White Water has six CDs available (all but Four in Accord). Check the Ordering page for information on prices.

Older brother Evan adds his amazing double bass playing to the album and ranges from high whispery notes on When I Go to low guttural growls on Cluck Old Hen.  He also plays fiddle breaks using his double bass and sings bass.  Evan attends the University of Michigan School of Music where he majors in bass performance and composition.  His 2005 concerts included a performance with the UM Symphony Band at Carnegie Hall and a double bass solo at the J.F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

Dean and Bette Premo have enjoyed playing music together for thirty years. They have made music with Evan and Laurel for over twelve.  Drs. Bette and Dean Premo founded the environmental consulting firm and laboratory White Water Associates, Inc., now celebrating its twentieth year in business.

Steep Side of the Hill provides a generous eighteen songs, filling the compact disc’s available space with music.  The album moves from gentle ballads to compelling gospel to hot old-time fiddle-banjo tunes - all with the precise musicianship and tight family harmonies that the White Water band has carefully honed. 

Steep Side of the Hill Track List:

Like White Water concerts, Family Album draws on old and new and runs the spectrum of emotions. The CD starts with an electrifying version of a Swedish schottische with twin fiddles (Laurel and Bette) establishing the traditional foundation of many of the cuts on this album. Track 2 is a surprising combination of two well-known songs: "Amazing Grace" and "House of the Rising Sun." Laurel gives a blues flavor to this cut with her resonator guitar. Evan’s bowed bass solo will provide goose bumps to anyone listening. Bette’s rich voice fits this arrangement beautifully. On Track 3, Laurel does some blazing guitar flatpicking on her own composition, "The Veery." Subsequent tracks offer up a selection of traditional Finnish polkas, an Irish jig, a Stephen Foster lullaby, acapella gospel, and Bill Monroe’s own bluegrass.

Family Album debuts a song written by Upper Peninsula composer, Rob Yuill. "Back to Central" tells the story of a Cornish miner in the tiny Copper Country ghost town, Central. The sparse instrumentation and rich four-part family harmony on this piece allows the words and convictions of this fine song to stand strong. Dean says, "It reminds me of my Cornish gramma’s music room and the singing she would do at her piano. It is a real honor to record and perform this song."

Family Album also covers "Follow that Road" (by Anne Hills) and "Jubilee" (by Bill Staines). The latter tune has been the traditional finale song for the Second Sunday Folk Dance. The Premo’s have organized this monthly fall-winter-spring concert/dance series for 17 years and host some of North America’s best folk music acts.

The final track on Family Album is a duet. Evan and Laurel arranged and performed George Gershwin’s "Summertime" for bass and guitar accompaniment. This poignant finale to this latest White Water recording appropriately displays the unadulterated (pardon the pun) music of the White Water siblings and foretells the musical future in store for these young people.

With over seventy minutes of music (nearly double that of many CDs), Family Album is a bargain.

Family Album Track List:

LIVE! features eight songs with White Water and orchestra (including "The Log Driver’s Waltz," "Soo Line," "River," and "Keweenaw Light") and Dean’s heartfelt introductions that invoke scenes of the Upper Peninsula’s past and present. It also features the symphony orchestra on Hungarian Dance No. 5 and Finlandia. For these two pieces, fifteen-year-old Evan Premo is part of the orchestra. White Water ends the concert with two encores.

The Calumet Theatre is one-hundred years old and every one of its 750 seats was filled for this special concert. It was a night punctuated by applause, laughs, and thunderstorms – all part of a memorable evening with White Water.

(Length: 76 minutes)

Track listing: 

1. Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Johannes Brahms)

2. The Log Driver's Waltz (Wade Hemsworth)

3. Windego (Dwain Story)

4. Keweenaw Light (Craig Johnson) 

5. White Squall (Stan Rogers)

6. Finnish Medley (Metsakukkia, Maailman Matti, Karjalan Pojat Polka, trad.)

7. Finlandia, Op. 26, No. 7 (Jean Sibelius)

8. River (Bill Staines)

9. Soo Line (Craig Johnson)

10. Amarok (Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino)

11. Water From Another Time (John McCutcheon)

12. Friend for Life (Bryan Bowers and Bill Danoff)

13. Redwing (traditional)

"This family activity has come to be a defining element of our lives together," Dean writes in the cover notes. "For us, it means joy, communication, friendships, good work, and responsibility. Evan and Laurel grow in their musical abilities with each new song they learn. They inspire Bette and me to new personal goals."

First Snow gathers some of the family band's favorite songs. Eleven-year-old Laurel sings lead ("May the Light of Love") and harmony and plays resonator guitar ("Cincinnati Rag," "Akasha Wind," "Red-Haired Boy," and "Light at the End of the Tunnel"), mandolin ("Säkkijärven Polkka" and "Talvella Talikkalan Markkinoilla"), lead fiddle ("Road to Lisdoonvarna" and "Swallowtail Jig"), and all percussion. Evan (fourteen years old) adds to the lower registers by playing double bass and electric bass. He sings lead on "Akasha Wind" and bass vocals on other selections. Bette sings lead and harmony and plays hammer dulcimer, fiddle, mandolin, octave mandolin ("Friend for Life," "Akasha Wind," "May the Light of Love," Talvella Talikkalan Markkinoilla," and "Light at the End of the Tunnel"), and tenor banjo. Dean plays guitar and sings lead.

An Award Winning Album

(Currently Out of Stock)

On Four in Accord, the Premo children further their musical progression with instruments and voices. Nine-year-old Laurel sings lead (The Garden Song) and harmony and plays mandlolin ("Hard Times," "Devil's Dream/Cold Frosty Morning," "Point Abbaye Waltz," and "Joshua"), lead fiddle ("Mari's Wedding"), resonator guitar, and shoebox percussion ("Wayfaring Stranger" and "Roseville Fair"). The upright and electric bass playing of then 12-year-old Evan is a White Water signature. He adds vocal harmony on several songs.

As for the parents, Bette sings lead (on "Haven of Mercy," "Wayfaring Stranger," and "Curtains of Night") and contributes harmony, and plays hammer dulcimer, lead mandolin ("Haven of Mercy" and "Joshua"), tenor banjo, and egg shaker ("The Garden Song"). Dean plays guitar and add lead and harmony vocals. His outstanding vocal performances include "Hard Times," "City of New Orleans," "Late Nite Radio," and "Roseville Fair."

Four part harmony distinguishes several songs, giving the title Four in Accord even more meaning. The traditional number, "Never Grow Old," is particular standout. Performed a capella, its alternating solos, duets, and quartet singing will have you captivated. Several other songs have a capella breaks, vocal intros, and chorus closings.

All Strings Attached starts with a toe-tapping version of the early 20th century "Strutter's Ball" with Laurel playing a great washboard solo. From an earlier vintage, the "Pig Ankle and Dill Pickle Rags," lend themselves to Bette's percussive strokes on hammer dulcimer and Evan's fancy riffs on upright bass.

The Premos display their love of family with two heartfelt selections, "Who Will Watch the Home Place" and "Water From Another Time." White Water loves to play bouncy renditions of Finnish schottisches and polkas, well represented on All Strings Attached by "Penttilan Sillalla" and a medley of the traditional "Erick Kivi, Ryöstö, and Kauhaven Polkas."