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"One of the Bay Area's most formidable bands - a roots-powered sound which freely mingles Cajun influences with New Orleans R&B, jazz, traditional lrish music and rock" - San Jose Mercury News "Fiddle-led cajun/blues rock doesn't get better than this. Straight ahead, no moulds broken, tight and hot. Ifs a booter...a killer festival band..." - Folk Roots Magazine "Fabulous swamp flavored fiddling... No way
you can go wrong if you like fine flddling and Southern Fried grooves; the musical "These guys are a national treasurel" - Shelter Magazlne After fifteen years as the leader and electrifying violinist of The Sundogs, fiddler/composer Tom Rigney steps out on his own with a hot new band, Flambeau. The repertoire is original, eclectic, passionate, and filled with a musical and emotional intensity that will come as no surprise to followers of Rigney’s career.
Tom Rigney has been a part of the San Francisco Bay Area roots music scene for over twenty-five years. The son of baseball great, Bill Rigney, Tom is a native of the Bay Area. His musical career began after he finished his graduate studies at Harvard University, where he received a Masters degree in Fine Arts. Tom first rose to prominence in the music scene as the leader/fiddler of the legendary Bluegrass/Western Swing band, Back in the Saddle. He won a Bammie award in 1981 for the band’s debut recording. He also wrote their hit song, Time and Again, which rode the country music charts in the Bay Area for many weeks, no small achievement for an independent release. After the demise of Back in the Saddle, Tom joined Queen Ida’s Bon Temps Zydeco Band and toured the world with the Queen in 1983 and 1984. It was at this time that he developed a love of South Louisiana dance music (Cajun, zydeco, and New Orleans second line grooves). These styles formed a major ingredient in the sound of his next band, The Sundogs. Teaming with songwriter Joe Paquin and slide guitarist T.J. Politzer, Tom and The Sundogs performed and recorded together for fifteen years. They released seven CD’s (and even an LP!), including two on the Rounder label. Their last recording, Dancing Room Only, spent eight weeks on the Americana Radio charts nationally. They toured extensively across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, performing at numerous major festivals and concerts and at more dances and nightclubs than anyone cares to remember. Their sound was a scorching blend of Cajun, blues, and roots Rock and Roll--original Americana music that struck a nerve with audiences all over the globe. And now, with the broadening and deepening of his composing skills, and the refinement of his virtuoso technique on the violin, Tom Rigney steps out as the focal point of the new band, and as the creator of all its music. The strong Cajun/zydeco influence is still present, as are the irresistible dance grooves that have been his specialty for twenty years. But there is also a deepening of the emotional range of his music and a concentration on creating moving and memorable melodies in a wide range of styles--he has literally become a “singer” on the violin. The music bursts with the energy of the bayou one minute, turns passionate with a gypsy tune the next; it can raise the roof with a Celtic reel and then touch the heart with a beautiful waltz; it can drive deep into the heart of the Blues or evoke echoes of Eastern Europe or the coast of Spain. In 1998, Tom released the critically-acclaimed Chasing the Devil on the Parhelion label. In 1999, with his new band, Flambeau, he released Red Boots and Rice. The year 2000 saw the long-awaited re-release of his first solo album, Rigo. In May, 2002, Tom released Metamorphosis, an all-instrumental disc featuring ten new compositions as well as Tom's memorable arrangement of Kate Wolf's haunting Brother Warrior. Metamorphosis is Tom's most ambitious and stylistically diverse CD yet. And in July, 2003, the new Flambeau CD, Happy to be Here, hit the street. Unquestionably the party album of the summer, Happy to be Here is filled with infectious grooves, hot playing from all the members of Flambeau, and a level of energy and intensity only surpassed by their live show.
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Grass Valley, California 95945