Last updated: 5 days ago
The Wanton String Band play hedonistic folk-inspired psychedelic dance music. Their sound ranges from face-melting, trance-inducing renditions of fiddle tunes to synth-infused murder ballads, as showcased on their self-titled, seven-track debut album.
Enthralled/obsessed by Old Time music’s warm string sounds and hypnotic repetition, the Wanton String Band fused disparate influences with favourites from the Old Time canon to create their ecstatic, infectious take on traditional music, which has had audiences dancing on tables since their formation. The band’s live shows are exactly what their name suggests: raucous, playful, extravagant and, above all, fun.
The band is made up of Nathan Bontrager (fiddle, voice), Stuart Graham (bouzouki, voice), Chris Jones (mandolin), Ewan Macdonald (fiddle), Richard O’Flynn (drums, synth, voice) and Jess Whelligan (cello, voice).
The band comes from many different musical places: Ewan and Stuart were both teenage guitar strummers before they found their true callings in the fiddle and the bouzouki; Jess began her musical career aged five by writing the unrecognised classic ‘Don’t Kill Fish’; Nathan was looking for God and then decided old time (along with baroque cello and viola da gamba) would do just fine instead; Chris was led down the well-trodden path from punk to traditional music by The Pogues; and for medical reasons Richard has to be drumming, singing or playing some other musical instrument for a minimum of 18 hours a day.
Enthralled/obsessed by Old Time music’s warm string sounds and hypnotic repetition, the Wanton String Band fused disparate influences with favourites from the Old Time canon to create their ecstatic, infectious take on traditional music, which has had audiences dancing on tables since their formation. The band’s live shows are exactly what their name suggests: raucous, playful, extravagant and, above all, fun.
The band is made up of Nathan Bontrager (fiddle, voice), Stuart Graham (bouzouki, voice), Chris Jones (mandolin), Ewan Macdonald (fiddle), Richard O’Flynn (drums, synth, voice) and Jess Whelligan (cello, voice).
The band comes from many different musical places: Ewan and Stuart were both teenage guitar strummers before they found their true callings in the fiddle and the bouzouki; Jess began her musical career aged five by writing the unrecognised classic ‘Don’t Kill Fish’; Nathan was looking for God and then decided old time (along with baroque cello and viola da gamba) would do just fine instead; Chris was led down the well-trodden path from punk to traditional music by The Pogues; and for medical reasons Richard has to be drumming, singing or playing some other musical instrument for a minimum of 18 hours a day.
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