- KENNETT SQUARE — Mixing a melange of musical influences, the critically acclaimed band The Wiyos will bring their acoustic folk music to the Kennett Flash, March 30.
The Wiyos come to The Kennett Flash, March 30.
Riding on the tails of their wildly eclectic 2012 release, Twist, a concept album loosely based on The Wizard of Oz, The Wiyos say they are returning to their roots in 2013. The band continues to debut new original material and re-interpret their own six-album catalog. In 2013 The Wiyos are booked for select shows up and down the east coast, a UK tour and there are rumors of a western tour and another album, unconfirmed at this time.
The New York City-based Wiyos have been rolling for over a decade. They were one of the first “old-timey” bands to emerge on the national scene in the first wave of acoustic bands riding the renewed popularity of early swing jazz, rural folk, old-time blues and Appalachian music. But it’s been a long slog for the “overnight sensations.”
Their non-stop touring in the US and Europe, and numerous critically acclaimed albums and EPs landed them a 28-show summer tour as openers of the 2009 Bob Dylan Show. Later that same year, The Wiyos were featured in the BBC television documentary, “Folk America – Hollerers, Stompers and Old-Time Ramblers”. In 2010 they were featured in the BBC television special “No Sleep ‘Til Yell.”
The Wiyos’ 2012 album, Twist, has been compared to Lennon/McCartney, Big Pink, and Pink Floyd.
Of course, The Wiyos are mostly known for their wild amalgamation of “old timey” sounds, but on Twist the band lets their late 20th Century upbringings creep in with their vintage sensibility. Scotland’s The Herald reviewed one of the 2012 release shows of Twist in Glasgow and called it everything from “junkyard blues to Cuban neighborhood via surf song harmonies and backwoods Appalachia.” After seeing some of the record debuted live, a reviewer from The Chicago Tribune called it “revelatory.”
Some would argue that Twist is The Wiyos’ strongest and boldest work to date.
It is an original song cycle loosely based on Frank Baums’ The Wizard of Oz. The band’s central writers Michael Farkas and Teddy Weber have distilled their reflections of nine years of touring roots festivals, vaudeville shows, coffee houses, big city clubs, backwoods bars, theaters, backyard parties, performing arts centers, barn dances, churches, art centers, and even stadiums and mashed it all together with their uncanny knack for merging and fusing numerous American musical styles. While the album and it’s dramatic eclecticism polarized existing fans of the band, the body of work and it’s critical acclaim is an undeniable achievement for a band that started out busking — performing for change — on the streets.
Tickets for the show are $12 in advance, $15 at the door and tickets can be reserved online by clicking here. Show time is 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7.
