February 2010

Taken by Trees is the latest project for artist Victoria Bergsman from Stockholm, Sweden. Bergsman was singer-songwriter for The Concretes for eleven years before deciding to leave the band in July 2006.

Basia Bulat is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in London, Ontario. Her debut album, Oh My Darling, was released in 2007. Her second album, Heart Of My Own, released in January 2010.

She appeared in the September edition of Now! Magazine. She also appeared on the LOLA 2007 line-up, using her lush instrumental back-ups to accompany her reedy voice. Her first album has been hailed in the Exclaim! monthly newspaper and on several online publications.

Solas has emerged as arguably the most exciting band in traditional Irish music. The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine says, “Seamus Egan and Solas make mind-blowing Irish folk music, maybe the world’s best,” while the Los Angeles Times says, “Solas offers a compellingly original, strikingly contemporary view of traditional Celtic sounds.”

Solas is virtually unique in the new territory it has opened up for Celtic music. It has performed at all the major Celtic and folk festivals, including Philadelphia, Edmonton, the legendary National Folk Festival, and Milwaukee’s Irish fest; but also at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and the chamber music summer series at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It has performed at Symphony Hall, Wolf Trap, the Ford Amphitheater, and Queens Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland. In New York City, where the band was based in its early years, it has played at the legendary Bottom Line folk club, but also at vaunted classical venues Town Hall and Symphony Space.

No Bird Sing formed in late summer of 2008, and combines the talents of Joe Horton, who goes by the Orwellian stage name of Eric Blair (vocals/keys),  Robert Mulrennan (Hyder Ali) (guitars/electronics), and Graham O'Brien (Abzorbr)(drummer/electronics).

The core of the band remains a trio, although guest appearances include Casey O'Brien and Kristoff Krane of Abzorbr. The space that results from the guitar/drum/vocal lineup is largely influenced by artists like One Day as a Lion and the Black Keys, while lyrical influences are pulled from sources as diverse Mos Def, Aesop Rock, Kimya Dawson and John Lee Hooker.

Like the band itself, the name No Bird Sing is a derivative of varied sources. The idea was sparked in Northern California by an ornithological paperback (called No Bird Sings) in a bookstore window.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.

Savage Aural Hotbed creates their compelling sound using conventional and "found object" percussion instruments, bass guitar, electronically modified horns and vocals, and power tools. With up to four people drumming, they provide visual, as well as aural excitement with their high energy rhythms, flailing arms, and flying sparks.

The precise, percussive sound of Savage Aural Hotbed is inspired by many influences, most notably Japanese Taiko drumming, and the cutting-edge (sometimes literally, they use saws and grinders on stage) innovation of Industrial. Other influences include diverse styles such as modern minimalist, and many ethnic styles.