{{short description|American singer}}
{{Infobox musical artist | image = | name = Custer LaRue | birth_place = [[Bath County, Virginia]] | origin = | instrument = [[singing]] - [[soprano]] | genre = [[Folk music|Folk]], [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]] | occupation = | years_active = 1983–present | label = | associated_acts = [[The Baltimore Consort]] | website = }} '''Custer LaRue''' is an American [[soprano]] vocalist<ref name="Lewis">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/custer-larue-q35149/biography|title=Custer LaRue|last=Lewis|first=Dave|publisher=[[Allmusic]]|accessdate=15 August 2011}}</ref> of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She specializes in [[Renaissance music]] and traditional [[folk music]] such as the [[Child ballads]] and music collected in [[Appalachia]] during the early 20th century.
==Biography== LaRue is from [[Bath County, Virginia]],<ref>English dance and song n56-58 p22 English Folk Dance and Song Society - 1994 "Custer LaRue is a soprano with an interest in both early music and the ballad tradition of her native mountains of Virginia."</ref> and attended [[Mary Baldwin College]] and the [[Peabody Conservatory]], where she received a [[Bachelor of Music]] degree in 1979.<ref name=Peabody/>
She served as the lead singer for [[The Baltimore Consort]]<ref name="Lewis" /> between 1983 and 2004, and has also worked as a solo artist with ad hoc groups of supporting musicians, with recordings released on the [[Dorian Recordings|Dorian]] label.
In the movie ''Hunters Moon'' (1997) LaRue sings "Soldier Boy", a folk song, slightly changed, from the southern Appalachians.
In the 2004 film ''[[Vanity Fair (2004 film)|Vanity Fair]]'', LaRue's singing was used to voice-over [[Reese Witherspoon]]'s three songs "Over The Mountains/The Great Adventurer", "Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal", and "The Mermaids Song".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Busack|first1=Richard von|title=Reese's Piece: Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair' is as sharp as Reese Witherspoon's impertinent heroine|journal=Metro|date=1 September 2004|volume=September 1–7, 2004|url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/09.01.04/vanity-fair-0436.html|accessdate=30 January 2016|publisher=Metro Publishing Inc.}}</ref>
In 2009, she was recognized with the Peabody Alumni Achievement Award Recognizing Outstanding Contributions to Music in Maryland.<ref name=Peabody>{{cite web|url=http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/alumni/award%20winners/Custer%20LaRue.html|title=Peabody Institute - Alumni Association: Custer LaRue|accessdate=29 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205085734/http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/alumni/award%20winners/Custer%20LaRue.html|archive-date=5 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larue, Custer}} [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American sopranos]] [[Category:People from Bath County, Virginia]] [[Category:Mary Baldwin University alumni]] [[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Peabody Institute alumni]] [[Category:Singers from Virginia]] [[Category:21st-century American women]]
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