Tempest is an American Celtic rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, based in Oakland, California. They fuse the traditional Celtic music with Norwegian and European folk, American folk, and progressive rock.
History The band formed in 1988 with Lief Sørbye (mandolin, vocals), Adolfo Lazo (drums), Rob Wullenjohn (guitar), and Mark Showalter (bass). The band has seen a changing cast of musicians, with Sørbye and Lazo being the only two constant members throughout the duration of the band's existence.
The current lineup consists of Lief Sørbye (mandolin, vocals), Adolfo Lazo (percussion), and returning former members; Rob Wullenjohn (guitar), Jon Berger (fiddle) and Ian Butler (bass). Lief is from Oslo, Norway and Adolfo Lazo from Havana, Cuba, while current members Rob, Jon and Ian are from the United States. In 2010, Tempest released Another Dawn - it was Tempest's 11th full-length studio album. In 2006, Tempest released their 10th full-length studio album, entitled The Double-Cross. In 2007, the band released a live CD, entitled Lief's Birthday Bash. The Birthday Bash CD was recorded on the evening of 23 March 2007 at Ashkenaz Dance Community Center in Berkeley, and features tracks including a number of musicians that Lief has played with over the years: both past Tempest members and some members of Golden Bough as well. Much of the recent live CD is actually acoustic. In 2022 the band released the CD Going Home, their first album after leaving Magna Carta records. It was released on Celtidelic Records, and engineered by Robert Berry at Berry's Soundtek Studios.
The band has held the honor of being invited to play a number of times at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and they also host an eclectic music and arts festival of their own, in Auburn, California, on the first weekend of May each year. The festival is called Karfluki Fest, and has featured such artists as It's A Beautiful Day, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Fairport Convention, Shana Morrison, Wicked Tinkers and Fishtank Ensemble, in addition to an array of side show acts such as belly dancers, a sword swallower, jugglers, acrobats and fire dancers.
Other projects Frontman Lief Sørbye occasionally plays in an acoustic Celtic folk duo called Caliban, usually joined by a current or former Tempest fiddler, such as Kathy Buys, Michael Mullen, or Sue Draheim. They have released one self-titled recording and often do shows during Tempest tours. Lief Sørbye has also released two solo albums, Springdans (1987) and Across the Borders (1994). Incumbent fiddler Kathy Buys was the fiddler with a world fusion band called The Druid Sisters Tea Party. Former bassist John Land was previously in a band called Coyote Pudding. They had one release, titled Joking, Drunk, or Bored as Hell.
Personnel Members Current members Adolfo Lazo - drums (1988–present) Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin (1988–present) Jon Berger - fiddle (1993–present) Rob Wullenjohn - guitar (1988–present) Ian Butler - bass (1989–present)
Former members
Mark Showalter - bass (1988-1989) Michael Mullen - fiddle (1992-1993, 1996-2001, 2004–2012) Jay Nania - bass (1995-1998) John Land - bass (1998-2000) Dave Parnall - guitar (1998-1999) Todd Evans - guitar (1999-2002) Darren Cassidy - bass (2000-2001) Jim "Hurricane" Hurley - fiddle (2001-2002) William Maxwell - bass (2001-2002) Sue Draheim - fiddle (2002-2004) Joel Monte Mahan - guitar (2002-2003) Mark Skowronek - bass (2002-2004) Ronan Carroll - guitar (2003-2007) Ariane Cap - bass (2004-2007) James Crocker - guitar (2007-2011) Damien Gonzalez - bass (2007-2011) Brian Fox - bass (2011-2012) Greg Jones - guitar (2011-2016) Caith Threefires - bass (2012-2013) Vince Lucchesi - bass (2013-2015) Josh Fossgreen - bass (2015-2019) Ab Menon - guitar (2016-2019) Kevin Florian - guitar (2019-2020) Mirco Melone - bass (2019-2021) Lee Corbie-Wells - fiddle (2020-2023) Nikolay Georgiev - guitar (2020-2023) Hugh Caley - bass (2021-2023)
Lineups 1988-1989 1989-1992 1992-1993 1993-1995 Adolfo Lazo - drums Mark Showalter - bass Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Rob Wullenjohn - guitar Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Rob Wullenjohn - guitar Ian Butler - bass Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Rob Wullenjohn - guitar Ian Butler - bass Michael Mullen - fiddle Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Rob Wullenjohn - guitar Ian Butler - bass Jon Berger - fiddle 1995-1996 1996-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Rob Wullenjohn - guitar Jon Berger - fiddle Jay Nania - bass Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Rob Wullenjohn - guitar Jay Nania - bass Michael Mullen - fiddle Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Michael Mullen - fiddle John Land - bass Dave Parnall - guitar Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Michael Mullen - fiddle John Land - bass Todd Evans - guitar 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Michael Mullen - fiddle Todd Evans - guitar Darren Cassidy - bass Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Todd Evans - guitar Jim "Hurricane" Hurley - fiddle William Maxwell - bass Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Sue Draheim - fiddle Joel Monte Mahan - guitar Mark Skowronek - bass Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Sue Draheim - fiddle Mark Skowronek - bass Ronan Carroll - guitar 2004–2007 2007–2011 2011-2012 2012–2013 Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Ronan Carroll - guitar Ariane Cap - bass Michael Mullen - fiddle Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Michael Mullen - fiddle James Crocker - guitar Damien Gonzalez - bass Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Michael Mullen - fiddle Brian Fox - bass Greg Jones - guitar Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Greg Jones - guitar Kathy Buys - fiddle Caith Threefires - bass 2013–2015 2015–2016 2016–2019 2019–2020 Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Greg Jones - guitar Kathy Buys - fiddle Vince Lucchesi - bass Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Greg Jones - guitar Kathy Buys - fiddle Josh Fossgreen - bass Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Kathy Buys - fiddle Josh Fossgreen - bass Ab Menon - guitar Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Kathy Buys - fiddle Kevin Florian - guitar Mirco Melone - bass 2020 2020–2021 2021–2023 2023–Present Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Kevin Florian - guitar Mirco Melone - bass Lee Corbie-Wells - fiddle Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Mirco Melone - bass Lee Corbie-Wells - fiddle Nikolay Georgiev - guitar Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Lee Corbie-Wells - fiddle Nikolay Georgiev - guitar Hugh Caley - bass Adolfo Lazo - drums Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin Kathy Buys - fiddle Rob Wullenjohn - guitar Ian Butler - bass
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums Bootleg (1991) Serrated Edge (1992) Surfing to Mecca (1994) Turn of the Wheel (1996) The Gravel Walk (1997) Balance (2001) Shapeshifter (2003) The Double-Cross (2006) Another Dawn (2010) The Tracks We Leave (2015) Thirty Little Turns (2018) Going Home (2022)
Live albums Live at the Philadelphia Folk Festival (2000) Lief's Birthday Bash Party (2007) Live From SoundTek Studios (2020) Compilation albums Sunken Treasures (1993) The 10th Anniversary Compilation (1998) 15th Anniversary Collection Box Set (2004) Prime Cuts (2008) Live On The Air (2020)
References
External links