Untitled Document

~Concert~

Saturday Night, November 20th at Steamcon

Abney Park comes from an era that never was, but one that we wish had been. An era where airships waged war in the skies, and corsets and cummerbunds were proper adventuring attire. They've picked up their bad musical habits, scoundrelous musicians, and anachronistically hybridized instruments from dozens of locations and eras that they have visited in their travels and thrown them into one riotous dervish of a performance. Expect clockwork guitars, belly dancers, flintlock bassists, middleastern percussion, violent violin, and Tesla powered keyboards blazing in a post- apocalyptic, swashbuckling, Steampunk musical mayhem.

Ghoultown have thrilled, marauded and rocked their way across the nation for over a decade. Boasting collaborations with Chris Telkes (Nocturne) and Sara Lee Lucas (Marilyn Manson). Think of it this way--if Rob Zombie and Johnny Cash were tossed into a meat packer, Ghoultown is what would come out the other side.

Ghoultown's live performances have garnered a loyal nationwide fanbase opening for the likes of Hank III, The Misfits, and Gorgeous Frankenstein. After conquering the Texas live circuit, the band took their act on the road. From New York's infamous CBGBs to Bar Sinister in Los Angeles, no saloon or concert hall is safe.

Hailed as pioneers of hellbilly rock, Ghoultown continues to make hearts race and skin crawl as they bring their unique brand of music to more fans. Recently, the band embarked on their first international tour with shows in Germany, Poland, and Slovakia.

Robert J. Rial arrived in Chicago at the turn of the century, eager to engage in the musical styles he loved most: country-blues, jazz, swing, tin pan alley, early rock and roll, and American folk. He took comfort in music originally released on 78 R.P.M. records that were occasionally made from an early form of plastic called Bakelite. Bakelite 78’s preserved the songs of the era, and Bakelite 78 the band was born to bring them back to life. The original lineup of Bakelite 78 performed throughout Chicago from 2003 to 2008. The group released their acclaimed debut It’s A Sin in 2006 and followed up with Delta Disc, (produced by Jimbo Mathus), in 2007.

Robert departed for Seattle in 2009 and sought multi-instrumentalists that preserved the group’s original sound. The cast of musicians rounded up includes Erin Jordan on piano and accordion, Austin Quist on upright bass and sousaphone, Ashley Komoda on clarinet and saxophone, Erik Reed on trumpet, Steve Baz on drums and Robert Rial on tenor guitar and lead vocals. The group’s persistence of vision is echoed in music that often takes on an exciting feel of its own. Fans of ragtime, blues, jazz, and swing will appreciate the anchoring rhythm section and strong vocals of Bakelite 78 .

~CABARET~

This year Mister Bodewell's Cabaret at Steamcon will be bigger and better than ever! Friday, Saturday and maybe even Sunday (the exact hours are yet to be decided) but we will strive to fill as much time with quality entertainment as possible. Many of our popular entertainers will be returning and we are pleased to bring you many new acts as well. It should be quite a show!"

~The Gypsy Nomads~

Gypsy Celtic Cabaret w/ tribal and punk elements and an undercurrent of the mystickal.

"A dynamic amalgamation of on-stage chemistry, energy and musicality," New York duo, The Gypsy Nomads, also affectionately known as Frenchy and the Punk, channel the spirit of the gypsy sound, lacing it with a cabaret, celtic and neo-medieval flavor rooted in punk, folk and the vineyards of southern France.

From raucous, danceable old-world melodies with cheeky stories sung in english and french, to pounding, tribal-march-style drum instrumentals, this creative duo's quirky and captivating show brings the songs from their three full-length albums to life in a percussive, provocative and theatrical way.

The duo features French-born Brit. Samantha Stephenson, whose vocals have been likened to a cross between Siouxsie Sioux and Edith Piaf and veteran of the punk scene Scott Helland on guitar. Helland's innovative live looping technique coupled with Stephenson's animated percussion produces a sound that makes it hard to believe there are only two people on stage.

The Gypsy Nomads have been touring incessantly since 2005 bringing their pulse-poundin' tribute to the free spirit lifestyle to festivals that feature the fantastical and mystickal with stilt walkers, jugglers and fire throwers, as well as steampunk/sci-fi/cabaret conventions all over North America.

~Curtis Eller~

One of the contemporary acoustic scene's most eccentric and individual performers will, the wild eyed vaudevillian known as "New York's angriest yodelling banjo player" will be be appearing at Steamcon 2010 in Seattle, WA on November 19th.

Detroit born and circus raised, Eller has built a strong following in the US, Canada and Europe based on full throttle live shows where slapstick and silent comedy meets the urgency of an early David Byrne. However, despite the Groucho moustache, braces and baggy trousers, this isn't the sideshow that it may first appear. Eller is a gifted writer raised on Randy Newman, The Band and Tom Waits. His often melancholy, often angry songs describe a dream like view of American history where all points in time have collapsed into one. Elvis Presley can rub shoulders with Abraham Lincoln against a backdrop of circus disasters, assassinations, corruption and chain gangs. To top it off he has the smoky voice of a man lost in the desert without a flask and performs every song as if his life depended in it. Not to be missed."

~Rhubarb Whiskey~

Rowdy, boozy and tender, the music of Rhubarb Whiskey arrives at the end of a long, dusty trail from the deep dark heart of the American west. Drink up, and see what happens when they combine the old-time beauty of 1850's tintype drinkin' songs with the brash attitude of punk rock. Rhubarb Whiskey will be your soundtrack to intoxicated nights of the heart, the road, and the adventures you never knew you wanted.

~Vagabondage~

Singing to us from inside an inebriated accordion, the duo slurs sea chanties, murder ballads, and, well, to be honest, drinking songs. Grand plonking waltzes, jaunty reels, and scorching torch complaints have everyone swaying along and madly toasting to whatever.

~Fein and Dandee~

Long time friends, Mr Charles "Chuck" Dandee and Mr August Fein, met one evening at a Biergarten in Dallas, TX in 1927. Discovering a mutual knack and admiration for rubber chickens and kazoos, the two quickly fell into music making--involving typewriters, pots and pans, and fencepost. Eventually, Dallas' own WKZO approached the two and offered them a lucrative deal for a radio program. By fall 1930, The Fein and Dandee Hour was a reality, streaming via vacuum tubes into at least five homes. This deal also brought them to the bassist and pianist Mr. Louis Luvleigh, a Yankee from Ohio, which explains some of his odd behavior.The show also introduced those five Texas homes to the beguiling Miss Tiffany the rubber chicken and Mr. Pedro the noisemaker--a tumultuous off-air romance between the two would eventually end in the now-famous scandal. And, of course, Miss Gertrude the accordion.

~Eliza Rickman~

Eliza Rickman is a singer, songwriter and pianist living and performing in California. Her unique and haunting sound combines the lilting sweetness of popular vocalists like Feist or Annie Clarkwith the gritty sensibilities of PJ Harvey and the playfulness of Kurt Weill. The daughter of a Baptist preacher, Eliza discovered the piano at age eight. She innocently pounded away at a 120-year-old piano inherited from her grandfather while growing up in southern California. She went on to study classical piano, specializing in Ragtime at Azusa Pacific University. Eliza eventually changed her major to arranging and, at the urging of a teacher, began singing. Over the next few years, Eliza developed her original and unforgettable vocal style by listening to her voice on a four track recorder.

Shortly before graduating, Eliza began composing her own material, utilizing her talent for arranging string quartets and piano. When she began performing at Los Angeles venues, she purchased a toy piano out of necessity. The compact, antique, two-octave piano quickly became her trademark accompaniment. Its piercingly nostalgic sound created a lyrical dissonance with her deceptively powerful voice. While she still performs with a small chamber of musicians at venues like El Cid and Hotel Cafe, the toy piano is the central instrument on her new EP, Gild the Lily. Full of lovesick lullabies, Gild the Lily marries pure and sultry melodies with melancholy lyrics. The raven-haired, porcelain-skinned songstress serenades listeners into an unexpected vulnerability while leading them on a quest for love by a little girl lost.

~Tin Can Tobacco Band~

TIN CAN TOBACCO BAND was an idea originally conceived by The Colonel while he was fighting transvestite pirates in the gulf of Ecuador… The idea was simple: “Music Made by Alcoholics, For Alcoholics”. A band of gypsy drunkards who with very little effort and practice can make a sound so wretched that it is only appealing to those more sauced than the musicians themselves.

The band is comprised of individuals from back alley abortion clinics, bathhouses and various rehab centers who The Colonel either bribed or drugged before dragging them back to his basement where he forced them to perform menial tasks (such as bass playing), while the stronger willed individuals disappeared into the depths of the Colonel’s backyard. It currently consists of 5 individuals, Monty (accordion), Travis Bingaman (bass), Mark Vai (Banjo), Elke hautala (Backup Vocals), and Cory “The Colonel” Blakslee (Other). Their unimaginative songwriting and pathetic renditions of many classics have cemented this band in time as one of the true pioneers of “drunkabilly” music.

Though many members have come and gone, the true spirit of Tin Can lives on in the hearts and souls of the homeless and mentally disabled, the poor and the drunk, the shameless and the weak, the debaucherous and the haggard, and perhaps most of all, you and me. Nobody is quite certain what comes next for Tin Can Tobacco Band, but one thing is certain, a structure this rundown and dilapidated is bound to implode on itself eventually.

~TyLean~

Uniquely twisted, emotionally compelling self-described “vocalist, pianist and cello rapist” TyLean, quickly become known as eccentric, willing to sacrifice popularity for the sake of art and musicality for atmosphere. Whereas most musicians and performers are clamoring to give their audiences enjoyable entertainment and music they desire, TyLean challenges her audiences, daring them to face their personal demons as well as the cruelty of all humans. TyLean’s strong yet haunting voice is the emotional centerpiece of the full-on “despair art” recording The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable, the compelling follow-up to her 2007 sophomore album, Between 10 and 2.

Between 10 and 2 boasted a quagmire of despair in TyLean’s songs of torment or her recreations of nightmares and insanity. The album was largely autobiographical, written and recorded during a remarkably dark time in TyLean’s life, when she experienced hallucinations, paranoia, an inability to distinguish reality from non-reality and an utter loss of will to live.

Discussing Between 10 and 2 her trademark album that single-handedly captures the fullness of her artistic expression, TyLean says, “The response to the album has been rather bi-polar. Some have thanked me for shedding light into the workings of the mind of someone who is mentally unwell. Others have charged me with exploiting mental illness. I feel I have every right to do so, seeing as they are based on my own experiences, and would encourage others suffering in that hell to do the same, as it’s greatly therapeutic”.

Therapy is precisely what spawned TyLean’s third album, The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable, due to be released April 2010 on her own Bast Records. At the height of TyLean’s “insanity,” while living in Bristol, England, her progression toward mental health was in no small way connected to the writing of The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable. Having grown up in rural Pennsylvania, TyLean experienced a great deal of trauma that caused a bottomless well of emotional disturbances, “character flaws,” and resentment. Each track of The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable is based on an unforgivable or unforgettable person of event in TyLean’s life.

For her third album, TyLean was not satisfied with the ease of recording in a studio, as she had for her debut EP, When All Else Fails, and Between 10 and 2. The Unforgivable, the Unforgettable required an intensity that could only be captured live and “in the moment.” Despite having very few live performances under her belt and a great deal of stage fright to contend with, TyLean recorded the entire album live in a single performance in London on her 27 th birthday.

TyLean is writing new material for her fourth album, all of the songs unified by a theme of war and militia. Her first three albums have been heavily centred on piano and keyboard instruments, but TyLean plans to have the fourth album primarily recorded with cello. True to her cello raping antics in songs such as “Rosalyn,” TyLean will be making her cello hostages “scream with the bloody sounds of war.” TyLean promises that her solo material will remain “deviacoustic” (acoustic music of a socially deviant nature) and authentic, as nothing can deliver despair like a raw acoustic instrument. She hopes the album, featuring songs like “Casualty” and “Blood Stained Walls,” will be set to be release in 2011.

~Toy-Box Trio~

Founded in early 2007 by classical composer Harlan Glotzer, the Toy-Box Trio is devoted to helping audiences experience through-composed music in an entirely different way. The pairing of concertina, toy piano, and tuba is reminiscent of theclassical piano trio—a staple in chamber repertoire—but able to extend into the 21st century by creating a sonic landscape evocative of dusty old music boxes and haunted carnivals. Jordan Block of Sepiachord describes the trio's sound as "...markedly intimate retro-future circus music, transforming baroque sounds into a stranger version of 'The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'." Toy-Box Trio is committed to approaching time-worn ideas and concepts from unexpected, non-traditional, and rarely used angles. The trio fills the space between carnivals, circuses, and classical chamber ensembles, creating a light and fanciful sonic atmosphere.

The Toy-Box Trio is at home in venues ranging from concert halls to cabaret clubs to street corners, and performs for a diverse audience including families, steampunks, and symphony-goers. Previous performances include the Seattle International Cabaret Festival, Steamcon, and the Seattle Art Museum, as well as various stages and art galleries throughout the Puget Sound region. Aside from stage performances, the Toy-Box Trio has been featured on KEXP's "Sonarchy Radio" and has made a live television appearance on the Seattle Channel's "Art Zone with Nancy Guppy". Sepiachord has commissioned two separate pieces from Toy-Box Trio for the CD compilations The Sepiachord Companion and The Sepiachord Passport. Music from the trio's self-titled EP creates the backdrop for Philadelphia's Olde City Sideshow and provides the soundtrack for various films including My Lucy Charm and Back Ally.

~Blackbird Orchestra~

Blackbird Orchestra is offering a rare acoustic performance for Steamcon II. With influences from Joy Division to Motorhead, Seattle-based Blackbird Orchestra likes to understate their sound as “a little bit this, a little bit that.” Don’t be fooled, though, the “this” and “that” actually form a carefully calculated recipe, combining the quartet’s diversity, rich guitar sound, melodic vocals, and experimental timing with rock sensibility, New Wave pop and dark flourish. This deliberate mélange is sometimes imperfect, sometimes unexpected, but consistantly produces music different from other bands, yet familiar to everyone who listens.

~Miss Mamie Lavona the Exotic Mulatta and her White Boy Band~

Miss Mamie Lavona the Exotic Mulatta started playing with her White Boys in the fall of 2005. Starting as a trio with Otto & Scott, and collecting the rest as the years progressed til she had a full stable. The whole crew comes from backgrounds with lots of theatre, stage, and musical experience, and continues to be highly involved in the stage-ly arts scene of Seattle.

Drawing from styles such as cabaret, swing, New Orleans style jazz, klezmer, Balkan, vaudeville and more, Miss Mamie and her Boys always put on a racous, diverse, and colorful show.

~Veronique Chevalier~

Veronique Chevalier is the eccentric Françican (Français-American) Chanteuse (Songstress)
known as The "Weird VAL" of Dark Cabaret.

She's an unparalleled Parodist; a Steamish Chanteuse, and Spooky
Polkanista, who has been described as a campy incarnation of Edith Piaf from a parallel universe - the one in which her parents are Jim Morrison, and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and her godparents are Lucille Ball and Weird Al.

As a self-proclaimed "Mad Sonic-tist," she take maniacal pleasure in combining previously unrelated musical forms into new, unholy combinations. She vows to leave no genre unadulterated in her quest to create the ultimate Sonic Frankenstein.

~Deadly Nightshade Botanical Society~

The Deadly Nightshade Botanical Society was founded by Robert Hazelton and Kryztof Nemeth formerly of Abney Park. They were later joined by Dizzy whose exuberant caterwauling has been compared to Natalie Merchant and several Disney princesses.

The band is a unique, eclectic mix of driving guitar and world music influences with orchestral touches. Whether setting the laments of Dr. Frankenstein to music or singing the praises of an airship monkey, they have something for everyone. Tales of tragedy, comedy, horror and adventure make up both their debut CD Clockwork Dreams as well as their new CD Accoutrements and Oddities. They will be performing a rare acoustic set at Steamcon and look forward to sharing their stories unplugged.