NEW ALBUM JUST OUT!!!ORDER NOW AT FUNKYSIDE.COM The Horse Flies
The Horse Flies are known as one of the earliest bands to bring truly inventive ideas and energy to traditional American fiddle music. In the process, the Flies have created a unique sound that remains fresh, powerful, and captivating. Artful original songs, a wild groove-oriented approach to fiddle music, esteemed instrumental skills, and emotive singing come together as old-time fiddle music meets alternative rock, world percussion, minimalism, and modern songwriting.
The Flies have just released their first full-length studio album in many years -- "Until the Ocean" -- since the passing of their beloved bass-player and friend, John Hayward.
Critics have said:
“A band that's earned a buzz ... The Horse Flies churn out swirling, addictive songs, blending tradition with invention.†(Rolling Stone)
"Brilliantly peculiar ... new music with gnarled and twisted roots." (The Boston Herald)
“ ... a world without the Horse Flies' wholly unique music would be a much, much poorer place.†(Melody Maker, London)
"The Horse Flies combine musical and lyrical quirkiness with beguiling wit and intelligence … a melange of rock, folk, and minimalism … music that challenges the brain without sacrificing the groove." (Chicago Tribune)
"Music of astonishing centrifugal force ... breathtakingly complex rhythms ... unexpectedly rich textures ... stunningly modern ... gravity and grace ... their ancient, yet modern sound and their easy, seemingly limitless energy make The Horse Flies special." (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
"The textures are a blend of the ancient and the ultra modern. Realism coexists with surrealism, and synthetics and acoustics are interwoven. A record of dark brilliance." (Melody Maker, London)
"Demented, post-modern mountain music..." (Village Voice, New York).
"The Horse Flies have figured out how to hold a hoedown in a physics lab." (New York Times)
"Bewitching and beguiling ...a band for our trying times." (The Dallas Observer)
Click here for more quotes ...The Horseflies have released seven previous albums: "Gravity Dance" (MCA), "Human Fly" (Rounder/MCA), In the Dance Tent (Live and Kicking), Two Traditions (Callin' the Kettle Black), "Chokers and Flies" (Rounder), "Where the Rivers Flow North" (score for the film of that name, on Alcazar Records), and "A Stranger in the Kingdom" (another film score), and they've appeared on a number of compilation recordings. Both "Human Fly" and "Gravity Dance" reached the top 40 on the Gavin and College Music Journal charts. “Gravity Dance†was nominated for a New York Award.
The band has been written about in major publications such as Rolling Stone, Musician Magazine, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, New Musical Express (London), Melody Maker (London) …
They have performed throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe at major venues such as the Central Park Summerstage (NYC, U.S.), WOMAD (Toronto, Canada), Big Beat Festival (Vienna, Austria), Vancouver Folk Festival (Vancouver, Canada), Winnipeg Folk Festival (Winnipeg, Canada), Birmingham City Stages (Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.), Independence Days (Berlin, Germany), Philadelphia Folk Festival (Philadelphia, PA, U.S.), Tonder Festival (Denmark), and the Telluride Festival (Colorado, U.S.). They have also appeared numerous times on national radio and television programs including MTV News, MTV’s Week in Rock, Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, The Entertainers, and many more.
During the summers of 2000 and 2004, Judy Hyman and Richie Stearns joined pop singer Natalie Merchant’s band. An album of the music from those tours titled, "The House Carpenter's Daughter," was released in September 2003. The album's lead cut, "Sally Ann", is a song by Jeff Claus, which Natalie’s band performed on Late Night with David Letterman in August 2004 and which also appears on Ms. Merchant’s "Retrospective" album. Hyman and Stearns recorded again with Merchant, in mid-August, 2008, for an upcoming release.
The Horse Flies are: Judy Hyman (violin, vocals), Jeff Claus (guitar, banjo uke, vocals), Rich Stearns (banjo, vocals), Taki Masuko (percussion), Jay Olsa (bass) and Rick Hansen (accordion, organ, Moog).
Contact:
[email protected] | land: 607.277.7025 | cell: 607.220.4043
