The Elephants are now free to roam about the country
Nederland, Colorado is high up in Rocky Mountain country, a place where people live and play in a picturesque time and space. And in this remote mountain town, there’s a unique ensemble of egoless Earth dwellers that are known around these parts as Elephant Revival.
This soulful, seductive quiver of 20-something songwriters and multi-instrumentalists reign from points across the United States. Since Oct. 2006, Dan Rodriguez, Bonnie Paine, Dango Rose, Sage T. Cook and Bridget Law have herded in a greatly applauded neo-acoustic gyptic revival at festivals, clubs, house concerts and theaters from the Rockies to the Ozarks and all points in between. The revival is totally original yet pays homage to some influences - Little Feat, The Band, Leftover Salmon, Tha Musemeant, Billie Holiday, Bonnie\'s mom, Taj Mahal, Bob Dylan, Randy Crouch, Holy Modal Rounders, traditional Celtic and Scottish song-craft, Colorado bluegrass, roots reggae and mountain hip-hop.
Each Elephant possesses remarkable and uncanny vocal abilities which can be heard during every performance. The individual members also carry a vast amount of instrumental talent - Rodriguez plays a distinctive finger-style acoustic guitar while Law enchants the audience with her fiddle. Rose grooves on the upright bass and mandolin while Cook plays a variety of instruments including electric banjo, electric guitar, mandolin and upright bass. Ms. Paine channels the rhythmic mean on the washboard and djembe, and occasionally will bow an eerie yet angelic line out of the musical saw. Bonnie’s vocal prowess has been compared to the likes of Natalie Merchant and Grace Slick but her uniqueness cannot be pinned down by comparison.
Individually and collectively the band members have performed with some of the most prolific performers of our time like Michael Franti, Bela Fleck, John Paul Jones, Yonder Mountain String Band, Leftover Salmon, Little Feat, members of Nickel Creek, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Hot Buttered Rum, Hackensaw Boys, New Monsoon, Railroad Earth, Vince Herman, Drew Emmitt, Benny Galloway, Crooked Still, Uncle Earl, The Mammals, Randy Crouch, Kirk Rundstrum, My Tea-Kind, members of String Cheese Incident, Boubacar Diebate, Tha Musemeant, Taarka, Cornmeal, High on the Hog, John Cowan and countless others in personal and public scenarios.
Just like the elephant that leaves little or no trace behind, Elephant Revival is in the process of converting their diesel powered school bus to run on vegetable oil in 2008. Also on tap this year is their debut album produced by longtime collaborator and friend David Tiller (ThaMuseMeant, Taarka), a healthy run through the summer festival circuit, and forays into the international independent film market.
So whether you need to get on the dance floor to shake off those “Jet Lag Blues” or the “Ring Around the Moon” has got you wired for sound, one Elephant Revival show will save your soul from stagnation. Or at the very least, you’ll be roaming the Rockies looking for Elephants.
-Joe Mack (Dec. 2007)
For more information, logon to www.myspace.com/elephantrevival
Booking: myspace.com/onlythebestbooking: Contact: PJ (707)616-3903 onlythebestbooking@yahoo.com
For Management/Promotion/Press: Contact Dango Rose (303) 619-1895 - ringleader81@gmail.com
For Marketing/Publicity: Contact Bridget Law (303)726-2062 --fiddler@bridgetlaw.com
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