Lady of the Lake – Karrie Potter Richards, Pooh Stevenson, and Wanda Degen and many special guests

In 1983 when a northern Michigan folk festival contacted Karrie Potter looking for an all-female band, she already knew the name of the new band she wanted to form and exactly who she wanted to ask to join her. Lady of the Lake was the name of a couple of old-time tunes Karrie played, and when Pooh Stevenson and Wanda Degen agreed to be in the band, Lady of the Lake became the name of this new trio.

The three women sing and are all multi-instrumentalists combining the sounds of the autoharp, banjo, bouzouki, cello, dulcimers, guitar, and mandolin. Their repertoire is a sometimes haunting – sometimes lively – mix of contemporary & traditional Appalachian, Celtic, Folk, & Old-time songs & tunes.

Forty years have now passed. The trio was active for well over 10 years, performing all over Michigan and at festivals in Canada, Indiana and Ohio. They played in Chicago – including a house concert for a group of physicists after a tour of the Fermi Lab. Lady of the Lake hosted the Open Mic at The Ark in Ann Arbor for a year and played weekly at Olde World in East Lansing. As life – family and other interests – led them in different directions, Karrie, Pooh, and Wanda stayed close friends managing to get together for reunion concerts about every 5 years. However, the last time was in 2013.

Karrie Potter Richards got married to her college sweetheart, moving first to Virginia and now residing in Arizona. She has always connected with the local old-time music community wherever she lives and keeps passionately playing tunes.

Pooh Stevenson lives and works on her family’s farm, Owosso Organics. She has two grown daughters and has played in a variety of bands over the years – most recently in The Stringtown Trio. Pooh has also developed an interest in photography and shares her unique perspective on Instagram and at occasional local art shows.

Wanda Degen is a Lansing-area mainstay. She is known by generations of families for her work as “Miss Wanda” – preschool music specialist. Her two daughters now have their own children and she loves being grandma to three. Wanda’s most recent music collaboration was in the duo, The Catbird Seat.

Lady of the Lake looks forward to this rare opportunity to play music together again and to share the evening with several musician friends. Joining them will be special guests: Doug Berch, Kay Rinker-O’Neil, Dave Langdon, John Mikelsavage, and Mike Ross.

Karrie, Pooh, and Wanda made a splash on Michigan’s acoustic music scene in the 1980’s. This celebration of their 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert is sure to stir up many memories and to bring together many of their friends and loyal fans for one special night at the Ten Pound Fiddle.