Lark & Spur: A Short History Lark & Spur’s founders, Jeff Whiteley and Lori Decker, are proud of their Irish, French and Scottish heritages. Their first performances were in the Metro tunnels and public squares of Paris, Munich and Annecy. Two part harmonies, acoustic guitar and mandolin. Those first street performances led to appearances on French radio and television. The main attractions were and remain Lori Decker’s traffic stopping vocals and a wide ranging repertoire with main emphases on Celtic and French songs, jazz and Broadway standards. Over the years the ensemble evolved, bringing first another guitarist and singer, Chris Taylor. With Chris, again in Paris, the snowball continued rolling. A series of performances at the Passiflore outside of Paris led to an invitation to stay and perform there indefinitely. Another interesting memory, an evening performance in a hotel in the Loire Valley, where the audience wouldn’t let them leave, and what the crowd did to keep the music playing. Back in the US Lark & Spur added Greg Peterson on stand up bass. The addition of a deeper low end and sensitive arco technique allowed the ensemble to explore more elaborate arrangements and even more wide ranging material. A performance with a request for woodwinds introduced Lark & Spur to the great Ray Smith. Ray, Greg and Chris were involved in the first two recordings, Season of Light and Under a Softening Sky. Over the years there have been some changes. All of these changes were met with regret and a sense of loss. And yet, life requires all of us to move forward. The unflappable Evan Coombs took over on bass. Chris Taylor’s absence brought in Gawain Mathews. With Gawain’s ringing guitar lines, Lark & Spur performed at the Montreux, Brienz and Deauville Jazz festivals and recorded the Taking Flight CD. Gawain showed the ensemble new orchestral possibilities and brought a new energy to the group. For the 97 European tour, Greg Floor took over on woodwinds. He can be heard on the Taking Flight CD. Today the line up includes Micheal Fjerstadt on nylon string acoustic guitar, Evan Coombs on bass, Ray Smith and Greg Floor still on woodwinds, Lori on vocals, tin whistle and mandolin, and Jeff Whiteley on guitar and vocals. New recordings, soon to be available, will feature Wayne Egan and Lindsey Lambert on piano, the former on the jazz tracks, the latter on the classically influenced songs. Lark & Spur music can is available at Cdbaby.com, at the official website, larkandspur.com. For more information about Lark & Spur make sure to check out their videos on Youtube.com. Just type Lark & Spur in the search line.