Going ‘Bearfoot’

An old-fashioned bluegrass band will share its new wave of music with Laguna Beach for the second year in a row.

The Bearfoot Band, an eclectically talented quintet hailing from Anchorage, Alaska, will give an upbeat “newgrass” performance from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Aliso Creek Inn, sponsored by Laguna Beach Live!

The group, composed of lead vocalist and fiddler Odessa Jorgensen, acoustic bassist Kate Hamre, guitarist Mike Mickelson, mandolinist Jason Norris and fiddler Angela Oudean, delivers an untraditional sound in their own compositions as well as a fresh spin on covers by music legends like the Beatles.

“We all come from different musical backgrounds and have various influences,” the classically trained Jorgensen said. “Our music is always changing and uniquely ours.”

Jorgensen joined the band in September 2008 to replace former singer Annalisa Tornfelt, and to lend her own voice to their most recent album, “Doors and Windows,” released by Compass Records’ Garry West last April.

Prior albums are “Follow Me” (2006), “Back Home” (2003) and “Only Time Knows” (2001).

“Doors and Windows” was the band’s first album to feature guest musicians, which included Andrea Zonn of James Taylor and Band, Andy Hall of the Infamous Stringdusters, Alison Brown and Larry Atamanuik.

The songs are as eclectic as their sound, ranging from messages about love to murder, and incorporate unsuspecting instruments like a “groovy fiddle” in an otherwise depressing tune.

“We are all writers, with our own thing to say,” Jorgensen said. “Our [collaborative] goal is to create pleasing, beautiful-sounding music that can be left to the audience to interpret for themselves.

“What I care about most is how much joy our music gives other people, and love to look out at a huge crowd having an insane amount of fun.”

The band will play in Laguna as one of the first stops on a U.S. tour.

Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Barbecue is also available for purchase. For more information, call (800) 595-4849 or visit www.lagunabeachlive.org.