Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
(If I Were a Rose CD review)
Specializing in songs from Europe as well as Appalachian music, these four bitchin' folk babes ... revise the folk canon in their own tough/sweet image. With fiddles, banjo, guitar and accordion, the quartet recast traditional ballads such as "Adieu False Heart" and "The Cuckoo" and throw in some originals ("Graveyard Shuffle", "Dastardly Deed") that put their earthly influences to good use. - Virginia Living Magazine, April 2006
showed off music that certainly fit that profile... The handful of fans who were wise enough to show up early were rewarded with almost an hour's worth of "Gypsalachian" tunes from the three women and two men of Charlottesville's Las Gitanas. Employing guitar, fiddle, accordion, banjo and drums as well as seamless harmonies, the quintet knocked out a delightful blend of old-time Appalachian, eastern and western European folk music. - Richmond Times Dispatch, April 2006
If you have yet to see this band, they are a group of good-looking, tough-talking, whiskey-swilling, fiddle-playing mujeres... Alex Caton, Cathy Monnes, Sara Read, and Michaux Hood have tossed their ingredients into the pot, and cooked up a goulash of old-time and traditional Eastern European tunes, laced with a bit of Cajun, that makes for a crowd pleasing night out. - The C-ville Weekly, December, 2005
It was largely in response to constant fan requests that Las Gitanas decided to record an album. If I Were a Rose... blends gypsy music with the ... ensemble's Appalachian roots.
You'll only want to stop long enough to clap in between the talented group's songs. - The Hook, December, 2005
Las Gitanas... play a mix of rocked-up gypsy and world
music and Old-time meets Tom Waits. - The C-ville Weekly, January, 2005
"(Las Gitanas) is the chapstick for my chaffed soul..."
- -- Jamie Dyer, of the Hogwaller Ramblers
"They're a pleasure to hear and ecstasy to see..."
- Joe Mead, of Faster than Walking
Discography
If I Were a Rose - released Dec 2005
Visit http://www.lasgitanas.com/shop.html for more info on this recording
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
If you could take four girls from Appalachia, raise them on fiddle music, whiskey, and their Romanian grandmothers' costume box, the end result would be LAS GITANAS.
These women play what they call "Gypsalachian" music: a blend of original tunes with Old-Time Appalachian, Hungarian, French, Cajun, and other traditional influences. They take fiddles, guitar, banjo and accordian and add in drums and bass to support the rich mix of old and new. Call it what you will, LAS GITANAS plays with such a fiery passion and bold spirit you'll be tempted to run off with the gypsies after the show.
The members of LAS GITANAS come from eclectic musical backgrounds: Rock-n'-roll, Old-Time, Irish, Punk, Classical and Jazz. Their individual styles join effortlessly together, and soon a unique sound emerges, fueled by the energy and attitude inherent in their music.
LAS GITANAS has performed at art openings, weddings, parties, listening clubs, festivals and stages bringing fine costumery and invitations to dance wherever they go. They have been featured on WNRN's Acoustic Charlottesville, opened for gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, played at the Charlottesville Pavillion and competed at the Clifftop String Band festival in West Virginia. They released their first recording If I Were a Rose in December 2005.
See them play, or listen to the recording, and you'll find that not long after LAS GITANAS begins playing, you're entranced by their regalia, their instruments, their laughter and liveliness. Then the music takes hold and you're stomping your feet, flailing your hands in the air, jumping up and down, hollering for more.
And finally, you understand exactly what Gypsalachian means.
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