LAURELYN DOSSETT: FROM NC SECRET TO NATIONAL STAGE VIA LEVON HELM'S BARN

DOSSETT BRINGS TOGETHER ROOTS ALL-STARS FROM CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROP TO JOHN HARTFORD BAND ALUM FOR 'THE GATHERING,' GORGEOUS ALBUM OF OBSCURE AND ORIGINAL WINTER AND CHRISTMAS MUSIC

If it weren't for Levon Helm, Laurelyn Dossett might still be one of North Carolina's best-kept secrets. Helm included Dossett's "Anna Lee" on his GRAMMY-winning album 'Dirt Farmer,' a surprise to her until its release, and his new concert album 'Ramble At The Ryman.' When she later opened a Midnight Ramble, Helm says, "There's the lady that wrote that beautiful song that sounds 300 years old."

This month, 'Dirt Farmer' producer Larry Campbell heard Dossett's most recent project, 'The Gathering,' a gorgeous union of Piedmont- and Appalachian-style musicians Rhiannon Giddens (of the Carolina Chocolate Drops), Mike Compton (John Hartford Band, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes), Joe Newberry (Big Medicine), Jason Sypher (Susan McKeown), and Dossett in a cycle of original and obscure music capturing a North Carolina winter night. Campbell said, "The combination of heart and intimacy on The Gathering feels like a warm wood-smoke fire on a cold North Carolina winter's night."

Check out video on the making of the album here.

Stream the song "Lights in the Lowlands."

Dossett has also graced the stage of Prairie Home Companion, with her band Polecat Creek.

Yet despite her status as a national artist, she captures the visions, characters, stories, smells, and kinships of her home state. 'The Gathering' grew out of – and revolves around – a six-song cycle commissioned by the North Carolina Symphony.

She is a recipient of the North Carolina Arts Council Music Fellowship. North Carolina's Our State has praised "that crystalline, heart-tug of a voice that still makes people weep," continuing, "Dossett writes about our South and our dance with religion and nature, love and loss… She’s become a songwriter people say they can’t forget." Another local magazine O Henry echoed those comments, saying, "Dossett has a gift: storytelling. [And] her voice is pure honey."

'THE GATHERING' DEBUTS CHRISTMAS MUSIC WITH DEEP ROOTS IN APPALACHIAN AND PIEDMONT MUSIC

Christmas music with roots this deep is rare. Appalachian- and Piedmont-style music talents Laurelyn Dossett (of Polecat Creek), Rhiannon Giddens (of the Carolina Chocolate Drops), Mike Compton (John Hartford Band, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes), Joe Newberry and Jason Sypher have joined forces to create 'The Gathering,' a Christmas album recorded in a Greensboro, NC house in the woods during a hot August week.

The North Carolina Symphony commissioned Laurelyn Dossett to write a song cycle and those six songs form the core of the album, focusing on a cold, dark, North Carolina winter night and a prodigal daughter's return. Other songs on the album include Compton singing his former boss John Hartford's "On Christmas Eve" and Giddens and Sypher doing "O Holy Night" as a bass and voice duet.

Check out video on the making of the album:

Stream the song "Lights in the Lowlands."

The pedigree of the musicians brought together for 'The Gathering' is first-rate. Dossett's song "Anna Lee" was recorded by Levon Helm for his GRAMMY-winning album 'Dirt Farmer' as well as on the recent live album 'Ramble At The Ryman.' Her "Leaving Eden" was recorded by the Carolina Chocolate Drops. She has performed at Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble and her original roots music band Polecat Creek has appeared on NPR's Prairie Home Companion.

Rhiannon Giddens is a member of the GRAMMY-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, whose 2010 album 'Genuine Negro Jig' debuted at number one on the Billboard Bluegrass chart and at number 150 on the Billboard 200. The Carolina Chocolate Drops have also appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, The Grand Ole Opry and in the film "The Great Debators" starring Denzel Washington. Rolling Stone Magazine described the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ style as "dirt-floor-dance electricity."

Mike Compton is a longtime member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band, has recorded with Elvis Costello, Doc Watson, Ralph Stanley, Dolly Parton, Gregg Allman, Willie Nelson, John Hartford, and T-Bone Burnett.

Multi-instrumentalist and North Carolina old time player Joe Newberry won first-place at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival and appeared on a Prairie Home Compaion with Big Medicine.

Double bassist Jason Sypher has performed with Irma Thomas, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, and Susan McKeown, among many others.