 |
The Duhks are a young kick-ass folks band hailing from Winnepeg, Manitoba, located where the wind stops at the east end of the Canadian Prairies. Their show is a pure, unrestrained and dynamic presentation of traditional and contemporary acoustic music designed to make you kick up your feet and party. Appalachian Old-Time fiddle music mixes with Celtic reels, with French-Canadian folk tunes, with songs of the great songwriters of the last century and with new songs and tunes written by themselves and by their friends. These guys and gals have been stepping over their instruments since birth and that becomes obvious from the moment they begin to play. It's the mixture of youth and technical skill that fuels the energy always present at a Duhks show. Everyone starts to move; not the "lets be hip" movement prevalent in beer commercials, but a genuine groove that just builds without ever being rude. The Duhks are fun. |
|
Tania Elizabeth has been playing fiddle since she was old enough to hold it in place. She has released two solo recordings, and has served as Celtic instructor at Nashvill legend Mark O'Connor's fiddle camp. Jordan McConnell's impeccable sense of timing brings a steadying musical presence to the group. In addition to being a great guitar player, he is an excellent vocalist and a fine tenor banjo player. Jessy Havey sings with authority. She has real character in her voice and is able to believably sing everything from Old Time ballads to Celtic laments, to blues and torch songs. Scott Senior creates a beat out of everything his hands come in contact with. His percussion on the cajon and congo drums has been steadying bands in Winnepeg for a decade. Bandleader Leonard Podolak brings his superb banjo playing, his tune writing skills, his singing, his ability as an arranger and his extensive experience as a professional artist into the mix. Dugg Simposon of the Vancouver Folk Festival once told this writer that "Leonard is a folk prodigy...people will be telling stories about him at folk festivals thirty, forty years from now." |