Two electric sitars, flute, percussion, & the ethereal voices of three women, all blended into an alchemical potion of earthy mythology and deep grooves that will have you dancing while your soul takes flight.
The Strangelings are Maura and Pete Kennedy, Chris Thompson, Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson.
Maura and Pete, who drive the band with their twin electric sitars and resonant vocals, are veterans of the folk and pop music scene. They both toured the United States and the British Isles as members of Nanci Griffith's Blue Moon Orchestra, appearing in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall and London's Royal Albert Hall. They were featured on a number of Nanci's CDs at the time, including the Grammy-winning "Other Voices, Other Rooms". Since establishing their own identity as performers, the Kennedys have released nine CDs, to critical acclaim. In Pete's hometown of Washington DC, they garnered over fifty WAMMY awards, before moving to New York City, where they became regulars at the legendary Bottom Line, and appeared for several years as cast members in the "Downtown Messiah", a hip re-imagining of Handel's masterpiece. Nowadays, the duo reside in Northampton, Massachusetts, and host an eclectic weekly radio show, "The Dharma Cafe" on Sirius Satellite Radio. They continue to tour the nation, both as a duo and as members of the Strangelings, performing at major venues including the Newport and Falcon Ridge Folk Festivals. In 1999, the Kennedys proudly accepted an invitation to become Artists-in-Residence at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson are, like the Kennedys, a husband-and-wife duo who have devoted their lives to their music, touring the nation from coast to coast, delighting audiences with their own brand of self-described "retro-folk". They share, with the other Strangelings, a love for the haunting, ancient ballads of the British Isles, and their Appalachian counterparts. Rebecca has a knack for writing songs that sound like legends, handed down for generations, and Ken's bass provides a solid foundation for the group's danceable grooves. Rebecca and Ken have shared stages with John Renbourn, Tom Rush, The Strawbs, and other folk greats. When they're not on the road, they relax and write songs in a little farmhouse atop Windham Hill in the hills of Southern Vermont. Folk-rock legend Roger McGuinn said of Rebecca, "I love the sound of her voice. There's a sweetness and a worldly wisdom, in a perfect balance".
Chris Thompson, vocalist and guitarist, has been an exciting fixture on the Boston folk scene for a numbers of years, as half of a singing and songwriting duo with her identical twin, and sometime Strangeling, Meredith Thompson. The duo have been nominated for a number of awards, and have appeared at Boston's top venues, including the Somerville Theatre and historic Club Passim. Chris's songs are regular fare on WUMB, the folk powerhouse station of New England, and her song "Clearwater" is one of the anthems of the annual Clearwater Festival on the Hudson River. Blessed with a strong, soulful voice and a dynamic stage presence, Chris easily matches the energy and passion of the other Strangelings, and shares their love for the mystery and wonder of the great songs of the folk tradition, and like the other group members, she can channel that passion into new songs that honor the legacy and carry it on.
Bookings: Granata Agency, Mary Granata: Mary@GranataAgency.com www.myspace.com/thestrangelings
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