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Biography

Lawrence Johnstone began square dancing at the age of 14, at his parents' insistence — they met while square dancing in 1962, and wanted it to be something they could all enjoy together as a family.  Lawrence took to it immediately, and even felt the urge to try calling at that early stage.  He resisted it, though, because he didn't think that he could sing — and never told anyone about the urge.

That changed in 1993, after 15 years of square dancing, when the Ukiah Promenaders' club caller Milt Adams wanted to quit.  Lawrence took lessons from Steve Minkin and Bob Bunch, and became the Promenaders' club caller in April of 1994.  He has continued to call for them ever since, and currently calls for three different clubs:  the Promenaders; the Frontier Twirlers in Willits; and the Singles & Pairs in Santa Rosa.

Along the way, Lawrence also attended and graduated from Daryl Clendenin's caller school in McCloud, California.  He has called in Oregon, northern and central California, and Nevada, and has called several times at the National Square Dance Convention, USAwest Square Dance Convention, and California State Square Dance Convention.  He has been recognized numerous times since 1999 by the Northern California Square Dancers' Association as one of the top 10 callers in the northern half of the Bay Area.  As of April 2014, he has been calling for twenty years.

Lawrence works hard on his teaching skills — the teaching techniques sessions at the annual CALLERLAB convention are among his favorites.  In addition to teaching beginner classes for his clubs, he taught classes for the Sonoma County Cooperative group in Sebastopol for several years.  Lawrence also enjoys doing what callers refer to as "one-night parties" — that is, parties for groups of non-square-dancing people at which some simple square dancing is taught.

Lawrence tries not to imitate other callers, and strives to be different without being difficult.  Part of this comes from his love of and frequent use of Big Band music, and part comes from trying to create smooth, flowing choreography that uses calls in slightly different combinations from those used by many callers.  He does, however, admit to great admiration for several well-known callers and has attempted to study and use some of their techniques:

Joe Saltel

"Joe's my absolute favorite.  If it weren't for all those tapes I bought from him, I wouldn't be a caller today, so blame him..."

Jerry Quam

"Possibly not as well known as he deserves.  I was a dancer when he started, and was one of the 'dolls' that he used to practice on at the Center Wheelers' president's house.  Watching him develop into a good caller is the sort of thing that makes you think, 'Hey, maybe I could do that.'"

Nate Bliss

"Great singing voice, great timing, could always make you think hard without interrupting the flow of the dance.  And a great friend.  I still miss him."

Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures, for use of anyone making a flyer.  Click on the thumbnail for the full-size photo:

Recordings

Scot Byars has a recording of a singing call duet with Lawrence on his MySpace Music page.  Look in the player for the entry called "Heart Of My Heart Duet."  (Even though neither of the songs is actually "Heart Of My Heart!") Here's a direct link.

In 2014, Lawrence became a staff caller for Bob Elling's Riverboat Records. To date, the following Riverboat releases feature his vocals:

Number - Title	Release Date
RIV 411 - Under The Sun	10/27/14 (2015 Gold package) 05/21/15 (as single)
RIV 534 - Ain't Misbehavin' (new vocal on re-release of RB 3005)	06/12/15
RIV 542 - God Bless The USA (new vocal on re-release of RB 3031)	06/12/15
RIV 566 - Christmas Dance With You	09/25/15
RIV 507 - Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree	11/02/15 (2016 Gold package) 06/09/16 (as single)
RIV 522 - Steppin' Out	11/02/15 (2016 Gold package) 09/16/16 (as single)
RIV 621 - Auld Lang Syne	05/13/16
RIV 680 - Simple Life	11/01/16 (2017 Gold package) 08/10/17 (as single)
RIV 681 - Then The World Will Know	11/01/16 (2017 Gold package) 08/10/17 (as single)
RIV 691 - Amarillo	11/01/16 (2017 Gold package) 04/18/17 (as single)
RIV 663 - Moonlight Bay (new vocal on re-release of RBS 1330)	05/16/17
RIV 803 - Blueberry Hill (new vocal on re-release of RB 2998)	11/01/17
RIV 811 - Shine On Harvest Moon (new vocal on re-release of RB 3028)	12/12/17
RIV 827 - You'll Never Know (new vocal on re-release of RBS 1295)	03/23/18
RIV 847 - God Bless America (new vocal on re-release of GS 712)	05/17/18
RIV 1024 - I Wanna Be Seduced	09/17/18 (2018 Autumn Gold package)
RIV 1030 - Birth Of The Blues	09/17/18 (2018 Autumn Gold package)
RIV 896 - All Of Me (new vocal on re-release of RB 239)	02/24/19
RIV 911 - You've Gotta Have Heart (new vocal on re-release of RB 290)	05/31/19
RIV 925 - Laughing On The Outside (new vocal on re-release of RBS 1287)	08/01/19
RIV 1058 - Sentimental Journey	06/30/19 (2019 Summer Gold package)
RIV 1060 - Summer Place	06/30/19 (2019 Summer Gold package)
RIV 1083 - Put On A Happy Face	01/24/20 (2020 Winter Gold package)

If you have a browser new enough to support the HTML5 <audio> tag (basically, any current browser, and any Internet Explorer version higher than 8), you should see an audio player under the title that will let you listen to the sample. Riverboat titles can be purchased directly from the Riverboat Records website. (Which Lawrence designed and maintains.)

In 2009, a square dance record producer asked Lawrence to record a few singing call vocals on the Square Tunes and Grenn record labels:

Title	Call Nbr	Release Date
I Wonder Where You Are Tonight	ST-1067	04/05/09
Meet Me Under The Mistletoe (favorite)	ST-1072	08/05/09
Forever You'll Be Mine	ST-1073	11/05/09
Put On Your Old Gray Bonnet	ST-1060	02/05/10
Caribbean	ST-1053	03/05/10
Pennies From Heaven	GR-12417	05/05/10
Stairway to Paradise (favorite)	GR-12419	12/05/10

A few (but not all) of these are available from the current owner of Square Tunes and Grenn, SquareDanceMusic.com. Those titles are linked to the sample and ordering pages on the website.

Videos