International Artists Flock To Washington For WOMAD

22 Jul 1999 03:45:00 EDT

Three Fish

Festivalgoers looking for something a bit more adventurous than this weekend's Woodstock '99 may want to check out another three-day music bash being held next weekend.

The WOMAD U.S.A. Festival will take place at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington from Friday, July 30 through August 1. World music and cultural diversity are the themes, and the acts range from West Indian singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading and the Afro-Celtic act Cubanismo! to Uganda's Geoffrey Oryema and Anglo-Egyptian singer Natacha Atlas.

Other artists scheduled to appear are Taj Mahal, Joan Baez, Irish folkie Mary Black, former Blasters frontman Dave Alvin, and Jeff Ament with his side project, Three Fish.

More than 35 artists are scheduled to appear on eight different stages, and among the extras offered are workshops with some of the performers, a bazaar featuring handcrafts and imported goods, and a plethora of international cuisines.

For more information on the festival, visit the WOMAD U.S.A. Web site at www.womadusa.org.

The artists and musicians currently scheduled to participate are:

Afro Celt Sound System (Africa/Europe)
Andy White (Northern Ireland)
Arthur Hull (USA)
Bangarra Dance Theatre (Australia)
Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers (USA)
Bernard Kabanda (Uganda)
Boukman Eksperyans (Haiti)
Cubanismo! (Cuba)
Cui Jian (China)
Dave Alvin (USA)
Djivan Gasparyan and Michael Brook (Armenia)
Donal Lunny's Coolfin with Sharon Shannon (Ireland)
Drummers of Burundi (Burundi)
Fruit (Australia)
Geoffrey Oryema (Uganda)
Guo Brothers (China)
Habib Koite and Bamada (Mali)
Huang Yi Que (China)
Inti-Illimani (Chile)
Joan Armatrading (UK)
Joan Baez (USA)
Joji Hirota (Japan)
Joseph Arthur (USA)
Koo Nimo and Vishal Nagar (Ghana)
Mark Atkins (Australia)
Mark Blackman (Australia)
Mary Black (Ireland)
Natacha Atlas (UK/Egypt)
Natalie MacMaster (Canada)
Oliver Mtukudzi & the Black Spirits (Zimbabwe)
Rizwan-Muazam Qawwali Group (Pakistan)
Seattle Creative Orchestra (USA)
Sharon Shannon (Ireland)
Shotei Ibata (Japan)
Slava Grigoryan (Australia/Kazakhstan)
Stevie Goldsmith (Australia)
Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues (USA)
Thomas Mapfumo and Blacks Unlimited (South Africa)
Three Fish (USA)
Vishal Nagar (India)
Yaya Coulibaly (Mali)

Related Artists

Three Fish

Three Fish Swims Deep Waters For New Album, Tour

7 Jun 1999 04:15:00 EDT

Three Fish

Three Fish, the band featuring Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and South African vocalist Robbi Robb, has just headed out on the road in support of its just-released sophomore effort, "The Quiet Table."

The new record is the follow-up to Three Fish's critically lauded, self-titled 1996 debut, an album that helped bring focus to world-influenced pop a year before rock supergroup Tuatara released its first album, "Breaking the Ethers." Its very existence is an affirmation that these three friends were able to continue to work together without the business of making music souring their relationships.

"Our friendships are more important to me than putting out records," Ament told us, "and maybe having that cause any sort of strife or making our relationships more stressful. Because going into business together can always add a certain amount of tension to everything." [RealAudio]

"The Quiet Table" was recorded in a Montana studio during on-again, off-again sessions across 1997 and '98, and the expansiveness of the environment apparently lent itself to such ethereal rockers as "Tremor Void" and "Resonate" from the new album.

Like its debut, all the members of Three Fish contribute to the songwriting of "The Quiet Table," and even though Ament, Robb, and drummer Richard Stuverud all have other bands (Pearl Jam, Tribe After Tribe, and the Fastbacks, respectively), they agree that their Three Fish material tends to have a life of its own.

"I know there's stuff I've written where I'll go, 'No, this is more of a Three Fish-type of thing,'" explained Robb, "because Three Fish does have a sensitivity to it. Whereas Tribe After Tribe is more of the African drums, the heavy metal, the chanting, and it's more of a linear thing. These are more of songs."

Three Fish will tour North America until the end of June, after which the band will make an appearance at the 1999 Womad Festival in Redmond, Washington on July 30. But beyond that, both Robb and Ament admit to being pleasantly unconcerned about the band's open future.

"I've definitely opened up to these guys as much as I have to any men in my life," Ament said, "so that's a good place to be able to go to every once in a while."

"And we have discussed one thing," Robb said. "and that's been soundtracks. That's something we'd love to do, to get into a music that's formless."

Tonight Three Fish is scheduled to play the Cabaret in Montreal, Quebec. Other dates that you can catch the band on tour:

6/8 - Boston, MA @ Karma Club
6/ 9 - Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt
6/11 - New York, NY @ Wetlands Preserve
6/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Pontiac Grill
6/15 - Dallas, TX @ The Trees
6/16 - Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
6/18 - Sante Fe, NM @ The Paramount
6/19 - Tempe, AZ @ Green Room
6/21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
6/22 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's
6/24 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Palookaville
6/26 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Grille
6/27 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox
7/30 - Redmond, WA @ Womad Festival

Related Artists

Three Fish