The West County Professional Tea Sippers' Oldtime String Band
a.k.a. The Tea Sippers

Due to the fickle finger of fate, the TeaSippers are on hiatus. If you're like me, you have only the vaguist idea what a hiatus is, but since I'm on one, I decided to look it up. According to Wikipedia, the reliable source regarding all things both modern and ancient:

Hiatus may refer to:

• Recess (break)
• Hiatus, a small difference in pitch between two musical tones (see Interval (music))
• Hiatus (linguistics), a phonological term referring to the lack of a consonant separating two vowels in separate syllables, as in co-operation
• Hiatus (television), a break of several weeks or more in television scheduling
• Hiatus (anatomy)
• Hiatus, a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy
• Hiatus (band), a Belgian crustcore band
• "Hiatus" (30 Rock), an episode of 30 Rock
• "Hiatus" (NCIS episode S3 finale)
• "Hiatus", a song by British Metalcore band Asking Alexandria

No, we are not a Belgian crustcore band (although...), nor one of those darned herniated things. I think it must be that we are the small difference in pitch between two musical tones. At least we are musical!

It's been lots and lots of fun, and we thank all our fans for coming out to hear us and cheer us (and buy our CD's)

Keep on sipping, and "Remember the tea kettle - it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings!"

Check out "The Kettle Is On", our first Studio Album.
"This is an astonishingly good old-timey band and album. Yes, "OLD-TIMEY" the way it should be" [Review]. Listen for it on your local radio station, and yes, you CAN purchase it on-line at cdBaby !

Traditional American Old-time Music from the Rural Roots of Bluegrass

The band features harmony singing & a variety of traditional instrumentation. Their repertoire includes original songs and 20's and 30's gems: crooked Appalachian fiddle tunes, old-time country blues, songs of the Carter Family, old-time Gospel, and a few from a new cup. The band's two original songwriters capture the essence of home in California and lost love anywhere.

• Harmony singing
• Delicate and fearless lead and rhythm Autoharp pickin'
• Fiddlers, banjo, mandolin, guitar and Dobro
• Original songwriting
• Traditional American Music

Laura Lind - Autoharp, lead and harmony vocal, songwriting
Searle Whitt - fiddle, lead and harmony vocal, songwriting
David Brown - banjo, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, vocal
Dave Krinkel - guitar, Dobro, silence

To hear samples of our music please check out our MySpace page.

Contact info: searlew@pacbell.net - (510) 558-1178

What's New

Our upcoming Bay Area shows are on the Calendar page.

Sept 1st-5th - Laura and Searle were in Iowa in early September to pick up an award for the  Best Old-timey CD of 2010 from the National Traditional Country Music Association. We played 7 sets around the festival, had a lot of good jamming and met many fine and interesting people. Thanks to Bob and Sheila Everhart for putting on such a great festival, and to all the fine musicians and Country music fans who came out and made it such a fun week.

April: We are totally delighted that Bob Everhart of the National Traditional Country Music Association has written a review of our debut CD. He writes: "This is an astonishingly good old-timey band and album. Yes, "OLD-TIMEY" the way it should be, and the brilliant marketing these folks do to get your interest - they even have a tea-bag with the cd! They are all very good old-timey players too. I am totally impressed with female vocalist, Laura Lind, who also plays the autoharp and writes some of the original "old-timey" songs. YES Laura, you're great! Searle Whitt lends lead and harmony vocals along with a very neat fiddle (especially on Sioux City Sue). David Brown plays banjo (great drop thumb style), fiddle, guitar and mandolin, as well as contributing to the vocals, and Dave Krinkel plays a powerful Dobro (very good on Miss Liza Poor Girl and Bear Creek Blues), guitar, and adds a little silence vocally."

Sign up on our mailing list and we'll keep you posted.