Brennan Dignan-guitar, accordion, tres, vocals
Megan Larson-upright bass, vocals
Kevin Cook-drums, percussion
Robert Parks-bouzouki, guitar, trumpet, vocals
Influences
Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dead Can Dance, Rusted Root, Oingo Boingo and or Danny Elfman, Ben Harper, Zeppelin, James Taylor, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Django, Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Dylan, Satchmo, Herb Alpert, The Rat Pack, Ravi Shankar, Jobim, Neil Diamond, Gogol Bordelo, Rumi, Neruda, Greek Rebetika, Mark Ryden
Sounds Like
Neil Diamond fell off the back of a party truck out in the middle of Macedonia, gets picked up by a band of roaming gypsies, befriends and eventually marries into family, produces offspring who, after a short stint as a rodeo clown, becomes the music director of a cruise ship in the Mediterranean, where he/she composes his/her own music while residing in Cyprus.
Currently in the studio recording their 4th album, ZinGara is celebrating ten years making their gyp-grass-whirled-rock music together and moving a new momentum beyond weekend warriors to bigger venues in a bigger radius from their NW home in Seattle.
Relocating from Moscow, Idaho in 2002 - they have performed at prominant venues as The Tractor, Conor Byrne, Hemp Fest, Folk Life and have shared the stage with bands such as The Clumsy Lovers and Tony Furtado.
Their live shows have been described as "amazing high-energy celebrations" (Eugene Weekly) and "innovative as hell!" (Seattle promoter). They sound like no one else - frequently coined as a "fresh sound". NPR's nationally syndicated radio program, Day to Day, featured Ala Zingara as one of the best bands of 2004 (from surveying a sample of music editors). They have also been aired on KMTT, KPBX on Inland Folk, Interviewed and aired on KBCS.
ZinGara (abbreviated from Ala Zingara to facilitate memory since “Ala Zingara”...well... sticks in your head like a well oiled body sticks to a tarp!)
... met at music school in the late nineties (Lionel Hampton School of Music, U of I) where "a la zingara" would be a feel/interpretation indicated on a sheet of music...often a lively departure from classical seriousness. The name has become a metaphor for "gypsies" of styles of music finding its way into the core of their influences and collectively creating bold exploration of whatever the ....X@! they want...and DO.
Basically everything a person is told to do in rock band 101, Ala Zingara has done the contrary. Somehow these liabilities transform into their assets when they take the stage and has endeared them to music lovers all over the Pacific Northwest. From Sitka, AK to Eureka, CA, Ala Zingara continues to build a loyal and loving fan base.
Ala Zingara has a digital distribution licensing agreement through CD Baby. Pretty much any major online music vendor, in addition to those listed above, will have Ala Zingara songs available for download. For a full list of vendors click here.
The new True Margrit CD - The Juggler's Progress - is now available for pre-order, along with t-shirts and artwork, photo and drumheads, check it out here: http://bit.ly/7Cu8J
Thanks for your friendship + supporting our music! Check out our latest single, "Drop". You can download it FREE at Reverbnation ~ http://www.reverbnation.com/wunderbugg
Hey Zingara - We’re having our CD Release for “Marveling the While,” this Saturday, 4/5 at The Tractor. We’d love it if you could come. Please note it’s an early show starting at 6pm. Hope to see you there...Joy and The Starlings
so sorry to have missed your Rendezvous gig! can you have another there soon, please? have been enjoying listening to all of your music this morning; love how all of your songs have such a different feel! rock on, c
Happy 2008 & hope you guys are well. I'd like to let you and your friends know-->
I'll be at MR SPOT'S HOUSE OF CHAI IN BALLARD ON JANUARY 25, 10PM
--> I guarantee not to disappoint and if things go as they have here in Portland since the release of ANGELS & DEVILS ALIKE (who knows?), this may be the most intimate show we'll have up there. Should be special. Hope to see you there,
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