Performers
Information about the performers featured at Durham Rising can be found below.
Sandbox (Kids Stage)
Sandbox is a four-piece Raleigh/ Durham/ Chapel Hill band specializing in twangy, upbeat traditional children's music. We are well known for our exceptionally fun, interactive performances and a strong vocal presence.
We play children's songs, but our music appeals to folks of all ages. Our approach is to play familiar classics like "Old McDonald" and "Bingo" that everyone recognizes and loves. From there we encourage children (and adults) to dance, move, shake, and sing.
Audiences are consistently surprised at how entertaining a Sandbox performance is for every age group. With all members contributing vocally, we are able to bring pleasant harmonies and unique approaches to timeless children's classics. Because most band members have children themselves, we are pros at getting kids involved with our act. Because we are huge music fans ourselves, we like to keep the pace and presentation entertaining for adults as well.
Carnavalito (Main Stage)
Carnavalito grew out of a Latin music show that bassist Ricardo Granillo hosted on Shaw University's WSHA radio station in Raleigh. Enthusiastic listeners wanted to know where they could hear latin music live. To accommodate, Granillo gave them Carnavalito, an eclectic mix of music and culture. If music were a fireworks display, this is what you'd get. Carnavalito grabs hold of every Latin sound imaginable -- mambos, sambas, cumbia and merengue -- then exploes with what reviewers have called "percussive fire" and "five-alarm salsa". You can almost see colors bursting to the beat. The band itself is as rich a mix as its music. Granillo's a native of El Salvador who lived in San Francisco for 22 years before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina. Alberto Carrasquillo (trumpet and fluegelhorn), Pako Santiago (timbales and percussion) and Nelson Delgado (congas, Percussion) all grew up in Puerto Rico. Elmer Gibson(piano) is from Philly.
From the beginning, Carnavalito packed in Triangle audiences. Now the group's fame is spereading through live performances and recordings. Carnavalito has performed in Washington and as part of the Olympic Village entertainment in the 1996 games in Atlanta. The group also regularly appears at music festivals like Bele Chere in Asheville, Artsplosure in Raleigh and both the Moja Afro-Caribbean festival and the Spolete Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, not to mention countless other events in the Southeast. Their first CD, Carnavalito, was hailed by Descarga Catalog as one of the top 25 Latin releases in 1996. Their recent CD Tu y Yo was not only described as "ideal music for a party" but "one of 1999's best recordings" by journalist and latin music historian Max Salazar.
The Water Callers (5 Points Stage)
The Water Callers write and perform original and traditional songs rooted in Americana, tied together with close vocal harmonies. In addition to acting in and creating music for film and theater projects, The Water Callers released "The Finest of the Wheat" in December of 2006.
Some recent reviews say:
"Lyrically adept with a more than a touch of music hall about them, the Water Callers impressed us with their own quirky compositions...A throwback to times past, perhaps. Anachronistic certainly. Worthy of your attention? We think so."
"These guys take you to some interesting places, using the language and, sometimes, the literal songs of another era to illuminate our own. 'In the Moonlight' and 'So Far' are songs from the weird, old America that doesn't exist much anymore in mainstream culture. This album reminds me of Snakefarm or Jim White, in that it both exhumes old forms and makes them new again. This is not easy listening, but if you want to understand how we got where we are, it is certainly required listening."
"...you can easily picture hearing [their] songs on a scratchy and tinny sounding 78. Yet, at the same time, there is a modern sensibility about their music, which probably comes from the hindsight of knowing what works and what doesn't. In other words, they've done their homework, and it shows in the songwriting."
"Dirty and authentic, this is a collection of fantastic 'round the campfire tunes. Sounding like true backcountry cowboys, Bart Matthews and Jason Fagg channel the spirit of the inimitable Woody Guthrie."
Midtown Dickens (5 Points Stage)
Yes, we're cute. Like a kitten with his leg cut off. We've been best friends since we were five. You know how it is; we get up in the morning, put in the toast, laugh about something and play a tune or two. We'd rather barely get by on an instrument we don't know than play the cello flawlessly, and we value the quirkiness and delicate perfection of things that aren't perfect. We have joy, and are at times sad, political, and sarcastic. We harmonize with the purity of swans. We play lots of instruments (banjo, accordion, musical saw, guitar, trumpet, trombone, percussion, harmonica, ukelele etc), and never run out of things to say. We like bluegrass, freakfolk, punk rock, and long walks on sunny afternoons in the park. We have a fake rooster. Basically, we are a multitasking, antifolk, adoracore duo that's been creating excessive nonsensical categories to fit ourselves into since 1982.
Performed with artists such as: Kimya Dawson, Bella Fea, Willy Mason, The Robot Ate me, The Future Kings of Nowhere and Robo Sapien at venues including: The Cats Cradle and Local 506 in Chapel Hill; The Duke Coffeehouse and Bull City Headquarters in Durham; and CBGB's in New York. We just released our debut album, Oh Yell, on 307 Knox Records.
