The Rio Grande begins as a placid stream high in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. It winds southeast, pounding through New Mexico's Taos Box, a perilous gorge that is actually a rift in an ancient lava flow. After snaking along the Texas border for 1,300 miles, it finally empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

Eight years ago, this mighty waterway brought bluegrass and traditional musicians Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum to Hawai`i.

“We were doing these river trips down on the Rio Grande,” explains Rozum. “We played music at night, and one of the guys who showed up had a roofing company that works in Alaska and Honolulu.” Their new friend helped set up their first local gig-at a macadamia nut farm on the Big Island-and so began their love affair with the islands.

An annual visit to Hawai`i figures prominently in the lives of these self-proclaimed river rats, whose adventures are legendary among their bluegrass-pickin' peers. Each year, Rozum and Lewis participate in a tour or two of some of North America's great waterways. Past trips have included excursions on the Rio Grande, of course, through Big Bend and the Taos Box; down Arizona's Salt River; the Chama in northern New Mexico; Oregon's Rogue; the Middle Fork of the Salmon in Idaho; and Northern California's Tuolumne. From her home in Berkeley, CA, Laurie Lewis talks about the thrill of the river.

“We go in places where you don't hear motors at all,” she muses. “In our lives, it's amazing how much noise is produced, just by refrigerators humming, computers, electrical gadgets, cars and planes and trucks! It's really a treat to the ears to get to a place where none of that exists. Just the sound of the water, of the wind and the birds and nature around you.”

The trips hold boundless appeal. “In the evenings, when the guides are cooking these incredible meals, we take out our instruments and play music 'round the campfire,” she says dreamily. “It is such heaven.” They leave their best equipment, including Rozum's precious 1924 Lloyd Loar mandolin, at home. “We take our 'river instruments'. They haven't gotten wet yet. Knock on wood! They're in hardshell cases, and then put in dry bags and strapped onto the supply boat. It's pretty stable.”

Their travels in Hawaii have become a welcome reward for months of hard work every year. “When we first went over there, it was a great vacation, and a way to help defray expenses, but it has gone from there to really being an actual tour,” Lewis comments. “The audiences have grown for us every year, and it's very gratifying.”

Artistically, Lewis and Rozum have grown right along with their island audiences. The Oak and the Laurel, their lovely 1995 collection of traditional tunes, was nominated for a Grammy. Five subsequent collaborations were released to popular and critical acclaim. Lewis, a championship fiddler and gifted singer/songwriter, took time to record a couple tunes for True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe, which took the Grammy for Bluegrass Album of the Year and double awards (for Album Of the Year and Recorded Event Of the Year) from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 1996. She also co-produced Music From Rancho DeVille, a stunning collection of songs with the late Charles Sawtelle and various guests, including Rozum. For his part, Rozum released his first solo project, Jubilee, in 1998, and worked on projects with several other artists, including Si Kahn's Long Time Gone in 2002.

They've done several successful multi-island tours, but this year, according to Rozum, they're looking forward to some serious R&R. “We've been really busy this fall. Laurie's been touring with her songbook”-Lewis' epic songbook, Earth and Sky, contains 44 tunes from her various albums-“and then we have this Christmas record, Winter Solstice, we start promoting around the end of November. And this is the end of the year! We're pretty burned out,” he confesses, chuckling. “A relaxing vacation in the Islands sounds pretty good.”

Their only public appearance-and their first O`ahu gig in two years--is scheduled for the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts on Friday, February 7. Two local groups, the Wild Orchids String Band and The Down Boys, will also appear.

Now in their seventh year, the all-acoustic Wild Orchids perform bluegrass, folk, country, and gospel music. The band consists of lead guitarist and vocalist Eric Petersen; Joel and Angelika Veach on vocals, bass, and resophonic guitar, and René Berthiaume on 12-string guitar, harmonica, and vocals. Berthiaume will also handle guitar chores for the whimsically named Down Boys, perhaps the only bluegrass group on O`ahu with a banjo played in the style of Earl Scruggs. The other Down Boys are John Whythe White on doghouse bass, Doug Toews on mandolin, and Paul Sato on the five-string banjo. All four members share vocal chores.

“We're thrilled to warm up the crowd for Laurie and Tom,” Berthiaume enthuses. “We hope to bring more bluegrass to Honolulu this year.” A formal O`ahu bluegrass and traditional music association is currently in the planning stages, he adds. Bluegrass Now, a national acoustic music magazine, has offered $5 as seed money for every subscription sold at Friday's concert.

The concert will provide a forum for some new material; Lewis says the completion of her songbook inspired a writing binge. “I just wrote a song called “Poor Willie” about a friend of mine, and his run-in with the law. And I've written a song about the power of forgiveness. I think we'll be doing that one.”

Click here to read Caroline's December 2004 cover story about Laurie & Tom from Bluegrass Now.
Click here to read Caroline's September 2002 installment about Laurie from her column, "OffStage," for Bluegrass Now.