February 5, 2009 Issue
Immigrant Songs
Scythian Brings Raucous Celtic Gypsy Rock to Canyons February 12
Washington, D.C.-based quartet Scythian will bring their patented rocking blend of Irish, gypsy, klezmer and rock styles to Canyons on Thursday, February 12. The show will coincide with Highland Brewery’s Gaelic Ale Pint Night. Tickets are $10 in advance.
It was like shooting fish in a barrel. The thousands of people who cycle through the bus lines at MerleFest sometimes spend as little as 30 seconds and sometimes more than an hour waiting for the free shuttles back to the campgrounds and parking lots. But at the end of each evening, all four lines are slammed full of people just biding their time after spending the evening grooving to their favorite performers. Last year was no different.
The four members of Scythian, having nothing better to do until their debut MerleFest performance the following morning, snagged their instruments and a roll of stickers and proceeded to crank out energetic, cross-cultural, Celtic-inspired jams for scores of unsuspecting bus riders. And it worked. While not every person who enjoyed their music that night attended their set the next day, they certainly remembered the band’s unbridled enthusiasm and their name.
On Thursday, February 12, Scythian will return to the High Country for a show at Canyons in Blowing Rock. Tickets are $10 in advance and the show will begin at 10:00 p.m.
The show is presented in association with Asheville’s Highland Brewery, and the brewery will host Gaelic Ale Pint Night at the show. Along with discounted pints of one of the brewery’s flagship beers, Highland reps will be on hand giving away pint glasses, t-shirts, stickers and more.
Fiddlers and bassists Josef (Joey) Crosby and Alexander Fedoryka, guitarist and accordion player Daniel Fedoryka, and drummer and percussionist Michael Ounallah create the Celtic cacophony that has fans from Spindale to Sydney, Australia raving about their heart-pounding live shows.
Interestingly enough, the band that is becoming one of the fastest-growing festival draws in the country started out on the streets of Washington, D.C. as just another group of busking musicians relying on the kindness of passersby (it should however be noted that most busking groups don’t all consist of classically trained musicians).
Watching their cases fill with money on a regular basis lit a fire under Crosby and the Fedoryka brothers. The trio began performing at Irish pubs, playing a mixture of traditional Irish music and bluegrass to growing crowds.
According to Crosby, Alexander’s four-month trip to Ireland also proved to be one of the group’s important early inspirations. According to the band’s bio, Alex spent much of his time playing in the streets, where he picked up the Celtic spirit and combined it with the Gypsy soul of his own Ukrainian ancestry.
When Ounallah joined in 2004, the band “unwittingly stumbled” onto the genre-defying ethnic fusion that came to include not only traditional Irish and bluegrass sounds, but also the feverish European strains of gypsy and klezmer music with an unmistakable rock edge.
“We finally started clicking on what we wanted to go for,” said Crosby. “It became more experimental and open.”
It didn’t take long for the members of Scythian to decide that their music deserved and needed to be heard beyond the nation’s capital. The fearless foursome decided to hit the road to see if their sound would appeal to people up and down Eastern Seaboard as much as it had in their hometown.
“Kind of close to the beginning, we realized that we wanted to take this all the way,” said Crosby. “At that point, we just decided to book anywhere we could on the East Coast.”
In 2007, the band released Immigrant Roadshow, the band’s third album. The buoyant blend of styles on the critically acclaimed disc careen from the traditional melodic fiddle work of “Immigrant Stomp” and pounding Irish rhythm of “Kesh Jigs,” to the mash-up madness of “Technoccordion” and emotive Eastern European sounds of “Gypsy Fiddle.”
The disc won rave reviews.
CelticRadio.net said of the disc, “Scythian’s Immigrant Road Show is an adventure of some hard kicking, infectiously hypnotic fiddling music. Once you start listening you just can’t get enough and suddenly you find yourself dancing across the floor, the walls, the furniture and then right out the door to find where the heck are these boys playing so I can get some more!”
Through steady touring and the positive reviews from Immigrant Road Show, Scythian’s crowds began to grow. Their on-stage prowess helped them win an increasing number of slots at prestigious festivals all over the country, including last year’s slot at MerleFest, as well as Bristol Rhythm & Roots, LEAF, Shakori Hills Music Fest, Suwanee Spring Fest and dozens of others.
“I really love the kind of community that comes with festivals,” said Crosby. “There’s something palpable in the air. For me the pinnacle of our year is festival season.”
The band’s already impressive resume grew further when they performed for President Bush and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the Prime Minister of Ireland at the St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon.
And just when they thought their year couldn’t get any better, Scythian made their first jaunt overseas, performing for more than 300,000 people in Sydney, Australia at the World Youth Day Festival.
“It’s really tough to travel with that many people and that much gear, but in the end it’s so rewarding,” said Crosby.
Needless to say, Scythian is on a roll. In addition to their upcoming show at Canyons, the band will return to MerleFest and will head back to the High Country this summer for an appearance at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. According to Crosby, the band is more dedicated than ever to making music together and taking Scythian as far as possible.
“Everybody has a vested interest in succeeding and growing the band name and the fanbase,” said Crosby.
To hear music by Scythian, click to www.scythianmusic.com. To purchase tickets to the band’s show at Canyons, call 828-295-7661.
Want To Go?
Date: Thursday, February 12
Time: 10:00 p.m.
Location: Canyons
Cost: $10
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