Years active 1988–present | Website www.tempestmusic.com | |
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Labels Magna Carta, Firebird Arts & Music Past members Brian Fox
Michael Mullen
James Crocker
Damien Gonzalez
Rob Wullenjohn
Jay Nania
Mark Showalter
Ian Butler
Jon Berger
Dave Parnell
John Land
Todd Evans
Jim "Hurricane" Hurley
Sue Draheim
Mark Skowronek
Ronan Carroll
Darren Cassidy
Ariane Cap
Caith Threefires
Vince Lucchesi Origin Oakland, California, United States (1988) Members Lief Sorbye, Adolfo Lazo, Rob Wullenjohn, Jay Nania, Todd Evans, John Land Genres Celtic rock, Folk music, Progressive rock Albums Turn of the Wheel, The Double‑Cross, The Gravel Walk, Prime Cuts, Serrated Edge Profiles | ||
Tempest is an American Celtic rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, based in Oakland, California. They fuse together the traditional Celtic music with Norwegian and European folk, American folk, and progressive rock.
Contents
Band history
The band formed in 1988 with Lief Sorbye (mandolin, vocals), Adolfo Lazo (drums), Rob Wullenjohn (guitar), and Mark Showalter (bass). The band has seen a changing cast of musicians, with Lief and Adolfo remaining as founding members since the band's beginning.
The current lineup consists of Lief Sorbye (mandolin, vocals), Adolfo Lazo (percussion), Kathy Buys (fiddle), and Josh Fosgreen (bass), with members from around the world: Lief from Oslo, Norway, Adolfo from Havana, Cuba, Kathy from San Francisco, California, and Josh from Santa Rosa, CA. In 2010, Tempest released Another Dawn - it was Tempest's 11th full-length studio album. In 2006, Tempest released their 10th full-length studio album, entitled The Double-Cross. In 2007, the band released a live CD, entitled Lief's Birthday Bash. The Birthday Bash CD was recorded on the evening of 23 March 2007 at Ashkenaz Dance Community Center in Berkeley, and features tracks including a number of musicians that Lief has played with over the years: both past Tempest members and some members of Golden Bough as well. Much of the recent live CD is actually acoustic. Tracks from Tempest recordings may be sampled on the discography page of the official Tempest website.
The band has held the honor of being invited to play a number of times at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and they also host an eclectic music and arts festival of their own, in Auburn, California, on the first weekend of May each year. The festival is called Karfluki Fest, and has featured such artists as It's A Beautiful Day, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Fairport Convention, Shana Morrison, Wicked Tinkers and Fishtank Ensemble, in addition to an array of side show acts such as belly dancers, a sword swallower, jugglers, acrobats and fire dancers.
Albums
Compilations featuring Tempest
Related groups
Lief Sorbye occasionally plays in an acoustic Celtic folk duo called Caliban, usually joined by a current or former Tempest fiddler, such as Kathy Buys, Michael Mullen or Sue Draheim. They have released one self-titled recording and often do shows during Tempest tours.
Kathy Buys was the fiddler with a world fusion band called The Druid Sisters Tea Party.
Bassist John Land was previously in a band called Coyote Pudding. They had one release, titled Joking, Drunk, or Bored as Hell.
Lief Sorbye has released two solo albums, Springdans (1987) and Across the Borders (1994).
Songs
Wizard's WalkThe Double-Cross · 2006
Cabar FeidhThe Double-Cross · 2006
TamosherShapeshifter · 2003