Biography...
The Crooked Fiddle Band
http://www.nomadicfish.net/public/crooked/CrookedFiddleBand_bio_2012.pdf
“The Crooked Fiddle Band are completely surprising. The music is original and quixotic, and yet has the strength of some deep and strong roots. I can't say I've ever heard anything else like it! Brian Eno
The Crooked Fiddle Band have built a reputation as one of Australia's most intense live music experiences. Their high octane performances compel audiences into a joyous frenzy of dancing and revelry in response to the dark, ecstatic energy and medieval battle-like climaxes.
Their reputation as a live band has seen them blaze a trail across Europe as well as their native Australia. The imminent release of their debut album “Overgrown Tales”, recorded in Chicago in early 2011 with legendary engineer Steve Albini in his Electrical Audio studios, is the start of a whole new chapter in their musical career . Whilst the worst snowstorms in 15 years blanketed the city, Albini (Joanna Newsom, Nirvana, The Pixies, Gogol Bordello) captured the band live and raw – with a set of tunes that roam across a wide range of styles and influences whilst maintaining an intense yet cinematic energy.
Driven by the beautiful and furious fiddling of Jess Randall, and underpinned by a rhythm section featuring Gordon Wallace (bouzouki, guitar, banjo, mandolin), Mark Stevens (double bass, Appalachian dulcimer, charango) and Joe Gould (drum kit, hand percussion, garbage bin, vocals) the Crooked Fiddle Band sound blasts, rocks and grooves to the point of dementia, compelling listeners into a joyous frenzy.
Combining stunning musicianship with a rhythm and energy aimed straight at romantic hearts and dancing feet, the Crooked Fiddle Band intertwine folk traditions with modern evolutions and have impressed all who have encountered them, such as Damien Dempsey, who they have supported and Brian Eno, who invited the band to participate in his Luminous Festival at Sydney Opera House.
“For us, there is a direct link between folk traditions and blast beats: it is the unstoppable energy, that intensity that hits you in the chest and forces you to move,” says The Crooked Fiddle Band’s Gordon Wallace. “Chainsaw folk” is our attempt to craft a new beast from these influences – coherent but mutated and we can’t wait to hit Europe hard this summer.”
Overgrown Tales roams across a wide range of styles and influences yet maintains an intense, vivid energy and Gordon Wallace from the band describes the new album as “Like finding a folk tale deep in the forest, rooted in tradition but with the newest of shoots and a few thorns.”
