Broadside Electric
Encyclopedia
Broadside Electric are an American electric folk
(self-described as "Folk Music with Teeth") band from Philadelphia. Formed in 1990
, they are still active in 2011. Audiences expect an erudite and eclectic mix of traditional material, including Child Ballads
, foreign-language songs, and the humorous, obscure, and sometimes absurd.
in their name is taken from the single-side printed song lyric sheets which became popular in the 16th century.
The band was formed in 1990 by Haverford College
and Bryn Mawr College
students and alumni Rachel Hall, Tom Rhoads, Jim Speer and Helene Zisook.
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
(self-described as "Folk Music with Teeth") band from Philadelphia. Formed in 1990
1990 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...
, they are still active in 2011. Audiences expect an erudite and eclectic mix of traditional material, including Child Ballads
Child Ballads
The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
, foreign-language songs, and the humorous, obscure, and sometimes absurd.
Introduction
The BroadsideBroadside (music)
A broadside is a single sheet of cheap paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations...
in their name is taken from the single-side printed song lyric sheets which became popular in the 16th century.
The band was formed in 1990 by Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
and Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
students and alumni Rachel Hall, Tom Rhoads, Jim Speer and Helene Zisook.
Current band members
- Joe D'Andrea 1997–present (drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and assorted percussion, vocals). - Amy Ksir 1997–present (accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, tin whistleTin whistleThe tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
s, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, vocals). - Tom Rhoads 1990–present (lead vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, Appalachian dulcimerAppalachian dulcimerThe Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
, citternCitternThe cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
). - Jim Speer 1990–present (NS/StickNS/StickThe NS/Stick is an 8 string tapping instrument designed by Emmett Chapman and Ned Steinberger. It incorporates design ideas from both the original Stick and from Ned Steinberger's instruments such as the Stick's tapping fretboard and the Steinberger Bass' knee bar and headless design...
, Chapman StickChapman StickThe Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and has been used on music recordings to play bass lines, melody lines, chords or textures...
, and electric bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
; wind instruments including recorderRecorderThe recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
s, clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, crumhornCrumhornThe crumhorn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, there has been a revival of interest in Early Music, and crumhorns are being played again....
and rauschpfeifeRauschpfeifeThe rauschpfeife is a musical instrument of the woodwind family, originally popular in Europe in the mid-16th Century. In common with the crumhorn and cornamuse, it is a wooden double-reed instrument with the reed enclosed in a windcap...
; backing vocals). - Helene Zisook 1990–present (acoustic and five-string electric violinElectric violinAn electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body...
s, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, backing vocals).
Previous band members
- Melissa Demian 1991-1994 (lead vocals, Appalachian dulcimerAppalachian dulcimerThe Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
, occasional percussion, police whistle, siren). Left to pursue a Ph.D in social anthropologySocial anthropologySocial Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
. - Rachel Hall 1990-1991 (English concertinaConcertinaA concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
, piano/keyboardsMusical keyboardA musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
, recorderRecorderThe recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
s, tin whistleTin whistleThe tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
, accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, vocals, occasional percussion). Left to pursue a Watson Fellowship.
Discography
- Black-edged Visiting CardBlack-edged Visiting CardBlack-edged Visiting Card is the title of the first album by Broadside Electric. It was released on December 1, 1992 in the United States.-Track listing:#New York Girls / Yoshke / Sailor's Hornpipe – 5:57...
(19921992 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992.-January–February:*January 11**Nirvana's Nevermind album goes to #1 in the US Billboard 200 chart, establishing the widespread popularity of the Grunge movement of the 1990s....
)
Clever Sheep
- AmplificataAmplificataAmplificata is the title of the second album by Broadside Electric. It was released on January 3rd, 1995 in the United States.-Track listing:#"When I Was a Fair Maid" – 6:35#"Tam Lin" – 5:20#"Hal-an-Tow" – 2:19#"Robin Hood and the Tanner" – 5:40...
(19951995 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
)
Clever Sheep
- More Bad News ...More Bad News ...More Bad News ... is the title of the third album by Broadside Electric. It was released on June 18, 1996 in the United States. Currently out of print, it has recently become available once again via several popular online music retailers.-Track listing:...
(19961996 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
)
Clever Sheep
- With TeethWith Teeth (Broadside Electric album)With Teeth is the title of the fourth album by Broadside Electric. It was released on August 17th, 1999 in the United States.-Track listing:#"Royal Oak" – 4:49#"With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm" – 5:36#"Three Pounds Ten" – 6:35...
(19991999 in music-Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....
)
Clever Sheep
- Live: Do Not ImmerseLive: Do Not ImmerseLive: Do Not Immerse is the title of the fifth album by Broadside Electric. It was released on May 14th, 2002 in the United States.-Track listing:#"Ampère's Law" – 3:19#"Mosé salió de Misrayim" – 5:13#"A Rat in Her Pocket" – 5:12...
(20022002 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...
)
Clever Sheep