The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra

Artist Information

Biography

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE8-WbikB_w

"There's an authentic quality about the TMO that few bands these days posses. Their mesmerizing stage presence, and unique approach to live music put them in a position to dominate the National touring circuit..."-Paul Hinrichs, Director of Bookings & Promotions,The Royal

"These young boys are the real thing. They live their music with a sincerity that is honest and conscious of what has gone on before them. Wise beyond their years and dedicated to the roots of great music...they have created their own sound that is quite excellent" Maureen Chambers, Artistic Director, South Country Fair

"Perfect Saturday main stage act to get the entire crowd swinging and dancing......They simply love to play music and it shows!”-Robert McCourty, Islands Folk Festival

"...exciting musical growth and exploration that feeds off the instant connection they establish with their audience the minute they start playing. Gypsy Ska meets Bluegrass on the dance floor and the crowd goes nuts!"-Dan Cowan, Skaspot Live Network

Emerging as on of Canada's most exciting young multi-genre roots band, The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra's faithful underground following has expanded to National awareness and saw them playing festivals across Canada and the US in 2011.

Known for delivering their unique brand of acoustic, high energy Gypsy-Ska-Roots-Grass with dedication and precision, keeping it exciting and generating dancing fans with every show, The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra have sold hundreds of albums at individual shows; 600 at Seattle's FolkLife alone, and tend to always be that name you overhear someone saying "Did you see that band?"

TMO recently recorded a second EP, with a widening sound that binds the country-roots feel and harmonic storytelling of “The Blanche Album”, with the Roma and Afro beat inspiration that the band is known for from “The Double EP”, and as always, is firmly grounded in traditional and roots music.

The EP will be released for promotional use only, featuring this years festival hits “The Otter Song” (“Shine”) and “Mountains On Fire”, as well as a new recording of “Home On The Water”, which has been quoted by one young fan as being “the song of our generation”. With an absolute truth to their music that is immediately recognized by audiences, The EP sees TMO experimenting with purposefully plodding and visceral rhythms, described as “like a heard of elephants being held back tight with reigns”, interwoven with elemental break downs, jazz flourishes, and often unadorned, but striking vocals . The ballads have a nostalgic, romantic appeal and a developing mastership of 5 part harmonies. It is as the band says, just a blueprint of the next album, to be recorded in January, 2012.

The band has is currently gearing up for their first Sponsored Showcase at OCFF. After attended the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, TN this past February, a flurry of phone calls followed, and the band was honoured to be invited to play Calgary Folk Club, Levitt Pavilion, Steel Jam, and Universal Festivals. With no expectations, they are excited to have been invited to OCFF this same year.

The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra also regularly donates their time and music to community events, fundraisers and awareness campaigns, including Kigaliup Fundraiser, Down Town East Side Music Outreach, ArtsWells Fundraiser, Mazzy Fundraiser, Mosquoy Fundrasier, and many many more.


New Sounds

The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra's long awaited new album, which promises to be their most cohesive album to date, will be ready for CD review in July 2012, just in time for festival season. TMO will be available to tour festivals across North America this summer, and will be follow up with a hard ticket CD release tour in Oct-March of 2012/13.

TMO had the top grossing merch sales at ArtsWells 2009, South Country Fair 2011, Island Folk Festival 2010, and sold over 600 CD's in one

Instrumentation

Ian Griffiths - Lead Vocals, Accordian
Kurt Loewen - Guitar, Lead Vocals
Peter Mynett - Vocals, Double Bass
Paul Wolda - Percussion
Jaques Mindreau - Fiddle

Discography

The Double EP, 2009
The Blanche Album, 2010
Nashville Recordings EP 2011-2012
Follow my Lead, Lead me to Follow OCT 11 2012

Official Website

http://www.ttmo.ca

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Bandcamp

Audio

• Otters
  Listen   Download
• XO
  Listen   Download
• Home On The Water
  Listen   Download
• Canoe Song
  Listen   Download

Lyrics

• Home On The Water

Video

The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra - Nose Hill.mov

Photo Gallery

Press

• Flying Home [+ Show ]
  

  Posted By: E.G. Anderson 02/11/2009 8:00 AM Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra returns with their r...
  Posted By: E.G. Anderson
  02/11/2009 8:00 AM
  
  Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra returns with their raucous brand of gypsy-ska
  
  With an accordion, fiddle, guitar, stand-up bass, drums and the occasional mandolin, Victoria’s Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra have been performing encore-inducing music for almost two years—and have developed a somewhat fanatical following locally.
  
  “I think our music is really accessible,” says percussionist Paul Wolda of the band’s popularlity. “It appeals to multiple generations.”
  
  This past fall, the five musicians took their self-described “gypsy-folk-ska-grass you can dance to” on a European tour. Busking their way through cities like Berlin, Vienna and Grenada, the nomadic band had little trouble drawing a crowd with their multi-lingual music and funded their entire four-month trip with their street-performing earnings. They did, however, get in a little trouble with the authorities.
  
  “Everywhere we went, we were shut down . . . eventually,” says vocalist Ian Griffiths, who noticed a huge change in the cities he had visited two years ago, when there was a busker on every corner. “It’s a trend around Europe,” laments violinist Patrick M’Gonigle. “The shutting down of public art.”
  
  In Berlin, an old man reamed out the cops when they came to shut down the group’s performance—not so much to defend the group’s right to play, but his own right to listen. “People are adamant about having culture in their streets,” says Griffiths.
  
  While in Spain, the band played alongside a troupe of circus performers and the combination of music, story-telling and performance art sparked with the travelling band, so much so that they’re organizing a similar show for Victoria later this year.
  
  “We wanted to transport the idea back home,” says Griffiths. “We have so many amazing artists here, not just musicians.” In addition to dazzling an audience, the multi-disciplinary show will give the group a chance to collaborate with other performers, including songstress Rachel Cardiello of Blue Richard and the Apricots. “It’s going to be a sensory overload,” adds Griffiths.
  
  With the carnival, their new Vienna-recorded EP and an even more impressive eclectic sound, the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra is bringing a bit of European passion to our city. By playing SkaFest and events like this Saturday’s Cupid’s Arrow concert—a benefit for the Women’s Sexual Assault Centre—alongside ska, folk and DJ acts, the group hopes to contribute to Victoria’s own distinct sound. With their established talent and newfound focus, they look poised to do just that.
  
  “Musically and mentally, we’re this totally different band,” says M’Gonigle.

• Legendary Victoria Gypsy-Ska Band Fly Home [+ Show ]
  

  Jan 07, 2009 06:21 PM Emily Agopsowicz Jan 07, 2009 06:21 PM Emily Agopsowicz What: The T...Jan 07, 2009 06:21 PM
  Emily Agopsowicz
  
  Jan 07, 2009 06:21 PM
  Emily Agopsowicz
  
  What: The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra with the Human Statues
  
  When: Jan. 8, 10 p.m.
  
  Where: The Upstairs Cabaret
  
  How much: $10 in advance at Lyle’s Place and Darcy’s, more at the door
  
  Hot on the heels of a four-month European tour, the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra is back in Victoria preparing for a show at the Upstairs Cabaret and the release of their second full-length double EP, The Cellar Sessions.
  
  The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra formed during a jam at Victoria’s now defunct Moustache bar in December 2006. By October 2007, they had solidified into an quintet comprised of djembe/cajon, bass, accordion, geet-box, fiddle and five-way vocals. Since then, they have become legendary in Victoria, known for their genre-stretching music featuring gypsy-ska infusion, with African rhythm, classical-inspired melodies and colourful lyrics delivered with high energy vocals in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
  
  Their recent tour began in September, taking them across Spain, Germany, France and Italy. True to their music’s gypsy roots, it was largely unplanned and had the boys living by the seats of their pants.
  
  “We had a couple of shows lined up, but other than that, it was a busking tour,” said Kurt Loewen, lead vocalist and guitarist. “We played in the streets and invaded people’s homes. We’d go into bars and say, ‘Hey, we’re Canadian, can we play here?’ Sometimes they’d say yes and sometimes they’d say no.”
  
  The absence of a plan was a “liberating experience,” said drummer and vocalist Paul Wolda.
  
  “We always knew that we would be totally fine,” said Wolda. “And it’s just knowing that, just having confidence that you’ll be fine and just doing it.”
  
  The band’s (mis)adventures included having paint cans thrown at them, playing for a private sailboat party, and scoring VIP passes to Neil Young’s show — twice.
  
  Being an unknown five-man band performing in foreign lands presents challenges, particularly when you’re playing for your next meal.
  
  “You’re tired, you’re hungry and you play so hard and you make so little money, then you eat and have coffee, and do it all again,” said Loewens.
  
  Violinist and vocalist Patrick M’Gonigle believes that the key to success is being able to understand the audience.
  
  “We’re playing in the street in all these different countries and we realized we can’t just play and think that we’ll have people come up and go ‘Yeah!’,” said M’Gonigle. “How you’re feeling really translates into the music. If we’re feeling down and we go out there we’re putting out this energy that we’re hungry and we’re playing to eat, that energy shows through in the music.”
  
  “I feel like sometimes we played the songs perfectly, technically, but nobody gave us money and nobody liked it because it lacked the right intention,” added accordionist Ian Griffiths.
  
  “You’ve got to show that you’re enjoying what you’re doing, and that you want to make people happy,” said Wolda.
  
  Griffiths describes their latest full-length double EP as “schizophrenic.”
  
  “Half was recorded in Canada on Vancouver Island, and then the other half was recorded in Vienna underneath this 400-year-old grotto,” said Griffiths.
  
  It could also be called the makings of luck, charm, hospitality and good old-fashioned foot stompin’, hip-swaying music.
  
  “We met a girl in Berlin on the subway; she came to our show at a small café and gave us the contact for a friend in Vienna,” said Loewens. “We called and ended up staying with him for two weeks. And he happened to just be finishing a recording engineering degree at a college in Vienna, and his bandmate happened to live in the same apartment building on the bottom floor and they had access to all the equipment from the school. So they put it together for us for free.”
  
  “Everyone brings something different,” said Griffiths. “We’ll have one song that’s very obviously like gypsy-ska, then another that’s very bluegrass.”
  
  The band agrees that they will continue to explore their roots and expand their sound. And the full-length double EP will be on sale for the first time at their show on Jan. 8.
  
  “Victoria is a great place to come home to,” said Loewens. “When you’re touring the people don’t know you, so they’re not as easily receptive. Whereas here, the people who come out to see us have usually seen us a bunch of times already, and they’re excited.”
  
  For more information, visit tequilamockingbirdorchestra.com.
  
  
  http://www.martlet.ca/article/6418
  

• Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra verwandelt Studentenclub in Sauna [+ Show ]
  

  Was ich eigentlich schreiben wollte…. das Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra hat gestern den Eberswald...Was ich eigentlich schreiben wollte….
  
  das Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra hat gestern den Eberswalder Studentenclub gerockt. Fünf Jungs aus der Gegend um Vancouver *Kanada* liessen mit heissen Ska, Reggea und Latino-Rhytmen die Studentenmeute abzappeln. Zwischen ihren portugiesischen, spanischen und englischen Songs heizten sie mit afrikanischem Getrommel ordentlich ein. Während draussen die Pflastersteine regennass glänzten und der Nachthimmel von Blitzen erhellt wurde, herrschten im Club subtropische Temperaturen. Bei derart akustischen Leckerbissen störte das aber niemanden, im Gegenteil. Die Klamotten stapelten sich entlang der Fensterbänke. Und auch draussen vor der Tür wurde noch gefeiert und getanzt bis in die frühen Morgenstunden.
  
  Eine Kostprobe der Band gibt es auf ihrer myspace Seite. Viel Spass beim reinhören!
  www.myspace.com/tequilamock
  
  

• Thoughts On The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra [+ Show ]
  

  Thoughts on the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra : These young guys from Victoria did an excellent...
  Thoughts on the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra :
  
  These young guys from Victoria did an excellent job of headlining one of our
  recent multi-disciplinary cabaret shows. It was sold out, and they rocked the
  party.
  
  … their infectious stage presence is an irresistible assault of crazed gypsy-
  ska-folk-grass mayhem
  
  … they take your favorite tradition ... and then, playing it with precision and
  intensity, use it as a rhythm stick to alternately tickle you, and beat you with
  unrelenting pulse.
  
  … steeped in a variety of traditions - from a number of parts of the world –
  these immensely talented young men proceed to use their imaginations to grab you
  by the ears and play you a series of songs you have both always known and never
  heard before.
  
  … these guys are a traveling party. Both your feet and your smile muscles will
  get a workout.
  
  Get ready for the mosh pit. I dare you not to dance.
  
  Catch them now in a small club before you have to buy scalpers tickets to see
  them in in a big arena. You'll be able to tell your friends you caught them on
  the way up.
  
  - Bill Hood (President of Neworld Theatre)

• Reccomendation:Ska Spot Live [+ Show ]
  

  "I have followed the musical progress of Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra over the past year through my..."I have followed the musical progress of Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra over the past year through my unique perspective as Promoter (2008 New Music West Festival "Ska Music Showcase" & World Dance Music Concert Headliner Jan 09)and as Stage Mgr. - Victoria Ska Festival 2008 - TMO headlines Inner Harbour Stage).
  
  I hear exciting musical growth and exploration that feeds off the instant connection they establish with their audience the minute they start playing. Gypsy Ska meets Bluegrass on the dance floor and the crowd goes nuts - it is lots of fun to be around with TMO hit the stage. As a promote rand stage manager I find TMO a professional pleasure to deal with. Big things in the future for this amazing band from the west coast of Canada who look and play like they are from deep Europe but sound like they were raised by Bill Monroe."
  
  
  Dan Cowan - Skaspot Live Network

• Recommendation: Steamer's Pub [+ Show ]
  

  "Steamers Pub has been hosting live music 7 nights a week for over a decade and it was rare to find ..."Steamers Pub has been hosting live music 7 nights a week for over a decade and it was rare to find a band that was both professional, easy to deal with and could pack the bar any night of the week. Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra was one of those bands. A rare commodity in this day and age. A band that showed up when and where they said they would, played hard every night and
  brought out crowds of fun loving and big drinking fans. A pleasure to work
  with from the first night to the last."
  
  Andrew Wickens
  General Manager
  Booking Agent
  Steamers Pub

Setlist

Original Music

Basic Requirements

PDF Rider

TMO stage plot and sound requirements

Calendar