Dan Frechette & Laurel Thomsen

Whether we’re playing festivals, music halls, house concerts, weddings, retirement homes, or other public or private events, we pride ourselves in making the experience memorable and easy for everyone.

Whether we're performing original music from one of our albums, or covers, our duo is able to provide a mix of songs with lyrics and harmony vocals, as well as instrumentals performed on violin and guitar. If a client or venue desires a larger ensemble, we can easily add bass for a trio sound, or drums/percussion to flesh out a quartet.

Our original and cover material offers a range of emotions, tempos, and genres, including Folk, Gypsy Jazz, Bluegrass, Blues, Celtic, and Folk-Rock. We are comfortable performing as background musicians, or for parties, festivals, and concerts where music might be more of the focus, we are able to craft sets that appeal to all ages and to keep audience members engaged - often tapping, clapping, dancing, and laughing along with us.

Particularly for private events, such as weddings, birthday parties, memorials, etc. clients are welcome to choose favorite songs from our extensive repertoire lists, featuring everything from Classical music, to Pop, Rock, or Blues covers, Jazz, Folk/fiddle/Celtic, Bluegrass, or whatever else might be requested.

For longer events, such as festivals or grand openings, we have well over four hours of both original and cover/traditional material ready. For events that feature multiple performance areas, such as festivals, retirement homes, and art walks, we can easily play different days or stages without needing to repeat material.

Meeting in 2012 via a chance YouTube sighting and fueled by a once-in-a-lifetime musical chemistry and friendship, Canadian-American Roots-Folk duo Dan Frechette and Laurel Thomsen are “prodigious players with songwriting that sets them apart.” With soaring violin, diverse guitar styles, compelling storytelling, a dash of harmonica and humor, and unique vocal rapport they deliver a dynamic, engaging, polished performance.

Based in Northern California, Dan and Laurel’s third album, Between the Rain, was top 10 on Canada’s campus radio Roots charts for 2016. Touted for being both "lyrically refreshing and musically diverse,” their original songwriting and composing spans the range of Roots based genres, “pondering contemporary subject matter with vintage sensibility.”

They have toured North America extensively, playing everything from Home Routes house concert tours of the Canadian Prairies, to headlining spots at The Listening Room Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida, BBC Radio in Liverpool, UK, Canada’s definitive Winnipeg Folk Festival and Northern California’s beloved Kate Wolf Music Festival, and opening up for The Wailin’ Jennys at a sold out theater in Grass Valley, California. Besides The US and Canada, they’ve toured a number of European countries, including Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, and Germany.

Dan and Laurel released their fifth album as a duo in 2022. Recorded in the summer of 2020 in Dan’s Bonny Doon home studio under California’s Covid–19 stay-at-home order, just days before being evacuated due to a fast-moving forest fire, "After the Fire" marks the end of an era and a fresh start; Dan’s little studio burned the morning after rescuing the rough tracks, studio equipment, and a range of instruments the duo plays, yet rarely has the space to bring with them on the road. Highlighting various guitars, drums and percussion, piano, bass, viola, cello, and harmonica, in addition to the duo's violin and acoustic 6-string guitar, showcases new dimensions of their versatility and helped them feel the joy of performing again, knowing that despite the setbacks of the past year, their music will thrive in new ways. Each of the 10 new original songs portrays a facet of the journey from setback to reclaimed hope - finding faith in the possibility of LOVE in “Make Me Come Alive,” HOME in “Beale Street,” COMMUNITY in “Together Again” and “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong,” and one’s own STRENGTH and FORTITUDE in “If A Wave” and “Hey, It’ll Be OK.”

As their dramatic story continues to prove, fires, international border crossings, pandemics, and even UK car rentals with tires about to blow can’t stop Dan and Laurel.

Beyond their perseverance and the synchronicity of their meeting, Dan and Laurel’s backgrounds, musical palates, and even their personalities, make both an unexpected and extraordinary match. Fans note the sense that one is witnessing an outpouring of color, creativity, and artistry far more textured than the sum of its parts. Though each artist had a drastically different style of musical training and were influenced by contrasting musical backgrounds and artists, their commensurate dedication, experience, and the ways in which they inspire each other to grow and evolve musically, make Dan and Laurel a dynamic and unstoppable team. It also helps them craft concerts which offer a bit of something for everyone and it’s not unusual for the duo to hear that they turned someone who doesn’t typically like “folk music,” or “songs with vocals,” or “original music,” or “instrumentals,” or “violin music” or “acoustic music,” etc. into a fan who plans to go out and support live music more frequently. That’s an incredible feeling!

Recognized for their musical talents as children, Dan and Laurel each began performing, teaching, writing, and making their livings as musicians as teenagers. Both have enjoyed over 20 years as full time musicians, recording artists, and music educators, and have gathered broad influences along the way, ranging from Folk-Rock, Classical, Old Time and Celtic, to Gospel, Jazz, Vintage Country, Rock n' Roll, Blues, Ragtime, and Bluegrass. Dan and Laurel flow seamlessly through genres, tempos, stories, and moods, embodying each style with virtuosic command and keeping music fans on the edge of their seats. Enjoyment is palpable!

Dan Frechette is a musical force; As anyone who has ever met him can attest, he is a living, breathing folk festival who's songwriting has been appreciated by the likes of Bob Dylan, Tim O'Brien, Doc Watson, and David Bowie. Born in the frozen north of Manitoba, Canada and raised in the idyllic tiny town of Pinawa, Dan took an early obsession with music to the extreme, garnering the attention of major publishing which signed him a deal when he was just 17. Since 1992 he has learned to play 15 instruments across multiple genres, has written lyrics and music to well over 1500 original songs, released over 100 albums of original material, and has been performing high-energy, soulful concerts throughout North America and Europe. Dan’s prolific output, distinctive voice, and grassroots career path have led many luminaries to sing his songs and share their stages. Dan has opened for the likes of Dar Williams, Richard Thompson, Ron Sexsmith, Blackie and The Rodeo Kings, and Iian Matthews of Fairport Convention. “Dan Frechette has never written a song I don’t like” says Ismaila Alfa of CBC Radio. Dan’s songs have been featured in movies and covered by artists around the world, including Ireland’s Dervish, Australia’s The Ploughboys, and Canada’s The Duhks for which he penned their hit singles "The Mists of Down Below" and “You Don’t See It.” Before teaming up with Laurel, Dan had already played most of the major North American folk festivals over the course of his solo career, including the Winnipeg, Edmonton, Mariposa, and Stan Rogers Festivals, and the Suwanee Springfest. He is considered one of Canada's iconic performers on acoustic guitar and harmonica, inspiring the career paths of many up-and-coming singer-songwriters now also touring internationally.

Laurel Thomsen, a California genre-bending violinist and violist, composer, author, and educator, has performed Classically and with a variety of bands and artists since she was a child. With a warm and resonant violin tone and an eloquent playing style that can both rock a solo or take a supportive role with atmosphere, texture, and groove, Laurel is frequently sought for her ability to add depth to diverse styles of music, both in the studio and on stage. Dubbed “The Hookmeister” by one California Bay Area recording engineer (a "hook" being a catchy musical motif in this instance), her knack for creating infectious melodies has saved more than one songwriter’s song from the chopping block. A composer since childhood, and an emerging songwriter and singer with a “remarkable singing voice” and “fascinating undertones and range,” Laurel’s writing explores emotion, empowerment, and life’s deeper questions. Passionate about not only sharing her music in performance, but also helping others find their musical expression, she is a longtime Strings magazine contributor, the author of several multi-media guides and courses on string playing technique, including her popular Complete Vibrato Mastery course now with over 2500 students in more than 50 countries, the creator and host of the popular Violin Geek Podcast, and as reported on the front page of the New York Times, since the age of 14 she has been an enthusiastic private, online, and workshop lessons instructor to dedicated violin, viola, fiddle, and cello students around the world.

Dan and Laurel are quickly finding their niche on the North American and European folk circuits, and when not performing concerts, enjoy being of service to the special moments in people's lives, from weddings and memorials, to birthdays, grand openings, corporate events, and house concerts. However, hard work and dedication are only a facet of their relationship; as those who meet and hear them soon discover, “there is something incredibly romantic about these two and the way that their love story is told through their music.” Whether refueling back home, or creating their home at various tour stops around the globe, it’s clear to people who witness these two that their harmony extends well beyond the notes.

While we can perform acoustically, we prefer to perform with amplification, especially when we'll be including vocals. We can supply all our own equipment as needed, or work with an existing PA, or DJ equipment. We do require a power source, and depending on the event location, sometimes we may need a longer three prong extension cable then the one we travel with. Aside from that, we're completely self-sufficient!