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 So, what's a daisy mayhem?
Wicked grooves, sublime lead singing, great harmonies, sparkling original songs, and a deep repertoire that spans 200 years of American music. Four people who share an irresistible chemistry on stage. An unusually gleeful string band that celebrates both tradition and improvisation and that stumps the categorizers. (Are they an agnostic gospel band? A homeopathic bluegrass band? Are they crazy?). Worth seeing...
What does it sound like?
Start with a fiddle, a guitar, and a standup bass. Add a cardboard box with a suitcase bass drum and tin can cymbals, played by an ex-rock and zydeco drummer. Over that fine groove, hang Rani Arbo's expressive alto, seamless four-part harmonies, and a splash of banjo and ukulele, and you have it.
What do they play?
The Boston Globe described it as "neo old-timey with cosmopolitan splashes of contemporary pop and jazz." It's an exuberant mix of musical idioms, held together by superb musicianship, impeccable taste, and the band's charismatic vocals. A stage show dips into country blues, vintage swing, modern songwriter fare, and Appalachian fiddle tunes and songs. It's a bracing fusion: listen to Arbo deliver Bessie Jones' version of "O Death" accompanied by fat, bluesy guitar solos and a groove that owes allegiance to the Meters, and you'll see. This is a band that picks up what's lying around "from tin cans to traditional music" and creates something new.
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Rani Arbo
Fiddle, Lead Vocals
Rani is the fiddler, lead singer, and founder of daisy mayhem. With a bewitching, expressive alto that is equal parts choir girl, flirty teenager, and world-weary woman, she navigates swing tunes, funky call-and-response songs, and ballads with unusual honesty and ease. Steeped in thirty years of choral singing, Arbo also spent years with a honkytonk band, a Balkan rock band, and folk-bluegrass band Salamander Crossing. A cellist by training, her swampy, self-taught fiddling draws from swing, blues, and old-time music. On stage, Arbo brings a rich life - as a 15-year veteran performer, breast cancer survivor, mother, and songwriter - into humble and compelling performances. Arbo also has toured and recorded with Joan Baez, John McCutcheon and many others. |
Andrew Kinsey
Double Bass, Banjo, Vocals
Andrew began his musical life as the youngest bagpiper in his town. Since then, he has taken up the slightly more socially acceptable double bass, with frequent regressions to the ukulele and banjo. Arbo's singing partner for over fifteen years, his rich, compelling baritone, generous spirit, and rock-solid bass playing keep daisy mayhem glued together. Kinsey's musical and humorous sensibilities inspired the band's debut CD, Cocktail Swing, which romps through vintage country, swing and jazz chestnuts. |
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Anand Nayak
Guitar, Vocals
Anand fell for the guitar as a teenager and has been a lost cause ever since, exploring music and instruments from all over the world. Nayak is a powerful singer and songwriter with a rare gift for arranging and a gutsy guitar style that draws from a century's worth of jazz, funk, blues and folk masters. Along with Kessel, he is the band's enthusiastic pilot through challenging genre crossings. Nayak is also a recording engineer and producer and performs in a folk duo with his wife Polly Fiveash (www.dizzydogmusic.com) |
Scott Kessel
Drumship Enterprise, Vocals
Scott was once a regular (albeit unusually talented) kit drummer - but in daisy mayhem he pilots the "Drumship Enterprise," a recycled drum kit comprised of a cardboard box, cat food tins, a Danish butter cookie tin, and a suitcase. Riveting to watch (especially during solos), Kessel mixes up American rock and pop beats with African, Afro-Cuban, New Orleans, and South American rhythms to create the foundation of daisy mayhem's unmistakable groove. |
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