West Coast Accordion Babes Revue December 18, 2010

What: Cabaret & Circus: Accordion Babes Revue!
When: Saturday, December 18, 2010, 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Where: Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda, CA 94501
Cost: $15 advance, $20 at the door
Tix & Info: http://www.rhythmix.org

Come spend an evening with the Bay Area's finest accordion toting "babes" while they squeeze, sing, dance, and balance accordions with every move. Out to give a girl-powered makeover to the oft maligned image of the accordion, these ladies succeed- playing everything from cabaret, whiskey soaked shanties, to rock, and Tex-Mex. Featured "Accordionistas" and bands include: Joanie Rueter Wilson with The Barbary Ghosts, Luz Gaxiola (Mistress of Ceremonies), Skylar Fell, Jetty Swart and Tara Linda. This event highlights the new generation of accordion players featured in the 2011 Pin-Up Calendar and CD. Showcasing the talented, fun, sensual, underground, and always entertaining West Coast Accordion Babes, the calendar includes a 13 song compilation CD performed by all the women of the Babes Calendar. San Francisco's all-women clown troupe, Circus Finelli presents irreverent circus comedy with a touch of old-world cabaret drawing on the traditions of European Circus, and American Vaudeville.

"John Coltrane's music may have been more revolutionary, but the Accordion Babes Pinup Calendar is more likely to bring about world peace" - Larry Kelp, host of "sing out" - KPFA 94.1 Berkeley

Artist Bios:
Joan Rueter Wilson & Barbary Ghosts
With their salty yet sweet vocal harmonies blending seamlessly over a core of fiddle, guitar and accordion, The Barbary Ghosts evoke the best of a bygone era, bringing you back to the days of sailing ships and whiskey soaked dancehalls. From traditional sea chanties, to rowdy singalongs, to tear jerking ballads, the Ghosts bring a fresh
take on old standards as well as creating clever original songs that you'd swear you'd heard somewhere before.

MC - Luz Gaxiola: Luz fuzes accordion together with circus and comedy. She is a clown with Circus Finelli, San Francisco's all-women clown troupe, who specialize in pairing breathtaking circus with irreverent comedy. Besides accordion, Luz also plays trombone and theremin. She is based in San Francisco, and can be seen performing up and down the coast from Seattle to Mazatlan.

Circus Finelli is San Francisco's all-women clown troupe. They mix the sultry, with the amazing, with the ridiculous, leaving audiences astonished and stupefied. Their style draws on the traditions of European Circus, and American Vaudeville. Circus Finelli features live music, samba dancing, unicycle, juggling, and acrobatics. Circus Finelli formed five years ago when four women met at the San Francisco Clown Conservatory, since then they've performed in the Czech Republic, Mexico, and all over the United States. The troupe is multi-lingual, singing and joking in Czech, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Polish, Farsi, Portuguese... and even English. www.circusfinelli.com

Yeti
Jetty Swart, who pronounces her first name "Yeti", was born in the port of Amsterdam, spent half a life-time in France before landing in San Francisco. She found an accordion on her way from Prague to Berlin, passing by New York and Mexico. She sings most of her songs in French, speaks English, dreams in Dutch and calls her music "a punk-style gypsy party where Nina Hagen, Edith Piaf and Kurt Weill meet." From playing on the streets in the south of France to performances at the Francophonic Festival in Poland, Jetty is hilarious, engaging, dramatic, energetic, touching and thoroughly original. Videos of her performances and samples of her music can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/yetila

Tara Linda: Equipped with a sultry voice, button accordion, and baritone guitar, chanteuse Tara Linda plays roots rock; blending spaghetti western and Latin torch. A Hohner-endorsed artist, she writes new tangos, waltzes, and boleros, and skirts global genres to blend them into a style uniquely hers. Tara Linda's performances are described as "mesmerizing" (Oakland Tribune/San Jose Mercury News) and her vocals "rich" and "sultry" (The Muse's Muse). Influenced by the early torch singers of American and Latin American cultures, Tara writes original music grounded in the Texas traditions she grew up with; Americana, blues, rock, and jazz. She has a world music heritage (Indian) and sings in Spanish and English. www.taralinda.com

For more information please visit: www.rhythmix.org or call 510-865-5060.