Over the past three albums and five years, Toronto’s Celtic rock band Enter The Haggis has found itself at the center of a grassroots success story ever teetering on the brink of mainstream success. From playing Celtic festivals to headlining them, and from the festival circuit to selling out multiple nights in rock venues, ETH has blazed a path with heavy and almost constant touring up and down the East Coast, to Canada, the West Coast and back again, winning over success one fan, one town, one region at a time.

The band has made waves in the genre, landing high Billboard and iTunes World Music chart positions as well as major television appearances on shows like Live With Regis And Kelly, A&E Breakfast With the Arts and PBS’ popular program Out of Ireland, with its multi-influence style of Celtic rock. It’s the kind of overall sound and devotion package that has created not only die-hard fans, but “Haggis Heads” that follow the band from gig to gig.

The band has been together in its current incarnation since members met in the early 2000s in Toronto, where more than half the band was studying its craft in the city’s colleges and universities. With that kind of classically trained background Enter The Haggis is constantly honing and evolving its sound – blending elements of rock and pop with traditional Celtic fare, an art school eclecticism and a keen sense of arrangement. Past records have seen the band dabble in roots, funk, even adding prog rock elements to the mix, but ETH always manages to bring it home. Alternating between upbeat rock numbers with sing-along choruses and slower, more introspective alt pop songs, the band plays progressive and lyrically driven music that’s strongly rooted in Celtic tradition – from the storytelling to the bagpipes.

“We like to experiment musically, pushing the boundaries of what people think of as Celtic music,” said vocalist and guitarist Trevor Lewington. “Some of our grooves, melodies and lyrics are quite different from other bands that we play with.”

This year the band plans to focus more than ever on its homeland, and is looking forward to spending a great deal of time in Canadian territory. Gutter Anthems will be released on United for Opportunity on March 24, 2009 amid a March East Coast tour, including a blowout celebration on St. Patrick’s Day at The Mod Club in the band’s native Toronto. “We’ve started feeling nostalgia for our homeland,” said fiddler, keyboardist and vocalist Brian Buchanan. “And this album feels more distinctly and unapologetically Canadian than our previous albums.” This year Canada. Next year the world.

Led by the former lead singer of legendary Vermont band Viperhouse, Heloise and the Savoir Faire update 70’s disco to an electro-rock experience like no other.

“A shimmery spectacle erupts in New York. Backed by a live band, Heloise’s oblique jazzy-voice strategizes in beat with two Solid Gold-worthy dancers in leggings. Traversing the yellow bricks as Peaches’ favorite flavor, this electro rock outfit has trapped Toto in a mirror ball.” - URB Next 100

“A bottle blonde with a fondness for spandex and all that glitters, Williams was leading her band, Heloise & the Savoir Faire, in a nasty bit of ’70s disco rock. She laid out her mission fast and furious: “Trash, rats, and microphones/ That’s where I’m at/ Why don’t you leave me alone?”
-Joan Anderman, Boston Globe

“Front woman Heloise has Cyndi Lauper’s tone, Debbie Harry’s range, and many cheesy come-ons—what’s not to love? As synths bubble through the disc’s randy electro-pop songs, you won’t know whether to pogo or grind, but dance you will.” - Maire Claire

“The recent debut from the trippy Brooklyn band Heloise & the Savoir Faire… reminded me of the Scissor Sisters at times — but with more, well, everything.”
-James Montgomery, MTV

We are super-psyched to welcome this NYC based Balkan/Gypsy/Klezmer/Punk experience to the Chilly Ranch for the first time.The balancing of frenzy and finesse is evidently a trademark Luminescent Orchestrii approach, displayed to its utmost in the insanely frenetic dance tunes… The three violins flirt willfully with a cacophony teasingly offset by elegant classical flourishes, swirling and eddying above the rhythm section’s bruisingly aggressive but sharply-aimed attack.

A punky five-piece string band, the Luminescent Orchestrii plays renditions of Appalachian and Gypsy tunes that run from lively and infectious to deeply melancholy. Its original compositions and varied interpretations of traditional melodies are like tiny, richly arranged musical adventures.
-Time Out NY (NYC, NY)

“The music makes your skin tingle and your eyes water, and never before have metallers, hippies and divas enjoyed the same gig so equally. ****” — The Skinny Magazine, UK

There’s only a scant degree of separation between Romanian gypsy music and punk rock, according to Luminescent Orchestrii, a New York-based group featuring no less than three violinists. Sure antique novelty music is all the rage–wasn’t the old country a gas?–but this quintet can actually boast among its ranks two bonafide circus escapees and a former member of a Balkan woman’s choir…rounding out their street smarts with stage cred in Goth bands, free-jazz collectives and opera companies.

The seven tracks on Luminescent Orchestrii’s recent live recording (of a show in Brooklyn) demonstrate that they love to play Eastern European rhythms, hip-hop and about eight other recognizable genres. Imagine Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks playing tangos in Budapest. Their live CD is testament to endless onstage energy, some truly romantic slow-dance numbers, quality musicianship and an adoring audience.
-Seven Days (Burlington VT)

LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII IS: Romanian gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard-rocking klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats and Appalachian fiddle, all eaten and spit out by two violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn harmonica and bass.

The members of the Orchestrii come from different scenes in New York City, yet come together through their love of Balkan and Gypsy music. Sxip Shirey is an international circus composer, Sarah Alden is an old-time fiddle player, Rima Fand is an experimental theater composer, and Benjy Fox-Rosen is a free-jazz bassist. It is not uncommon to find Sxip playing tampon applicators with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Rima composing music for a Lorca puppet show, Benjy schlepping his bass to a jazz gig, or Sarah fiddling away at some all-night old-time session.

Since 2002, when the band was formed, the Luminescent Orchestrii has toured the East Coast, England, Scotland, and Germany, and have traveled to Romania, Macedonia, Turkey and Serbia for inspiration. They most recently returned from Serbia’s DragoÄevo Trumpet Festival, a 47-year-old festival that takes place in the small town of GuÄa, where hordes of competing gypsy brass bands take to the streets and restaurants.

Mathematicians from the Tri-County Region of Upstate New York music is trans-genre. The effect is a dance party. The live show is a hallucine-genic amalgamation of music, live visual projections and midi-controlled lighting sequences capable of shaking arenas or turning a house party into a small nuclear explosion. The band members are actually not good at math.Some have speculated that this marginalization by academia is the impetus for the trio’s punk rock DIY ethos and aesthetic. They have toured the country from coast to coast, played over 500 shows in the past five years and released two albums, Level I and Level II, as well as a new live DVD, Transdimensional Odyssey of Doom.

The Boston Phoenix has declared Township an official “Supergroup” with their “transcendent bout of ‘70’s stadium rock that sounds like The Who on steroids with an Afro-Latin twist.” Hard to believe that the 2007 WBCN Rock n’ Roll Rumble winners have only been in existence for barely over a year, but all nay-saying falls aside when the group steps on stage. Nominated for two 2007 Boston Music Awards (Outstanding New Act, Outstanding Rock Band), Township was formed in 2006 by Greg Beadle (CancerConspiracy), Marc Pinansky (Runner and the Thermodynamics), and John Sheeran (SPiTZZ). The band immediately self-released a hand-made, limited edition EP, of which the single “Gunnin Thru the Nite” quickly became a local radio smash, garnering frequent play not only on local spotlight shows, but on primetime commercial radio as well. A stunning 35mm video was crafted for the song by professional New York City producer/cinematographer/director wunderkinds Josh Litwhiler and Steve Maing. The EP was quickly re-pressed after selling out, and another cut, “The Major” found international release on the DVD “Ski Porn,” which put the band alongside Wolfmother, Kasabian, Rare Earth and The Jefferson Starship. This track was quickly adopted (with permission) by Pacific Sunwear on-line and was featured on the internationally released skateboard video for Globe Shoes, on which the Rolling Stones are also included.

Swati (’birth of a star’ in Hindu’) is a New York City native. Swati’s early exposure to music came via the classical world when she was awarded an academic scholarship to study trombone. Her performing debut at Carnegie Hall, however, resulted in abandoning the classical world in favor of exploring her own singing, songwriting and guitar playing. Swati immersed herself in the city’s music scene at a young age, managing the popular club Nightingale’s. This put her in touch with the fertile music and arts scene in Manhattan’s lower east side. Before long Swati was performing and creating a sensation there, attracting musicians and record company execs alike and securing a spot at Lilith Fair.

Swati approaches songwriting and performing as catharsis: a way to expose her inner self and connect with others. “Onstage,” she says, “it’s the optimum place I can be in my head. When I see a stranger who feels what I feel, the emptiness and loneliness are completely gone. I’m completely content.” As a guitarist, Swati’s technique is simultaneously percussive and dreamy, revealing elements of her Indian heritage. Using a twelve string guitar fitted with eight strings, she employs open tunings ala Joni Mitchell and plays through an assortment of effects pedals. The result is remarkable. Swati doesn’t sound like anyone else and no one sounds like her; rarely has a solo guitarist sounded as muscular and delicate or gotten such an enormous sound from a simple acoustic instrument.

Swati’s songs are direct, honest and powerful and delivered with disarming humor. In the crowded singer/songwriter universe, Swati stands out as a particularly distinct star.

What better musical prescription for troubled times than an impeccably-dressed, throwback, neo-vaudevillian duo whose live performances are a festival of expert musicianship; clever, off-center original tunes; hilarious banter, rowdy audience interactions, and free kazoos for the crowd?

Hailing from New York City, The Two Man Gentlemen Band combines hot jazz, vintage rhythm & blues, old-time country, and tin pan alley to create a joyous two-man sound that is all their own. Performing with plectrum banjo, guitar, string bass, dueling kazoos, novelty percussion, and a cornet, The Gentlemen whip themselves into a frenzy that is unlike any acoustic duo on the road today. And they belt out original songs that manage to be at once familiar, bizarre, fun, and entirely new.

On stage, the songs come to life. Their intricate harmonies, instrumental prowess, and uncanny musical connection makes The Two Man Gentlemen Band a great band to watch. But it is their charismatic embrace of a forgotten brand of showmanship that makes them a must-see! During songs, they frequently coax the audience to shout, stomp, dance, whistle, and kazoo along with them. Between numbers, their well-honed - but, improvised - banter with each other and the audience is often the funniest part of the evening. Banjoist Andy Bean - equal parts vaudevillian comic, depression-era huckster, loveable rogue, and society gentleman - serves as master of ceremonies and manic front-man. Bassist Fuller Condon plays the silent straight-man, stoically accepting the antics of his partner with the mild disdain of an older sibling.

Grace Rowland sings. David Moss plays cello. John McGee plays guitar. The precocious lyrics and the delicate instrumental arrangements are mesmerizing, and quite unlike any sound out there. After performing together for almost two years, The Blue Hit has recently finished recording their debut album, Move In. The album was recorded by Dan Workman at Sugar Hill Recording Studios and is scheduled for release in the spring of 2009.

“The StereoFidelics are like a five-hour energy shot for your ears. I just finished listening to “Spanish Radio” off Asheville, N.C., duo The StereoFidelics’ debut album, Only Sleeping, and boy are my ears spent. The track opens with Chris Padgett’s acoustic guitar and Melissa McGinley’s violin trying to one-up each other in an ultra-hyper flamenco-like showdown. As it advances, the song feels like a soundtrack of young lovers in the early days of a whirlwind romance — there’s intensity, passion and a little drama. It’s a powerful sound to come from four hands.” –John Liberty, Kalamazoo Gazette

the StereoFidelics
Since releasing their first EP in early 2007, The StereoFidelics have firmly established themselves in the musical hotbed of Asheville, NC. Their infectious sound and energetic performances have earned them performances in such prestigious venues as The Orange Peel (voted one of the top 10 music venues in the country by Rolling Stone Magazine) and The Grey Eagle Music Hall. The StereoFidelics have done serious promoting of their music outside of Asheville as well; touring extensively throughout the southeast, midwest, west coast, mountain west, and into the northeast during the summer of 2007 and all of 2008. In 2008 alone, they embarked on four national tours, playing over 170 dates. With much anticipation, they released their debut album, Only Sleeping on Rubberneck Records in December ‘08.