Laura Cortese release Belgian debut album "Lucky Water’, her first album in six years

Now based in Ghent for nine years and officially a Belgian citizen since 2024, Californian-born singer-songwriter and fiddler Laura Cortese presents "Lucky Water": her Belgian debut in every sense of the word. Deeply shaped by her decision to build a life here, the album explores identity, belonging and the ties between past and present. At its heart are two questions: “What have I left behind and what have I found here?”

Rooted in American folk traditions but refusing to be confined by genre, Cortese brings together chamber folk, roots rock and indie pop, with Cortese’s fiddle at its core, in a sound that is distinctly her own. “Lucky Water” reflects on family, motherhood, migration and the traditions that connect us across generations. It’s an intimate, forward-looking record about finding a home without losing sight of where you come from.

TRACKLIST

1. Face the Rain

2. You're All Sound

3. Lucky Water

4. Calling Across the Lake

5. Tied in a Knot

6. Hush Now Child

7. Starry Ceiling

8. Half Mile Away

9. Calling Across the Lake (Reprise)

10.Adieu, Adieu

LUCKY WATER

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 in Australi, 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.

LAURA CORTESE

Born and raised in California, Laura Cortese fell in love with the fiddle at an early age. She initially immersed herself in Celtic and Scottish music before continuing her musical education at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, she became part of the vibrant American folk and roots scene, developing into a versatile fiddler, singer, songwriter, and bandleader.

Since then, Cortese has built an impressive international career, both as a solo artist and with her band The Dance Cards. Her albums have received widespread acclaim and have taken her to stages ranging from Carnegie Hall to Madison Square Garden. She has performed and collaborated with artists including Pete Seeger, Band of Horses, The Mountain Goats, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Aoife O'Donovan and Uncle Earl. Maverick Magazine described her as “an amazing talent.”

Her musical work extends far beyond the stage. As a musical ambassador for the U.S. State Department, Cortese toured India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Estonia, Greece, Ukraine, and Montenegro. At the same time, she has become a passionate educator and advocate for folk and roots music. She co-founded the Boston Celtic Music Festival and Miles of Music Camp, and has taught at Newcastle University and the University of Limerick, as well as at workshops and music camps led by renowned musicians such as Alasdair Fraser and Mark O'Connor.

Cortese is now firmly rooted in Belgium. Since 2018, she has been based in Ghent, where she has become an active force in the local folk and music scene. She played fiddle and contributed backing vocals to Bony King’s "Wild Flowers" and hosts her own annual Acoustic Evenings concert series. In 2025, the series received a Flanders Folk Horizons Award, recognizing her contribution to the Belgian folk and music scene.

Although the fiddle has always been at the heart of her music, Cortese resists being confined by genre. Her playing is rhythmic, energetic, and at times almost percussive, while her voice moves from powerful and raw to warm and intimate. Traditional folk is an important starting point, but Cortese effortlessly blends it with roots rock, indie, and contemporary songwriting. “Strings are at the core of what I do. Genre is secondary,” she says.

On October 9, 2026, Cortese will release "Lucky Water", her first album in six years. The album marks a new chapter in her musical and personal journey. As an American who has found a home in Belgium and as a musician constantly moving between traditions and worlds, Cortese explores themes of identity, connection, and belonging. The songs move between chamber folk, roots rock and indie pop, with the fiddle as a common thread throughout.

With "Lucky Water", Laura Cortese once again shows that tradition need not be an endpoint, but can instead be a starting point. She brings together the musical stories and techniques she grew up with, the influences and experiences she has gathered along the way, and turns them into something contemporary and distinctly her own: folk with an American soul, an international outlook and a new home in Belgium.