Laura Boosinger is an old time banjo player, singer and advocate for mountain music and culture. She is widely known for her interpretation of traditional tunes and ballads.
Laura came to North Carolina to attend Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa. There she took classes in banjo, ballad singing and Appalachian Culture. “My father looked at my report card and said, ‘What are these classes you’re taking?!?’,” laughed Laura on stage at a PineCone event in 2020. “I said, ‘Dad, I’m making straight A’s’, and I have been employed ever since. My brother who got a big computer degree, not so much.”
PineCone fans also know her as an emcee and interviewer. She hosted the 2023 North Carolina Heritage Awards and emceed the Come Hear NC Stage at the 2023 IBMA festival in Raleigh and served as the host for the Nest of Singing Birds program in 2019.
Laura has toured the US and Scotland as a solo artist. She is a sought-after teacher and workshop facilitator. She’s taught at MerleFest, The Blue Ridge Old Time Music Week at Mars Hill University and online for PineCone.
In 2017 Laura was inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame. “We’re real lucky to have snagged Laura as director of the Madison County North Carolina Arts Council,” said ballad singer Shelia Kay Adams. “We’re gonna keep her.”
Laura is currently the Executive Director of the Madison County Arts Council and helps administer the Junior Appalachian Musicians’ program in local schools.
