Member Since: 12/11/2006
Band Website: swiftyears.com
Band Members: BOB CUSSEN plays the mandolin (and anything else with strings) like a man with centuries worth of music inside him and only one lifetime to let it all out, his road-worn old Gibson always on the verge of spontaneous combustion. Montreal-based and of German/Hungarian descent, he was the founding member and leader of the White River Bluegrass Band, which, over the course of twelve years, produced three recordings, six European tours and made appearances at festivals, concerts and clubs across the U.S. and Canada, from the Western Arctic to the Magdalene Islands. He went on to become the 1985 U.S. Midwest Irish banjo champion. From 1992 to 1999 he appeared with his band the Immigrants, also known as Nobody You Know, playing extensively in the U.S. and Canada, producing several recordings. As well as Swift Years he is a mainstay of the Montreal Irish scene where he performs with singer-songwriter Belfast Andi. He also occasionally plays with Notre Dame de Grass. Bob has collaborated with a great many artists, including Tom Paxton, Jean Leloup, Kate and McGarrigle, Plume Latraverse, Karen Young, Michel Faubert, Lawrence Lepage, Claude Lafrance, Georges Langford, Garolou, Ian Tamblyn and the Venezuelan instrumental group Çavana. He has appeared on numerous CBC recordings, as well as many TV shows in Canada, Germany and Hungary. He has also recorded for the National Film Board.
PATRICK HUTCHINSON grew up in remote parts of rural Scotland and England, before coming to Montreal in 1978 with a box of punk-rock 45s and an incomprehensible accent. Formative influences were his parents' love of folk/world music, and John Peel every night on BBC radio who could go from the Buzzcocks to the Bothy Band and Little Feat to Lee Perry without batting an eyelid. As a tasty, soulful, ensemble-minded guitarist he tips his hat to the likes of Ry Cooder, Steve Cropper, and Richard Thompson. Patrick was an original member of Top Ranking (Montreal's first ska band) in the 1980s, and half of minimalist torch-and-twang duo Bare Bones in the '90s, putting out several well-received albums and gigging extensively both alone and with the likes of Johnny Clegg, Procul Harum and Ani Difranco.
SUZANNE UNGAR embodies the bass virtues of talking softly and carrying a big stick. Whereas bass players tend to be in the background in folk acts, Suzanne's silk-and-steel basslines are an essential up-front part of the Swift Years sound. Born in Budapest, Hungary, she lived in Europe and California before establishing herself in Montreal. She studied piano and classical guitar, before concentrating on the electric bass and becoming a part of the Montreal folk scene in the 1970's. She performed with the Jay Sewall Blues Band and the Celtic trio Anam Cara, and was member of the folk/rock group Harlequin for a number of years, as well as the R&B/pop group Random Hush. Suzanne has also performed and recorded with the New York artist Barbara Lewis and also the Irish/Gaelic singer Beverley McGuire.
Influences: Lots of old records on the Monitor label, with titles like "Dance, Gypsy!" or "Around the Samovar"; Hungarian fiddle masters like Yoska Nemeth & Sandor Lakatosh; bluegrassers like Greenbriar Boys & the Dillards; electric folkers like Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention & Alan Stivell; the Clash; Billy Bragg; Cream; The Corries; Lee Perry, Culture and pretty much all '70s roots reggae; Slim & Slam and all manner of pre-WWII hokum; et multiple cetera.
Sounds Like: The house band in a joint where Woody Guthrie could trade licks with Johannes Brahms.
Record Label: Flaming Nora
Type of Label: Indie