowboy Church to benefit The Salvation Army of the Monterey Peninsula and features many of the top performers of the weekend. The special entertainment lineup will include Lacy J. Dalton, Don Edwards, Hot Club of Cowtown, Sons of the San Joaquin, the Gillette Brothers and Dennis Gaines from Texas, Doris Daley from Canada, Pat Richardson and his brother Jess Howard, Waddie Mitchell, Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, and many more.

   Ticket prices range from $25-$35 or $200 for an All Event ticket.  After August 1, All Event tickets are $200. For more information, to become a sponsor, a volunteer, or to purchase tickets, visit the website at http://www.montereycowboy.org or call 1-800-722-9652.

The Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival also coordinates the popular Cowboys in the Schools Program. During the school year, volunteers work with local educators to introduce the concept of Cowboy Culture and the influence of the vaquero to a diverse group of elementary school students. This “Cowboy Way of Life” program helps to teach youth self-esteem, ethics and values, writing, art, and history. In addition to presentations at schools, the organization brings hundreds of students to Carmel Valley Trail and Saddle Club each year to see cowboys working with horses and cattle and many exciting live demonstrations by local volunteers. Young people also participate in the “Open Mic” event during the festival weekend.

   The Monterey Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival is supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation, the Arts Council for Monterey County with support from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, and numerous local businesses, agencies, and festival fans.

Website: montereycowboy.org