Independent's Day Radio

Dan Frechette and Laurel Thomsen each had independently successful careers in music long before they met. Frechette was a Canadian folk singer who logged thousands of miles a year playing his 1,300-plus original songs and writing hit singles for bands like The Duhks and others. Classically-trained violinist Laurel Thomsen had built a reputation as a go-to player for ensembles ranging from full symphonies to singer-songwriters - as well as teaching lessons all over the world via Skype and hosting the popular Violin Geek podcast from her home in California. Dan first heard Laurel’s playing on YouTube by happenstance and the pair started collaborating remotely; Dan would send Laurel songs via e-mail and she would overdub parts and send them back. Dan loved the accompaniment Laurel added to his songs, and Laurel found Dan’s songs to be richly diverse musical gems with enough harmonic space for her to contribute. Their phone discussions about music evolved into long discussions about life and their friendship grew