01	You Jacobites By Name						04:15
	02	Queen Of Argyll						04:19
	03	Milligan's Fancy						03:52
	04	Montara Bay						04:48
	05	Hal-An-Tow						04:18
	06	Top Of The Hill						06:45
	07	Captain Morgan						04:43
	08	A Kiss In The Morning Early						03:38
	09	Heather On The Moor						04:48
	10	Jenny Nettles						06:18
	11	The House Carpenter						07:19
	12	The Sleeping Highlander						03:51

10th Anniversary Compilation
Date of Release Jan 26, 1999

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Groups that attempt Celtic folk-rock fusion generally go at it from one of two angles: they either take the punk rock approach (the Pogues, Black 47, the Oyster Band, etc.) or the prog-rock approach (Jethro Tull, Wolfstone, etc.). Tempest takes the latter, and the result, if mixed, is generally rewarding. For this ten-year retrospective, the band rearranged and re-recorded some of their fans' favorite songs, which include some great instrumentals ("Milligan's Fancy," "The Sleeping Highlander") and a bunch of fair-to-very-good traditional and original numbers. "You Jacobites By Name" is a stirring old Scottish song lamenting the havoc and bloodshed wreaked by the Jacobite Rebellion; "Queen of Argyll" is a love song written by Silly Wizard alumnus Andy Stewart, and "Hal-AnTow" deals with pagan holidays and Robin Hood, believe it or not. Everything is underpinned with crunchy guitars and aggressive rock arrangements, and it all sounds great except for one or two unnecessarily long solos and Lief Sorbye's rather weak singing (his mandolin playing is excellent, though). - Rick Anderson

1. You Jacobites by Name (Traditional) - 4:13
2. Queen of Argyll (Stewart) - 4:18
3. Milligan's Fancy (Sorbye) - 3:51
4. Montara Bay (Sorbye) - 4:47
5. Hal-An-Tow (Traditional) - 4:16
6. Top of the Hill (Sorbye/Wullenjohn) - 6:44
7. Captain Morgan (Sorbye) - 4:40
8. A Kiss in the Morning Early (Traditional) - 3:37
9. Heather on the Moor (Traditional) - 4:48
10. Jenny Nettles (Traditional) - 6:17
11. The House Carpenter (Traditional) - 7:19
12. The Sleeping Highlander (Traditional) - 3:51


Lief Sorbye - Flute, Vocals, Penny Whistle, Bodhran, Octave Mandola
Robert Berry - Synthesizer, Piano, Accordion, Organ (Hammond), Producer, Engineer
Adolfo Lazo - Drums
Michael Mullen - Harmony Vocals

1999 CD Magna Carta 9034


Tempest - The 10th Anniversary Compilation

Released: 1998
Label: Magna Carta
Cat. No.:
Total Time: 56:00


Reviewed by: Stephanie Sollow, April 1999
The most unimaginative thing about Tempest's 10th Anniversary Compilation, a disc of re-recorded versions of their most requested tracks, is the title. The concept behind it makes more sense than a "greatest hits" package, though for Tempest, it's probably the same. But for most bands, their greatest hits are the ones the labels and radio pushed the most. Ideally, the two would be alike, that the strongest tunes are pushed. Anyway, the selection here is a good one, one that fans would want. And serves as a good entry point for new fans.

The album cover is a bit misleading, as the expectation is that these are favourites performed live; here the live shots on the cover and in the book serve to emphasize that these are the tracks requested live. Maybe having used live renditions would have been more ideal, but I am not going to complain about a release this good.

Yes, "Bal An Tow" seems a little lackluster, like their hearts weren't totally in it. But, even still, it has enough oomph to get your feet moving, and it livens up toward the end.

The otherwise moving track "Montara Bay," written by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Leif Sorbye for his wife Patricia, is marred by what sounds to me as an out of tune guitar.

Everything else sparkles and gets your feet moving. Most of the tracks here are designed for that purpose, but even if you don't dance (or anything approaching it), you have to admire the fantastic interplay of the musicians. This can't be easy music to play.

Many of these tracks are based on traditional Celtic compositions, given a rock spin by the modern addition of electric guitar and keyboards of every variety. Keyboards (Hammond B3, piano, synthesizer) supplied by the almost ubiquitous Robert Berry (at least ubiquitous on Magna Carta releases).

"Top Of The Hill" builds slowly (climbs slowly?), mixing various dance tunes together, into a rollicking, catchy display of this bands's dexterity. Gone from their last album is Robert Wullenjohn and Jay Nania; in their place on guitars and basses, respectively, are John Land and Dave Parnell - while each bring their own feel to the songs, they are still undeniably Tempest.

"The House Carpenter" is a very gloomy track compositionally and tragic contextually - it is the tale of "a ghost who comes in from the sea to steal the bride away from the House Carpenter."

This album his highly recommended not only for long time fans, but also to those for which this would be an introduction. It best represents all that Tempest are, one of the best Celtic Rock bands out there.

More about 10th Anniversary Compilation:

Track Listing: You Jacobites By Name (4:13) / Queen of Argyll (4:18) / Milligan's Fancy (3:51) / Montara Bay (4:47) / Bal-An-Tow (4:16) / Top Of The Hill (6:44) / Captain Morgan (4:40) / A Kiss In The Morning Early (3:37) / Heather On The Moor (4:48) / Jenny Nettles (6:17) / The House Carpenter (7:19) / The Sleeping Highlander (3:51)

Musicians:
Leif Sorbye - Lead Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Mandolins, Octave Mandolas, Flute, Pennywhistle, and Bodhran
John Land - Fretted and Fretless Bass, Harmony Vocals
Adolfo Lazo - Drums
Dave Parnell - Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Michael Mullen - Acoustic Fiddle, Five String Electric Violin, and Harmony Vocals
Robert Berry - B3 Hammond, Piano, Accordian, Synthesizer

Contact:
Tour and Concert Info:
2155 Park Blvd, Suite 1
Oakland, CA 94606
Fax: (510) 452-9469

Website: www.tempestmusic.com
Note: will open new browser window

Discography

Springdans (1987) (Lief Sorbye)
Bootleg (1991)
Serrated Edge (1992)
Sunken Treasures (1993)
Surfing to Mecca (1994)
Across The Borders (1994) (Sorbye)
Turn of the Wheel (1996)
To Cry You A Song - A Tribute To Jethro Tull (1996) contrib. one track
The Gravel Walk (1997)
Caliban (1998) (Sorbye & Michael Mullins)
10th Anniversary (1998)
1999 Live at the Philadelphia Folk Festival (1999) (only available through Tempest)
Balance (2001)





Tempest, Tenth Anniversary Compilation (Magna Carta, 1998)


Ian Anderson, editor of Folk Roots, once declared Tempest the worst band he'd ever heard. Bollocks! [Ian also declared New St. George to be the second worst band he'd ever heard. See our review of their excellent album High Tea.] This restrospective album shows that Tempest as fronted by Lief Sorbye and his double-headed electric mandolin is one of the finest Celtic rock groups ever, worthy of being compared to such bands as Wolfstone, Seven Nations, and Runrig. After a decade of refining their sound, the Tenth Anniversary Compilation has them at the peak of the career with the voice of Lief getting better with age. How many vocalists can you say that about?

Tempest consists of Lief Sorbye on damn near everything ( lead vocals, acoustic and electric mandolins, octave mandolas, flute, pennywhistles), Michael Mullen on acoustic fiddle and five string electric violin, and contributing harmony vocals, Rob Wullenjohn on electric and acoustic guitars, and contributing harmony vocals, Jay Nania - four and twelve string bass, and Adolfo Lazo on drums. But the core energy of Tempest clearly comes from the Norwegian born Lief, a man born to either be a highwayman or the leader of a high-energy Celtic rock 'n' roll band! Some reviewers claim that Tempest is a folk rock band -- a claim I strongly reject as this is clearly both a Celtic and a rock band. I grant that they are hard as Boiled in Lead -- see Alloy 1 and Alloy2 reviews -- to categorize as over their seven albums they've done they've mixed Norwegian traditional music, Scottish ballads, self-penned ballads, and even Middle Eastern influences -- see their Surfing to Mecca album -- all within the context of straight forward Rock and Roll drum and guitar work.

The Tenth Anniversary Compilation has the feel of a great live performance* with its extended jams ("Milligan's Fancy" at nearly four minutes and "The House Carpenter" at seven plus minutes) and crowd pleasers ("Ye Jacobites by Name" and "Captain Morgan"). The press kit notes that the songs are those most requested by Tempest fans. If this is so, Tempest has some of the most intelligent fans around, as the set list reads like a dream Celtic concert. In addition to the aforementioned songs the CD has these trad pieces: "The Queen of Argyle," "Hal 'N' Tow," "A Kiss In The Morning Early," "Heather On The Moor," "Jenny Nettles," and "The Sleeping Highlander." Lief may be of Norwegian blood but he clearly knows his Scottish material! And much of the material covered here is on older Tempest recordings that are long out of print.

And there are two new finely crafted songs on the Tenth Anniversary Compilation: "Captain Morgan" and "Montara Bay." "Captain Morgan" is definitely a Lief fantasy -- it's the tale of Captain Morgan, a fearsome pirate who betrayed his mates and became the governor of Jamaica. The liner notes state that Captain Morgan was a Welsh boy who ran away from home, joined the English army, and went after being discharged from the army became the most famous of pirates. Lief with his stocky build and flowing beard and and hair is fit indeed to play the part of a pirate -- just think of his double-headed electric mandolin as his sword! "Montara Bay" is his love song to Patricia, his wife. In the hands of most of today's singer-songwriters it would be a truly awful song, but Lief carries off the neat trick of making it sound both graceful and intelligent.

A note about the Tempest style -- this is not your generic Celtic rock, a style that rightfully gets jeers from reviewers. Tempest has learned its craft under the leadership of Lief well enough that every member of the band helps create a sound that both respects traditional forms (see their treatment of "Jenny Nettles" which would be accepted ) and isn't afraid to push edges as they do with their rather unusual instruments such as Lief's double-headed electric mandolin. [Side digression: Tempest is like some fey band out of a fantasy novel with their startling looks -- see photo -- and strange instruments. Indeed rumor has it that there is an unpublished Mercedes Lackey Serrated Edge series novel called Tempest Fugit that features the band as the central characters.] 'Tis fair to say that I'll be looking forward to their next album!

*Tempest has earned its reputation as a great live band with more than a thousand gigs over the past decade including the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Milwaukee Irish, and the Winnipeg Folk Festival -- but the most impressive gig was their British debut before 25,000 at Fairport Convention's annual Cropredy Festival in Oxfordshire, England in 1997!

[Cat Eldridge]




Tempest - The 10th Anniversary Compilation
Artist: Tempest
Title: The 10th Anniversary Compilation
Label: Magna Carta MA-9034-2
Length(s): 59 minutes
Year(s) of release: 1998
Month of review: 03/1999

Line up
John Land - bass, harmony vocals
Adolfo Lazo - drums
Lief Sorbye - lead vocals, acoustic and electric mandolin, octave mandolas,
flute, pennywhistle and bodhran
Dave Parnall - electric and acoustic guitars
Michael Mullen - acoustic fiddle, five-string electric violin, harmony vocals
With Robert Berry on B-3 Hammond organ, piano, accordion and synthesizer.


Summary
A rerecording. A celebrational effort by these electric folkies.

The music
All songs on this album are from the first four, pre Magna Carta releases. All have been rerecorded, rearranged with the help of a new guitarist and bass player. Slightly up-tempo, but not as quick as the songs on their Magna Carta releases, this song features all the typical ingredients: violin, folky lead vocals, vocal harmonies, but also the organ of Robert Berry and the guitar of Parnall. I'm not familiar with the older versions, but the band says they have upgraded the tracks somewhat, making them more sophisticated. Queen Of Argyll is a cover with a good vocal melody, somewhat slower than the previous song. Millgan's Fancy is the first self-penned track, an instrumental jig and here we note the differences with the previous two albums, since this is much slower. Montara Bay has strong Spanish influences (from the new guitarist) and is according to the bio the most strongly worked over. Hal-An-Tow is a bit of a lame one. The melody is quite recognizable though. Top Of The Hill is a rather long one with various dance melodies incorporated into it. The following few tracks are quite accessible, and I have nothing specific to say about them. Jenny Nettles is a somewhat strange one: a reggae groove, lots of instrumental soloing parts on acoustic guitar, violin and electric guitar. Rather jam like, but always quite tempered. The House Carpenter is the longest track quite slow, but it contains some menacing King Crimson notes. The most interesting track for proggers. the first rather speedy track is the closing track with its two traditionals incorporated into one song.
Conclusion
Not a bad album or anything and The House Carpenter and Queen of Argyll are certainly worth a listen. Still on the whole the album sounds a bit too friendly, too tame, and with too little prog (for the readers of this page).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c Jurriaan Hage



Relix - music for the mind
Vol. 26 No.2

Tempest celebrates its tenth anniversary with the aptly titled 10th Anniversary Compilation (Magns Carta). Rather than issue a retrospective of previously released recordings, bandleader Lief Sorbye has taken the current lineup (which features two recent additions) of the band and re-recorded a dozen cuts from the band's career, but there is a distinctly more rock approach to this Celtic-based music. Old favorites such as "You Jacobites By Name," "Montara Bay" (with a great Spanish guitar intro) and the superb "The House Carpenter" are all given revved up, inspired treatments. If you've never heard Tempest before, this is a great place to start, and for fans, this is an absolute must.




Tempest, the non-stop touring machine
Progressive folk-rockers find a home with Magna Carta
by Don Dilorio
Progression, Winter/Spring 1998

Although California-based Tempest is fast acquiring fans from the progressive fold, this band is not readily categorized with your garden-variety art-rockers.

Where many of today's progressive favorites conjure spacey, mind-bending excursions of splashy sonic splendor, Tempest travels a decidedly earthy route that favors rustic acoustic modes mixed with biting electric guitar.

Where other progressive acts mine symphonic grandeur and elegant classicisms, Tempest cultivates the less grandiose influences of early folk music to inform their writing process. (Reference the acoustic side of Jethro Tull, or the works of folk rockers Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span for a notion of Tempest's heritage.)

At the same time, though, it's easy to understand the appeal Tempest has to prog fans. Many of the requisite elements are intact: sophisticated arrangements and unexpected meter shifts, cross-genre "pollination" and virtuosic musicianship. All is reinforced by the band's signing two years ago to the progressive-oriented Magna Carta label.

The band also can be credited for possessing qualities in short supply among the prog-rock fraternity - mainly, a formidable endurance for touring and a warm, inviting sense of humor. Both attributes have made Tempest a concert favorite, with a reputation strong enough to vault them into a guest slot at last year's Fairport Convention-hosted Cropredy Festival in England. There, they easily made converts of the 30,000 in attendance.

1998 marks the 10th anniversary of Tempest, and by all accounts it will be as busy a year as ever for this unique Celtic/progressive rock band. Their latest album, The Gravel Walk, is their sixth full-length release and second for Magna Carta, following Turn of the Wheel (1996). The latter featured a contribution from keyboard maestro Keith Emerson on the opening number, "The Barrow Man," and production by prog-rock veteran Robert Berry.

Led by mandolin player/singer/flautist Lief Sorbye, the band has weathered several lineup changes over the years but manages to grow stronger Musically with each personnel shift. Along with Sorbye, other stalwarts are drummer Adolfo Lazo (who's been with Tempest from its inception) and fiddle demon Michael Mullen, who joined in `92. New members are bassist John Land, who joined in September, and guitarist David Parnell, who adds a touch of sophistication in both writing ability and performance - he studied for two years under a Spanish flamenco master.

If flamenco seems at odds with a Celtic rock band, think again: Tempest probably will find a way to work it into their repertoire. With a sound rooted in indigenous Scottish, Irish and Norwegian folk traditions, Tempest has been known to effectively assimilate a wide array of influences.

"Essentially, Tempest is a world-music band." Sorbye explained in his well-tamed Norwegian accent. "Even if we focus on Celtic and sometimes Scandinavian material, we pick up a variety of other ethnic influences. We have a Cuban drummer, and we've sort of been playing our own form of world music ever since day one."

Indeed, Tempest relishes an adventurous approach, as evidenced by songs such as "Green Grow the Rashes" from the new album, a track which incorporates - of all things - reggae.

"If there is a certain groove that works with a certain tune to create a certain excitement or tension or feel, then we use it.`Green Grow the Rashes' definitely has a reggae groove to it," Sorbye said. "I remember arranging that song and it didn't have a reggae groove until.. .You see, the way we work, we usually don't record something unless we tried it out in front of an audience.We always communicate directly with our audience so our audience has an influence on our recorded material that way.

"We could take a new song out, play it a few times, see what kind of response it gets, rearrange it, try different things, and then when it settles in, that's the time we record it. In the case of `Green Grow the Rashes,' that's what we did. We played it a few times live and it wasn't until we got the reggae groove going that it really got a response and felt right.

"On Turn of the Wheel, with the song `Cat in the Corner,' you can trace a reggae groove as well. If you go back to some of the earlier albums, the reggae groove has snuck in there a number of times over the years. It's subtle, because we're a white boy band. We're not a rasta band, and It's not going to sound genuine. But hey, it's part of [showing] there's more than one influence in this band shining through."

Sorbye began his music career playing with high school rock bands in his native Norway. Influenced initially by groups like Jethro Tull and Genesis, he eventually soured on rock music's commercial trend in the late `70s.

"I was influenced, even as a kid, by American folk singers like Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs and that kind of thing," he said. "As rock`n' roll became more corporate, I lost interest in it. It turned me off. I couldn't handle punk, so I just started playing acoustic music."

Playing acoustic instruments proved more practical, because Sorbye spent the latter half of the decade traveling Europe as a street musician, or so-called "busker." He came to the United States in 1979 seeking a new audience, and hooked up with the acoustic folk band Golden Bough, with whom he recorded six albums during the `80s.

But eventually, Sorbye heard the call of rock music beckoning once again. When Golden Bough rejected his idea of adding electric instrumentation, he set about forming his own group. In October of 1988, Tempest was born.

"Basically, I started off playing in rock bands, then became a diehard folkie. It came full circle after about nine years or so when I formed Tempest to combine the two elements," Sorbye said. He noted it was this distinct combination of rock with other
forms that always intrigued him.

"What got me into traditional music was the folk-rock movement," he said. "It started pretty much the same time in the States - maybe a few years later, when bands like the Byrds started doing Dylan songs and folk-rock became its own genre. Then, on the British Isles, you have bands like Fairport Convention dabbling in English folk music and playing in a rock band setting. I got exposed to fiddle tunes by listening to bands like The Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention and whatever, and from there I got involved in traditional music."

Sorbye relishes the idea of bringing obscure folk music to virgin ears, as well as reworking classics into modern numbers.

"We're playing traditional music or electric folk, but to a rock `n' roll audience. A lot of times you'll see people in the audience who are hearing traditional music or Celtic music for the first time. They later get involved in the purer forms of the music from listening to us, which is the reason I did it to begin with.

"These days, I think the energy in traditional music is totally relevant to a rock `n' roll band; to me, it goes hand in hand. It also brings the music to a larger audience. You can create a bigger effect because you're mixing the traditional and modern instrumentation, and you're utilizing contemporary sounds. It gives us a bigger marketplace and we get a chance to play both for a folk audience and a rock audience."

Sorbye can most often be seen sporting a doubleneck electric mandolin/mandola onstage when he's not playing flute or harmonica. Along with Mullen's hyper fiddle lines, the duo provides an interesting foil to the drums/bass/guitar rock bombast of their bandmates. The combination yields a genre-busting sound that has pleased widely divergent audiences across the country.

"We have such a large variety of audiences and age groups," Sorbye said. "A real strength of the band is the fact that we can appeal to everyone from a punk who really likes the energy to a granny who enjoys the traditional flavor.

"At one show, we might have a bunch of [Grateful] Deadheads showing up because they like the groove of our music. In another place, it might be more of a middle-aged conservative crowd. And in yet another place, it will be a bunch of rowdy kids who want to stagedive. It's such a large spectrum that I think whether young or old, whether they're into rock or folk, they can find something to enjoy at a show like ours."

Despite the many influences, progressive rock might be the only genre under which Tempest is comfortably classified. For all the traditional ethnicities inherent to their music, there is no mistaking the intricate progressive flair of a tune such as "Plains of Kildare," or the Baroque-flavored "Trip Across the Mountain." Also, the band's penchant for reviving old tunes and injecting a contemporary feel with modern instrumentation and varied arrangements is an approach that most definitely renders a "progressive" evaluation.

"If it's a museum piece and you keep it very pure, then it's a lot easier to keep it intact. But when it's part of a living culture, things sneak in all the nine and out of it comes new ideas and new music," Sorbye said. "Folk music is there to be played whether it's electric or acoustic, and it's there to absorb what is going on right now.

"With the high level of communication we have now, with the Internet and everything else, people learn, borrow and steal [cultural and artistic ideas] all the time. That's the way it should be when [the music] is part of the culture. Because of that, you can hear traces of different things. There's a lot of crossover, historically.

"I love that form of music, because it's got substance and survival potential. Obviously, a song like `Green Grow the Rashes,' which really is 200 years old, is got to be a good song. Otherwise, it wouldn't have survived. I think a new treatment, whether it's a reggae groove or whatever, is just giving it another chance to go through another evolution and survive. People will sing that song into the next century because people play it. It's like being part of a living tradition that is constantly changing, like being part of a work in progress."

In addition to Tempest, Sorbye and Mullen have just released an acoustic record under the name of Caliban (as in the savage from Shakespeare's The Tempest, for all you literature majors). The disc is out on Magna Carta. Sorbye figures Caliban will give him yet another avenue of expression, though Tempest remains his baby and his priority.

Playing some 150 to 200 shows a year, Tempest appears to have a bright future sustained by an enthusiastic fan base and the band's genuine love of what they do, he said.

"It's a fun style of music to play. It's very challenging and very arrangement intensive,'" he said. "You don't get stuck in one groove or one sound. There's always another step musically or professionally to be taken.

"There's a lot of activity. There's always a new album to be recorded, always another tour to go on, always another musical avenue to be explored. You add all that up and find a lot of movement there and a lot of potential for growing.

"I think when you dabble in traditional music, you get into situations where there's a lot of uncharted territory, a lot of possibilities. When you deal with rock `n' roll there's endless possibilities, because you can take rock `n' roll and add anything you want to it and make it your own. That's what is great about rock`n' roll. And what's great about traditional folk music is that there's a wealth of material that hasn't even been discovered. There's so much to be done, you never run out of good material or good ideas or new ideas.

"So, because of that I feel it will take a lot to make a band like this stagnate. As long as we're 100 percent into what we're doing it's a heck of a fun band to be in."






Glass Eye: June Review
PO Box 2507, Toledo, OH 43606
TEMPEST Mickey Finn's (Toledo, OH)
2 May 2000
Celtic rock stalwarts Tempest played their first-ever Toledo gig at Mickey Finn's, and if you missed it, you missed one of the very finest shows to grace this too-often culturally bankrupt metropolis we call T-Town. Performing fan favorites like "You Jacobites By Name," and "Buffalo Jump," plus some Celtic standards in addition to some new preview songs from their soon-to-be-recorded next release, the band demonstrated a remarkable energy and rapport with the enthusiastic crowd. The band broke their show into two sets, the first very calculated to win over the audience, and it worked: frontman Lief Sorbye, strumming his double-necked electric mandolin, and violinist Michael Mullen marched off the stage and into the crowd, encouraging its members to dance and be merry. After an intermission, they came back for a second set that showed off their progressive side, concentrating on extended jams and solos. Everyone stood out and shone brightly, particularly ex-Cherry Poppin' Daddies bassist Darren Cassidy, who just joined the band in February of 2000. Possessing a distinct Tony Franklin-like bass-playing style, Cassidy brings a whole new virtuosity to the already stellar musicianship of this unique band. While the band is grounded in Celtic and folk rock, they never hesitated to rock: HARD. Sorbye commandeered the small stage, often taking Steve Harris-style poses, pointing the double-necked mandolin at crowd members. Guitarist Todd Evans and drummer Adolfo Lazo exhibited ferocious chops that could earn them spots in any prog-metal band, and I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone play the violin with as much piss & vinegar as Michael Mullen. Having heard a few of Tempest's studio albums, and now having seen them live, their studio work just hasn't been able to capture the true style and sound of this band. Someone get them on a tour with Tull, and I mean NOW. These guys rule. - Mark Tinta



Celitc Group's Rock Is Distinctive
YAKIMA (Washington) HERALD-REPUBLIC
Friday,March 24, 2000
By MAISY FERNANDEZ

A breath of fresh air is blowing into town on the winds of March - the Celtic rock group Tempest is performing the March Folklife concert.

Blending music from Scandinavia, Ireland, England and Scotland with hard-hitting American rock `n' roll, Tempest creates a one-of-a-kind sound that woos grannies and fills mosh pits.

Unlike many other groups, the five-man band fills a niche because it doesn't limit itself to using just one genre of music, said Lief Sorbye, the band's Norwegian lead singer.

"The main strength of the band is that whether you're into traditional folk music or rock `n'roll, we have something for you," Sorbye said in a phone interview from Oakland, Calif., the town the band calls home. "Whether you're 12 years old or 82, you're going to be tapping your foot. We do a mix of upbeat dance music; we also do some of the ballads."

Tempest, now in its 11th year of performing, has undergone a few personnel changes (the most recent: the addition of bass player Darren Cassidy, formerly of the swing band The Cherry Poppin' Daddies) but has remained true to its vision of making original tunes.

The diverse crew also includes Cuban drummer Adolfo Lazo, energetic fiddler Michael Mullen and a guitarist with experience in heavy rock, Todd Evans. In addition to vocals, Sorbye also plays a double-necked mandolin.

Sorbye said that while the band labels its music folk-rock, "world music" might be a more appropriate description.

"(Music genres) are a very interesting and very American phenomenon," Sorbye said. "In order to be able to sell records and sell yourself to the public, you need to have a label. (Celtic rock) is a very narrow description and doesn't incorporate all that we do, but it gives them an idea. We play traditional music in a contemporary setting - that's hard to define and fit into a label."

Tonight's concert features some of Tempest's new sounds, as well as some past favorites. And, like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get at any one of Tempest's shows.

"We do folk concerts to large clubs," Sorbye said. "We played a Celtic festival recently and we were the band with a mosh pit. The traditional folkies didn't seem to mind. It's a communication between the audience and the performer on stage."

"I hope (tonight's audience) will walk away with an experience they can take with them into their daily routines. I hope we can lift their spirits."




Tempest Set To Storm State
By ROGER W. HOSKINS, BEE STAFF WRITER
The Modesto Bee
Friday, January 7, 2000

Lief Sorbye counts himself lucky to be able to earn a living doing what he loves.

"Music is painting on a large canvas," says Sorbye, who is leader, vocalist and plays the double-necked mandolin for Celtic rock group Tempest. "The emotions people feel are very individual. I want people walking away from our concerts feeling rejuvenated... so their spirits have been lifted."

That's what happened at the Philadelphia Folk Festival last summer.

"We had one of those close-to-perfect moments," Sorbye says. "Linda Rondstat was there and we were the closing act on Friday night. The crowd was just into it with us."

Fortunately for Tempest fans on the West Coast, that perfect moment was captured for posterity and is the group's latest CD release. It might be the first recording that does justice to Tempest's energy and musicianship.

"Flowers of Red Hill," "You Jacobites by Name," and "Green Grow the Rashes" would be a fitting finale to any music festival. The thousands on hand in Philadelphia were treated to a striking blend of Celtic and rock, a marriage made perfect by Tempest.

Modesto audiences can compare Tempest with the Donal Lunny and Coolfin performance that brought the house to its feet at the State Theatre earlier this year.

The Jan. 15 concert at the State will reunite Sorbye with Golden Bough, a group he helped start 20 years ago.

Called "Celtic Folk Meets Celtic Rock," the concert will feature the traditional Celtic folk songs Golden Bough has made famous and the driving rhythms of Tempest. The two groups will even join forces for a few numbers.

"I try to make sure the folk tradition survives," Sorbye says. "I do that by updating it to make it more accessible to the younger audience. I combine it with rock to make it contemporary."

He believes his formula is working. Tempest is "picking up younger listeners from those who might think world and folk music is kind of geeky."

Sorbye sees a yearning for home and tradition behind the revival of world folk music. "I see people trying to search out their own roots through music. The appeal is a little bigger than just folk music."

Sorbye's own roots reach back to the Fairport Convention and The Incredible String Band. He counts seeing the String Band's reunion concert this year as one of the thrills of a lifetime, along with playing with the Byrds' Roger McGuinn when he performed a Byrds anthology.

But it was two other rock icons who set Sorbye's feet to the beat of a musician's life.

"The first time I saw the Beatles, I knew that was what I wanted to do," recalls Sorbye. "But it wasn't until I heard Bob Dylan, with his simple chord changes, that I knew I could be a musician."



Chicago Pioneer Press
Thursday, April 15, 1999
Storm Warning: Durty Nellie's prepares for Tempest to roar through
by Martin A. Bartels
Diversions editor - Northwest Group


For Lief Sorbye, leader of the Celtic rock band Tempest, the fusion of different kinds of music has always come naturally.

For fans of he group, however, that fusion comes as an addictive kind of surprise.

Tempest will perform Saturday night at Durty Nellie' in Palatine.

At least part of Tempest's unique sound comes from the widely varied make-up of the band,ranging from Sorbye's Scandinavian background to Cuban drummer Adolfo Lazo, from fiddle virtuoso Michael Mullen to New Mexican guitarist Dave Parnall. Bass is provided by American John Land.

"What has happened is that the musical policy hasn't changed, but we are always going to be colored by who's in the band," Sorbye said. "It's a group effort as far as writing goes, but we've also experimented through the decade we've been working
together."

The band celebrated their ten years together with a new album, "10th Anniversary," released in October. While band members themselves have changed through the years, the common goal has been maintained by Sorbye.

"We labeled ourselves as Celtic rock 10 years ago, when nobody knew what we were talking about," Sorbye said. "Now people are more comfortable with it."

Tempest's long history and tireless touring schedule has created a substantial fan base - one that has made the band's seven earlier releases more and more difficult to find. While the latest recording recaps many of the "best of" songs,
Sorbye said, the songs were first selected by the fans, and then rearranged and re-recorded to capture the band's maturity and intensity.

"We've always taken one step on the ladder at a time," he said. "But recently, over the past couple of years, the popularity of the music has just been snowballing. It's threatening to become a fad, and the thing about fads is that they don't always stick around. But then you look at country music here, and how it has evolved into what it is now.

"Celtic rock is upbeat, infectious music that appeals to all age groups."

The music on "10th Anniversary" is at once a confounding and brilliant blend of traditions and energy. From the first track, "You Jacobites By Name," the music starts out sizzling and continues to roll, with frenzied fiddle, guitar and bass licks backing up appealing vocals and lyrics.

It is a fresh and vibrant voice - even considering the staying power of the band - whether you look at their music as Celtic folk, folk rock, or just plain old-fashioned good music.

"My true folk music was really growing up with rock `n' roll, and then I got into the folk revival in the early "70s," Sorbye said. "I played in rock bands as a teen and became interested in folk later. For a while I was busking (playing in the streets) to support myself, and then joined a traditional Celtic folk band - this was a true acoustic experience. Then I formed Tempest.

"Basically for me, it has always been a natural thing for me to fuse traditional folk with rock `n' roll forms. Folk music lends itself to that, and I just hear it in the music. If they had electric guitars 200 years ago, I think they would have played their jigs and reels with them."

While Sorbye said the band's fan base is substantial and quite enthusiastic - he admitted that the real work ahead lies in expanding that base, often without the help of radio stations.

"The main source of exposure for us has just been getting out there and trying to perform for people," Sorbye said. "The real appeal of this music is in the live performance, rather than the recorded format.

"The minute you get people exposed to this, they're hooked."



Enjoy
Friday, April 9, 1999
Celtic band bridges old music with rock energy
By Karen Feege
The Express-Times

The California Celtic rock band Tempest, with its eclectic combination of music that bridges 200-year-old traditional music with a driving rock force, is blowing into town.

The band, no stranger to the area, will play Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem for two shows tonight.

"The music is old traditional music and we keep the energy going with rock arrangements," says band founder Lief Sorbye,who described the band's sound as "one foot in folk and one foot in rock. It's a combination of two worlds."

"The source material may be over two hundred years old- all of our music is based and steeped in tradition," Sorbye says. We want to keep that feel."

The last time that Tempest played at the Southside Bethlehem coffeehouse was in 1996, but they were also in Bethlehem for a lively performance at the 1997 Celtic Classic. The band has been performing and recording their unique brand of traditional music with rock intensity since 1988, with over one thousand performances and seven CD's to their credit.

While the band is "steeped" the traditional music - playing Irish, Scottish and Scandinavian music and ballads, Irish jigs and reels and folk music - the Norwegian-born Sorbye says the band's members make it much more than a traditional Celtic band. Sorbye is the vocalist, mandolin and mandola player for the band. The rhythm section, comprised of Adolfo Lazo on drums and John Land on bass, is rock oriented, Sorbye says, while he and fiddle player, Michael Mullen are "folkies". The guitar players, Dave Parnall and Todd Evans have backgrounds in both folk and rock. Joining Tempest on this tour is guitarist Todd Evans.

"He knows how to play all the notes," quips Sorbye about Evans. "We keep both elements of rock and folk music present in the band."

Early in his musical career in the 1970's, Sorbye was a devotee of rock music. But he maintained an undaunting interest in his own Scandinavian music and it's potential to be played within a rock setting.

In the late 1970's, Sorbye spent time in Ireland and played acoustic music. He arrived in the United States in 1978 and settled in the San Francisco Bay area for good in 1979, where he met up with two musicians, forming the band Golden Bough. The trio performed a mellow style of Celtic music with some success, he says. Still, the burning desire to form a rock band featuring traditional music haunted Sorbye. In 1988, after the band members of the Golden Bough displayed little interest in his idea on merging the two musical genres, Sorbye formed Tempest. He went on a shopping spree for musicians which he thought might have an interest in the musical style with the prerequisite being that they had to be rock musicians.

"When you only get folk musicians to plug in, you don't necessarily get the energy I was looking for," Sorbye says. "I was after an energy in traditional music that I was hungry for and didn't see anyone else projecting it."

Early influences for Sorbye and his music included the Beatles, Bob Dylan and "The Incredible String Band," which was a psychedelic band out of Scotland. "They displayed the mixing of different ethnic instruments to create different sound sculptures."

The name "Tempest" incorporates three distinct meanings for Sorbye. The first meaning is a "Tempest Reel" song style; the second meaning is that the word connotes a Shakespearean old world, British Isles feel; and the third meaning is that of a personal nature for Sorbye, reminding him of performing in front of a rock band as an acoustic musician - "which was a bit of a tempest."

For the Godfrey's show tonight, Tempest will begin with an acoustic set, gradually adding more instruments as the show progresses.

"It's all part of the challenge to play both large and small venues," Sorbye says."We're able to sweat on people in the front row and see the crowd in large settings."

Sorbye describes the stage show as a "mock rock show" with a bit of a Spinal Tap routine. "We dance around and make fools of ourselves. We take our music seriously but we don't take ourselves seriously. We have a lot of fun. Each show is different - it's the whole experience."

While the band has performed both nationally and internationally over the past ten years, Sorbye says that the band's music inspires the same response in audiences throughout the world - with a few exceptions.

The overseas audiences "intellectualize and analyze more so than national audiences, and California audiences are energetic."

The band's latest CD, "The 10th Anniversary Compilation" is a recording of audience favorite tunes.



Tempest: Music from a melting pot
An Scathan, Ashland, PA, Jan. 1998
Thomas Larkin

The scene is the main tent at the annual Celtic Fest in Bethehem, PA, and the standing room only audience is caught up in the sounds emanating from the stage. The band responsible for these sounds is Tempest, and the atmosphere is electric. Traditional Celtic rhythms are being interpreted with a rock beat by a truly unique assemblage of musicians: a lead singer from Norway, a drummer from Cuba, a guitarist with roots in San Francisco psychaedlic rock, a Celtic violinist whose energy almost equals that of Eileen Ivers and a seasoned American rock bassist.

The vocals and instrumentals alike were energetic and exhilarating. Caught up in the excitement and energy generated by the performance, the crowd danced; clapped and often broke out in cheers. Lief Sorbye and his band were dervishes, often themselves as excited as the audience.

"The key to the whole thing, " said Sorbye, "is the communication between the audience and the band. And that is what is exciting to us. It's fun to make records, but the real magic is in front of the audience because you can exchange that electricity. That's what makes it special; that's what makes each performance different from the other."

Sorbye was born in Oslo, Norway, and founded Tempest in 1988 after honing his skills with the acoustic band Golden Bough. His goal has been to meld traditional folk with the music of the 70's, which he loved, and Celtic rhythms, which are both ancient and ethereal. What has emerged from this mix is a remarkable sound.

Listening to this music, one can understand the diversity of the Celts because the music combines the many cultures touched by the Celts in their millenia of travel. There is an eclectic mix of different types of Celtic rhythms, not just Scottish and Irish, but the Gallician, even a flavor of Afro-Celt, and eastern/central European, with a touch of the Viking thrown in for good measure.

Commenting on this mix of diverse rhythms, Sorbye said, "When you trace the roots far back, you find out there's a lot in common, and in these days, with the level of communication so high, people borrow and steal from everybody so there is a new music emerging out of all this.

"We try to write in a traditional style, more or less, so that the mix between original and traditional is kind of an even blend. Hopefully, some of our new songs will become traditional songs a couple of centuries down the line. Much of the traditional stuff is two hundred years old, and it's good material. That's why its survived. We hope that with bands like us playing it, it will continue to survive, that people will continue to keep using these songs."

Playing and recording together since 1988, Tempest has recorded five albums, among them are "Turn of the Wheel" and their latest, "The Gravel Walk", both of which will get the old adrenaline going and would be a most welcome addition to any collection of Celtic music. The band plays almost 300 shows a year, a heavy schedule to be sure, but the members seem to thrive on the youthful energy generated by the hectic pace.

Asked what his hope for the future is, Sorbye said, "We just want to keep growing and reaching more people with our music. I feel privileged to be able to do what I am doing. It's a great way to make a living.

"We want to try to continue creating a little bit of a spirit that is uplifting. With world conditions being what they are, people need things to give them uplifting experiences, and we would like to be able to give them that without people going into drugs and the like. To bring out the positive energy in people is a big part of our purpose."

The members of the band along with Sorbye enhance that spirit after the performance by mingling with the audience, greeting as many of their fans on a personal level as possible. This personal touch is certainly not lost on the legion of fans who patiently wait to meet each band member in turn. On shaking hands with Sorbye, they are rewarded with a joyous gleam in his eye that confirms his heartfelt, "It's great to meet you. Thanks for coming."

Tempest will begin its 1998 "Tenth Anniversary Tour" in California the third week in January and will continue into the fall throughout the United States. However, the band will tour the United Kingdom and Europe for the first time in July and August. Be sure to watch for Tempest during the upcoming festival season this year and make it a point to experience and electrifying performance.




Tempest: Old world sounds with new day style
Dayton Voice September 17-23, 1998

"We're doing a pretty hectic tour schedule right now because it's our 10th anniversary as a band," Lief Sorbye, leader of celtic rock quintet, Tempest, says from his home in Oakland, Calif. "We are enjoying it. Touring has been our main source for getting the music out to the people. We're selling records and getting some airplay, but the main way we promote the band is through the grassroots method and taking it on the road."

"We've been coming through Dayton for the last eight years," he continues. "I don't think we've missed a year. We've had good shows at Canal Street and always look forward to going back."

Such is the case this Saturday, Sept. 19, when Tempest - Sorbye (lead vocals and acoustic and electric mandolins and mandolas), Adolfoo Lazo (drums), Michael Mullen (electric and acoustic violins and vocals), John Land (bass, vocals), and Dave Parnall (guitar) - returns to Mick Montgomery's music venue on East First Street.

Since forming in 1988, the group has logged more than 1,000 live performances and released seven LP's including Surfing to Mecca, Turn of the Wheel, and Serratededge. Along the way Sorbye and his cohorts pioneered a style of music unlike anything else on the musical map.

Tempest puts a progressive rock twist on traditional folk-based music to create something that transcends mere marketing terms. Because of the group's diversified make-up, it would be tough for them to stick to any one style of music. Sorbye, who was born in Oslo, Norway, plays the double-necked Mandolin and brings with him a love for Celtic music, old world Norwegian songs, Irish jigs and Scottish ballads. Drummer Lazo, who hails from Cuba, adds an unexpected, but highly energizing, polyrhythmic punch to the Tempest sound. Season the mix with an American rock bassist, a virtuoso fiddler and a guitarist with a background of classical and flamenco styles and you come up with something quite unique.

"The backbone of our music is in traditional, old European folk-based songs with rock 'n' roll energy and arrangements," Sorbye says. "What we've done for marketing purposes is stick with the term Celtic rock. Now it has grown into a genre, but when we started out, nobody else was doing it. People were confused when you said, 'Celtic rock'. Now, mixing Celtic music with rock 'n' roll is something more common. It gives us more competition, but it opens up a lot of tours and gets more attention from the press."

Tempest recently completed a new release that takes a look back at their earlier years. As Sorbye explains, "we rearranged and re-recorded a lot of songs we used to do in the old days. We surveyed our audience and recorded a group of songs that we haven't played in a while."

The results, The 10th Anniversary Compilation, won't be available to the general public until the new year, but folks who catch the band at Canal Street will get the opportunity to pick up the new LP early.

"The CD won't be in the stores until January," Sorbye says, "but we'll have some with us that will be available at the show."
"Our last CD, The Gravel Walk, only came out last year, so it's not that old," he continues. "We've had a new release each year since we started recording. These days groups record an album every three years or so, but if you're inspired and have the material, heck, you should make a record each year for the fans."

From their relentless tour schedule, energetic live show, prolific CD output and dedication to fans, it is safe to say that the members of Tempest will be mixing European folk and rock 'n' roll for some time to come. Here's to 10 more years of creating old world sounds with a new day style.
-Don Thrasher