Corn Mo (aka Jon Cunningham) is a singer, keyboardist, and accordion player from Texas. Known for Busey Boy, his songs are usually comedic with a bit of glam rock influence. He recently toured with They Might Be Giants and The Polyphonic Spree and has recently opened for Ben Folds. He is also a member of the band .357 Lover. Corn Mo has a personal Myspace page and a blog & official site.
Composer Pauline Oliveros is a maverick in the field of electronic music. Oliveros' first instrument was the accordion; as a teenager in Texas she played in a 100-piece accordion group that appeared at the rodeo. In 1949 she entered the University of Houston, but in 1952 transferred to San Francisco State College. Oliveros studied music privately with Robert Erickson and began to associate with a loose confederation of like-minded composers; Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Morton Subotnick among them.
Groanbox (formerly The Groanbox Boys), the North American trio of Michael Ward-Bergeman, Cory Seznec and Paul Clifford, are a musical hybrid of ideas and ideals. They are at first glance a roots band, soaked in the traditions of American music, with all the guts of rock and roll and all the soul of the wandering troubadour. But somewhere along the way, that troubadour turned off the road and, from the melting pot of New Orleans, began a new journey that would take the Groanbox sound to new and unexplored places.
One of a small handful of women in Zydeco, this Louisiana native
Climax Ceilidh Band are one of the finest modern folk dance bands in Britain. The band prides itself on its fine mixture of highly original and innovative self-penned tunes and traditional material, with the emphasis always on making ultra-exciting dance music. Climax really does sound like no other ceilidh band. The driving rhythm of the accordion and guitar, the sweet sound of the dancing fiddles, the swift trill of the flute and the power of the pipes makes the Climax Ceilidh Band Experience truly orgasmic!
Tom Kitching and Gren Bartley are one of the brightest young acts on the folk scene today. Playing music from a remarkably broad range of sources, their new album ‘Boundary’ crosses genres with a healthy disdain for arbitrary pigeon-holing of styles and traditions. Some songs just need to be sung. 'The instruments spark, with the combination of the bright fiddle and the acclaimed finger picking style of Bartley giving a lovely flow to the tunes' - Maverick Magazine
In late 2004, Tobias Weinreich (Bass), Sebastian Scherrer (Keyboards), Marco Schomas (Vocals) and Simon Schillinger (Guitar) founded Finsterforst. They were still seeking more members however, so instead concentrated purely on songwriting. As a result, they created many songs without being able to perform them until later on. In spring 2005 the band decided to introduce an accordion player (Johannes Joseph) into the mix, a choice which has helped to shape their unique sound.
Bubbling forth like a mossy belch of polka filth from the greasy, jet fuel-contaminated wetlands of the Northwest, comes The Bad Things. With junkyard waltzes and shameless shanties, The Bad Things are hellbent on providing traditional music for the post-apocalyptic era. "Combining elements of Gypsy, folk, Klezmer, Hillbilly ballads, mariachi crooners, and a Vaudeville theatrical aesthetic, the group has a reputation for drunken debauchery and feverish dancing at their live shows.....The group lends their old-fashioned style with a post-modern sense of black humor."
Gregory Page, formerly of The Rugburns, was born in London, England. As a teenager, he attended Trinity College of Music where he studied classical guitar and composition. At the age of sixteen, Page moved to Southern California where he began writing and recording music. Besides working on his own music, Page has also worked with eclectic array of artists such as Jason Mraz, John Doe, Jewel, Tom Brosseau, Steve Poltz and A.J. Croce. In 1996, John Doe, formerly of the band X, provided lead guitar on and produced his independently released Fare thee Well album.
Kimmo Pohjonen (b. 1964) is one of the most respected and in-demand musicians and performers in Finland. An accordionist of exceptional ability and imagination, Kimmo's musical history goes back more than twenty years in rock, folk, avant-garde, improvisation, classical, dance and theatre music projects. In 1996 he embarked on a solo career with his solo 5-row accordion project, featuring extreme and original compositions, live loops and effects, a dynamic and animated stage performance, orchestrated lights and surround sound.