Laura Cortese sees the world a bit differently these days. “I’ve been living in Belgium for almost a decade now,” the acclaimed fiddler/singer/songwriter explains. “I’m married and a mother of two young children, as well. To say my perspective on life has changed would be a real understatement.”
Cortese’s captivating new album, Lucky Water, is proof of that. Recorded primarily at Betty’s, the rural North Carolina studio opened by electropop duo Sylvan Esso, the album is intimate and vulnerable, grappling with identity, connection, and belonging amid dramatic personal transformation. The writing is rooted in reflection and empathy, in learning to see the world anew through the eyes of both mother and child, insider and outsider, citizen and immigrant. The production is bold and adventurous, balancing spare meditations with rich, intoxicating arrangements that blur the lines between chamber folk, roots rock, and indie pop. The result is a profound work of self-exploration, a bittersweet reckoning with growth, change, community, and responsibility from an artist learning what happens when the familiar becomes foreign and the foreign becomes familiar.
“Living in another country can really put things into focus,” Cortese reflects. “When I’m back in the US or Canada, I’m struck by the relentlessness of the 24-hour news cycle, the omnipresent televisions in every public space, and the stress and existential dread at the forefront of everyone’s minds. People in Belgium follow the news, but it doesn’t dictate their lives. I’m regularly reminded here that we can choose where to expend our energy, and that every time we step into a museum, onto a trail, or into a venue, we can reconnect with our neighbors and begin to find our way back toward radical hope.”
Between Cortese’s transatlantic move, the pandemic, and the demands of motherhood, making Lucky Water meant finding new ways to collaborate across continents. She sent early demos to Nashville songwriter Mary Bragg for candid feedback, then recorded a five-day session in North Carolina centered on her voice, fiddle, and reed instruments played by longtime collaborator Matt Douglas (The Mountain Goats, Hiss Golden Messenger). A chance reconnection with producer Clare Reynolds (LOLLIES) in Australia—a fellow transplant with an instinct for the songs—helped expand the album’s sonic world without sacrificing its rawness.
That tightrope walk is at the heart of Lucky Water, which opens with the intoxicating “Face the Rain,” building from a spare intro of plucked fiddle and breezy vocals into a lush arrangement of brushed drums and stacked woodwinds—a song of resilience and presence. The hypnotic “You’re All Sound” finds new perspective in the endless chatter of youth; the buoyant “Tied in a Knot” finds stability in commitment and surrender; and the soaring “Starry Ceiling” transforms sleepless nights into an ecstatic ode to shared struggle.
Cortese also draws on her childhood: the joyful title track recalls a family tradition of hiking in Lassen Volcanic National Park, while the tender “Calling Across The Lake” evokes a world before modern technology. Elsewhere, she steps beyond her own story, imagining the weight of motherhood during wartime in the stark “Hush Now Child” and linking it to present-day Palestine and Ukraine in the aching “Half Mile Away.” “When I first moved to Belgium, I learned about the Iron Harvest, the removal of unexploded WWI and WWII ordnance,” Cortese explains. “I couldn’t help but think about the wars happening now and the effects that will carry on for generations.”
The album closes with “Adieu, Adieu,” a rousing parting toast to survival and better days ahead: “Adieu Adieu / Joyful vagabond / Drink up before you face the wind / Adieu Adieu / Here’s to every one of us / Who’ll raise a glass and soon return again.” Time may pass and perspectives may change, but community and hope—regardless of borders and politics—will always triumph over division and despair.
Born and raised in California, Laura Cortese fell in love with the fiddle at a young age, immersing herself in Celtic and Scottish music before studying at the Berklee College of Music. Hailed as “an amazing talent” by Maverick, she has released widely lauded albums as a solo artist and with her band, The Dance Cards, and has performed at venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to Madison Square Garden alongside artists including Pete Seeger, Band of Horses, The Mountain Goats, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Aoife O’Donovan, and Uncle Earl. She has toured as a musical ambassador for the State Department in India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Estonia, Greece, Ukraine, and Montenegro. A passionate educator and advocate for folk traditions, Cortese co-founded the Boston Celtic Music Festival and the Miles of Music Camp, launched an award-winning concert series in Belgium, and has taught at Newcastle University, the University of Limerick, and at camps led by luminaries such as Alasdair Fraser and Mark O’Connor.
