Musicians of PSDS

By day Lorie Strother is a SWaM Contract Administrator in Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services but by night she is a semi-professional blues singer known as, ‘The Dreaded BluesLady.’  Strother has performed her interpretation of acoustic blues since the early 1990s.  She has recorded several music compilations to include Homemade Blues, Raw G, and The Morning After.  Since 2008 she has performed with her duo Dr. Levine and The Dreaded BluesLady, accompanied by Stephen Levine.  In 2012, along with her W.C. Handy Award winning mentor, Gaye Adegbalola, Strother was awarded a 2012-2013 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.  Strother’s blues influences include artists such as Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, and Sippie Wallace.  Critics have said that Strother “sings the real true blues…with a big booming, bluesy voice.”  Corey Harris described her as “a real blues woman [who’s] got soul” and Living Blues Magazine has touted her singing as “assertive, expressive and sensitive.” To find out more information about Dr. Levine and The Dreaded BluesLady, including upcoming shows, visit the website at: www.dreadedblues.com

What got you started playing/performing?  
“I decided that I wanted to be a performer after I received my first standing ovation at a PTA event when I was nine years old.  I sang solo Debbie Boone’s, ‘You Light Up My Life’ accompanied by my classmates on chorus.  The audience response was something that I never expected but I felt immediate gratification from it and I wanted to do it again.  It would take several years for this dream to come to fruition.  I discovered the music of blues singer Bessie Smith while a music major at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Her vocals and simple piano and horn accompaniment in Empty Bed Blues Part I/II intrigued me.  Before discovering Bessie, I was thoroughly entrenched in R&B music which were major productions featuring full bands. After Bessie, I began to wonder about the possibility of my starting a group that featured limited accompaniment.  My first opportunity for such a group came about in the 1990s.”

Which artist(s) has been your biggest inspiration in what you do? Why?
“My biggest artist inspiration in blues music is Bessie Smith.  Bessie was known as the ‘Empress of The Blues’ and was the most successful female blues artist of the 1920s/1930s. I love Bessie’s music because of the command that she had of her vocals.  This command of voice is something that I have aspired to since I first started performing.  Gaye Adegbalola, formerly of the Uppity Blues Women, is a modern inspiration.  Gaye’s stage presence is phenomenal and is at a level where any artist would want to see themselves.  She draws you into her performance and takes you along for the wild ride.  Gaye definitely entertains you.  I want to be able to continually improve my stage presence and my ability to entertain an audience through interaction.  Thinking back, I wish that my apprenticeship with Gaye was much longer because her experience in those areas is invaluable.”

What genre would you most identify with and what about it speaks to you the most?
“As evidenced by the music that I’ve been performing for the past 16 years, hands down it is blues music that I most identify with.  Blues music is a genre that is filled with emotion.  It is this emotion that I attempt to connect to when I perform.  When I’m in the pocket, I’m able to convey the emotion to the audience and they feel it. I know they do because they approach me afterwards and tell me, ‘I felt that song,’ ‘You gave me chills,’ ‘You had me crying,’ as an artist, this conveyance of emotion is what I’m after.”

Jay Gallimore is a Web Application Developer in Procurement and Supplier Diversity Services who also plays the acoustic guitar, banjo, and mandolin. He is not a professional musician but does play with various groups on special occasions. He has performed twice with Willow Creek at “Art in the Park” in Staunton, Virginia and also for a 2015 fund raising event at Western State Hospital. In May of 2014, Jay performed with Acoustic Connections at the 1st Annual Seafood Festival in Deltaville, Virginia. For the most part, Jay’s performances are limited to the occasional open mic, back porches, living rooms, “open jams” with other like-minded musicians, and one YouTube video.

What got you started playing/performing?
“I’ve always loved music and I suppose I have a predisposition to it since both of my parents are accomplished piano players. I started playing guitar in my early teens. I played in several bands during high school and for a brief period after. During those early years, most of my performances were for small private functions. Two of my more memorable gigs were an appearance at Trax in Charlottesville and a fraternity party at Longwood College.”

Which artist(s) has been your biggest inspiration in what you do? Why?
“Tony Rice has been the biggest influence on how I approach playing the guitar. I was in my early to mid-twenties when I heard his music for the first time and I was immediately captivated by his style. Tony is known for his flatpicking style which is simply playing the guitar using a ‘flat pick’ as opposed to playing with your fingers or finger picks. Tony is often referred to as a bluegrass musician but his style and influence, span genres which include progressive bluegrass, new grass, and acoustic jazz.”

What genre would you most identify with and what about it speaks to you the most?
“I like all types of music but I most closely identify with folk and the genres that are associated with Tony Rice, especially acoustic jazz. My playing style is more folk and bluegrass oriented but I love listening to acoustic jazz and aspire to play in that style someday.”