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Lare
Williams & New Direction Band
Although you won't find the Blueridge Mountains
in Michigan,
you can still hear a resounding voice full of spirit and enthusiasm
singing high-lonesome bluegrass songs.
Lare Williams founded the New Direction band back in 2003,
and the band has been on the rise in the bluegrass world ever
since.
With
such accomplishments as performing at the IBMA World of Bluegrass
(Nashville, TN),
the Poppy Mountain Bluegrass Festival (Morehead, KY),
& the Midwest Music Summit (Indianapolis, IN),
Lare & the band are fast making a name for themselves nationwide.
With
hot pickin', smooth harmonies, and a unique twist on a traditional
music,
Lare & New Direction are a MUST SEE bluegrass act.
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The
Bluegrass bug bit Lare at an early age. Being raised in
a musical family and surrounded by the music since birth,
Lare began singing at the age of 2 years old. Grandfather
Larry Williams, West Michigan's father of Bluegrass Fiddle,
was one of his biggest role models.
Lare,
by age 11, progressed to playing rhythm guitar & some bass
with the family band. In his early 20's Lare joined forces
with some friends in the Bluegrass community & started the
band, Overdrive, that had moderate Michigan success during
its 3 year run.
Now,
at age 30, Lare has 3 recorded CD's under his belt, 4 nationally
released song singles, a # 6 and a # 1 song on various bluegrass
radio charts, a handful of original songs he's written or
co-written, and is the founding member of the fast rising
LWND band.
Visit the LWND My Space Page
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Growing
up as one of ten children who were all musicians, and
starting off as one of the original members of the Williams
Family Bluegrass Band, Patty was never far from the bluegrass
scene.
Playing
mandolin & some guitar, Patty's true gift was her beautiful
voice and her smooth blended harmonies. When Lare (her
son) decided to branch out & start the LWND band, Patty
was on board with the idea and hit the road with him.
Her
most recent endeavor is the creation of P. Williams Productions,
which is responsible for the Byron Goes Bluegrass concert
series and the Bluegrass on Stage TV program, bringing
Bluegrass to stage & TV. Visit Patty at www.pwilliamsproductions.com
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Baley
Williams is the daughter to Patty & sister to Lare, so she
too has grown up surrounded by Bluegrass. Since she could
talk, Baley was a singer. She would travel with the family
band, come on stage and sing a few songs per night. She'd
steal the show every time.
When
brother Lare formed LWND, Baley joined up bringing her voice
with her. A year later, Baley took leave from the band and
focused more on school (and being a teenager) for a while,
but never strayed far from the stage still taking Orchestra
& Drama/Theatre while there.
Now
Baley is back with LWND and has taken over the Bass playing
responsibilities. She brings a more modern "pop-culture"
twist to the band both with her dress, her attitude, and
her powerful vocals, which still steal the show every time.
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Tod is the newest member of the LWND band, but is no stranger to Bluegrass muisc. Influenced by his father, Tod is a 4th generation banjo picker, although, if it has strings on it, Tod probably can play it.
Growing up playing bass with his father, Tod's first plunge into the Bluegrass scene as a banjo player was with South West Michigan based band Deadwood. As time went on he joined with other Michigan bands such as Great Lakes Grass and Sweetcorn.
While learning how to play banjo, Tod would travel around to any festival or show he could, hunt down the pros such as JD Crow and Earl Scruggs and pester them to "show him that one lick." He found they were all very helpful and rarely sent him away without something new to work on & increase his talents.
LWND is proud to welcome and to have on board Tod Chapman.
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