Mudlark

Davis trio MudLark includes Katie Henry, Ray Frank and Laura Sandage. The rootsy, intense sound of MudLark features banjo, guitar, string bass, and three strong voices covering a broad emotional and stylistic range. Their elegant sound draws on broadly varied influences, including bluegrass and Appalachian music, folk, country, blues, pop, old-time, choral and parlor singing, tapping into rich veins of American music past and present. MudLark's exquisitely crafted original songs and heartfelt traditional material invite listeners into a deep, sometimes raw place of wild beauty, earthy humor, and mournful longing.

Laura Sandage’s work ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime. On any given day, she might be found singing about nose hairs with preschoolers, or leading a congregation or grief support group in a traditional spiritual. In the past eight years, she has taught “Silly Songwriting” for kids at the Davis Art Center, directed Spin Cycle, an adult improv theater group in Davis, created original scores for youth Shakespeare productions, written theme songs for peace groups, and produced two CDs of her original songs, including her newest disc, created in collaboration with Yolo Hospice and funded in part by the City of Davis. She is currently revising two novel manuscripts, singing in two choirs, performing and speaking at churches, volunteering with Yolo Hospice, teaching preschool music and drama, and performing on string bass and vocals with folk roots trio MudLark. She credits her years of improv with giving her a body of experiential trust-training that continues to fuel all her creative processes, musical and otherwise.

Katie Henry is an award-winning songwriter, performer, and teacher now based in Davis, California. She spent years living and performing in the Northwest with a slew of interesting folks, put out a sweet little pile of cd’s, and even got a little radio airplay. She founded Laughing Tree Music while living in the Northeast, seeking to encourage joyful primary musical development in children and their families through hands-on musical experience and play. Since moving to California, Katie has focused on using the song experience games and process of Education Through Music with children ages 0-16 in Davis schools and at the Davis Art Center. In 2008, Katie finished an arts in education masters degree at Sacramento State. She is fascinated with the powerful role that play has in the learning process, and she plays as much as she can with the folk roots trio, MudLark. What about her songs? Sing Out! magazine finds that Katie’s “highly poetic songs captivate the listener and take them on a remarkable journey of discovery.” The “Improv for Songwriters” workshop with MudLark promises to be a remarkable trip too!

Ray Frank is a notorious guitar accompanist and longtime active member of the San Francisco Folk Music Club. He is also a multi-instrumentalist, a songwriter in his own right, a banjo repairman, and a living encyclopedia of tasteless jokes and humorous ditties. In the past, he has worked as a studio musician in New York City, where he was raised, and as a chiropractor in Sebastopol. He was the guitar accompanist on the Folk Legacy recording "I've Got a Song," which spent more than a decade on the New York Times list of 100 Best Children's Music Recordings. He currently lives in Davis and works in recording, performing, accompanying, and teaching up and down the West Coast. He performs with MudLark on guitar, vocals, and sometimes jaw harp, and also sings in the Vocal Art Ensemble with Laura, Katie, and 21 other voices.

More about Mudlark can be found at http://mudlarkmusic.com/home.html