Bearsville Theater
EarthBeat - World Music Dance Band
Sat., June 2, 2007
9pm; Tickets $12.00
The Woodstock-based group includes musicians from other Hudson Valley World Music bands, including Michael Schacker, formerly of The Tribe; Ian Snyder, lead guitarist from Asha Nan; John Coghill, the bass player for Mambo Kikongo and Los Tianos, drummer Ruperto Ifil, founder of the NY Funk Alliance and Kitt Potter, a seasoned vocal stylist from the Hudson Valley. Kitt who recently joined the band after hearing the material said ‘I wanna be part of this.’ It was a perfect fit, giving the band an additional high energy dynamic.
Michael Schacker says “I’m really excited to be playing with these great people. The Asha Nan band last played a few years ago and had been a World Beat staple in the Hudson Valley. I ran into Ian, and said hey, let’s get something going. Then John Coghill from Mambo joined as well. And of course Ruperto is one of the most accomplished drummers in the Valley.”
“We are always changing the beat from song to song. It’s more fun to mix it up”, says Schacker. “A Latin dance number will be followed by an Afro-Celtic tune, then a Reggae song, an Afro-Pop beat and so on until we finally get back to Latin. By the way, it’s primarily original stuff—so it’s all in English.
“I play violin on some songs, which is interesting because some of the earliest Salsa was with violin and piano, before the trumpets and brass came along. And if you’ve never danced to Afro-Celtic music, which can be fiddle tunes with a heavy Moroccan rhythm, you’re missing out. “Zulu Leprechaun” is my favorite Afro-Celtic band.
“All these different world beats are kind of eye-opener to write in. Writing music becomes new all over, like the Sixties. We’ve created all sorts of unique sounds by fusing different styles together. I wanted to have this fusion of music and then rock it up a bit so you can really dance to it.
“For example, one song is ‘Tibetan Throat-Singing Rock’, set to a Moroccan beat. That one is actually about a dream my wife had, in which she met the Dalai Lama in a bejeweled cave and how he led her to ‘Shambhala’. “
The group is appropriate for any type of life celebration as the lyrics often have a positive message to them.
291 Tinker St., Woodstock, NY - (845) 679-4406