Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem
BIOGRAPHY
Performance Formats: four-piece band
Photo: Mary Beth Meehan
Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem
a bracing fusion of American roots music with splashes of contemporary pop and jazz
"One of the most song- and arrangement-oriented bands in a field overgrown with pyrotechnic, jam- and solo-conscious virtuosos."
— San Francisco Guardian
"Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem's live shows are something to see — a mini music festival of different styles filtered through the vibrant interaction of all four players."
— Dirty Linen
"Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem dig deep into their collective souls, finding joy in the moment, peace in the harmonies, and rapture in the rhythmic drive."
— Hartford Courant
"This quartet has a rare gift for fashioning hip, sleek sounds from the solid cloth of vintage American music."
— Boston Globe
"If Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem offer to cook at your place, you better open up all the doors, and borrow every table and chair you can because the whole town should come." That's the word from Folk Alley magazine, and it's been echoed at performance halls across the U.S. and Canada. On stage, this band exudes hospitality, good humor, intellect, spirit, and breathtaking musicianship — and it's a hard combination to refuse.
Musically, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem serves up a jubilant and unabashed mix of traditional, original, and contemporary sounds. Arbo's beautiful, expressive alto is at the helm, with rich four-part harmonies, a 100% recycled drum set, fiddle, guitar, and bass. These artists draw their vintage American sounds and their incisive songwriting from the same deep well. In one show you might hear a pre civil war song from the Georgia Sea Islands sung over a New Orleans style groove or an old Irish fiddle tune with new lyrics, capped with a solo on a South American box drum. A Leonard Cohen song with clawhammer banjo? An original Unitarian funk gospel song? You begin to get the idea. With influences from Doc Watson to Django Reinhardt, from Ghanaian drumming to the funky Meters, and from Fiddlin' John Carson to Bob Dylan, daisy mayhem celebrates America's rich musical past and brings it into the present. Their show fearlessly explores the nooks and crannies of the human condition; the Boston Globe called it "playful and profound." Here are four musicians who pick up what's lying around — from tin cans, to old songs, to stories — and create something wonderful and new.
Rani Arbo is the founder of daisy mayhem. First and foremost a singer, she has a beautiful, malleable alto and a sense for the heart of a song. Steeped in thirty years of choral music, Arbo has also logged years with a honky-tonk band, a Balkan rock band, and almost a decade with folk-bluegrass band Salamander Crossing. A cellist by training, her swampy, self-taught fiddling draws from swing, blues, and old-time music. On stage, Arbo brings a rich life — as a veteran performer, breast cancer survivor, mother, and songwriter — into humble and compelling performances. She has toured and recorded with Joan Baez, John McCutcheon and many others.
Andrew Kinsey began his musical life as the youngest bagpiper in his town. Since then, he has taken up the slightly more socially acceptable double bass, with frequent regressions to the ukulele and banjo. Arbo's singing partner for more than fifteen years, his rich, compelling baritone, generous spirit, and rock-solid bass playing keep daisy mayhem glued together. Kinsey's musical and humorous sensibilities inspired the band's debut CD, Cocktail Swing, which romps through vintage country, swing and jazz chestnuts.
Scott Kessel was once a regular (albeit unusually talented) kit drummer - but in daisy mayhem he pilots the unforgettable "Drumship Enterprise," a recycled drum kit comprised of a cardboard box, cat food tins, a Danish butter cookie tin, and a suitcase. Riveting to watch (especially during solos), Kessel mixes up American rock and pop beats with African, Afro-Cuban, New Orleans, and South American rhythms to create the foundation of daisy mayhem's unmistakable groove.
Anand Nayak fell for the guitar as a teenager and has been a lost cause ever since, exploring music and instruments from all over the world. A powerful singer and songwriter with a rare gift for arranging and a gutsy guitar style that draws from a century's worth of jazz, funk, blues and folk masters, Nayak's work features prominently on daisy mayhem's second record, Gambling Eden. Along with Kessel, he is the band's enthusiastic pilot through challenging genre crossings. Nayak is also a recording engineer and producer and performs in a folk duo with his wife Polly Fiveash.
"Fiddler and singer-songwriter Rani Arbo and her band daisy mayhem play an eclectic mix of folk, roots, swing, bluegrass, and other American and international styles with a bright, bouncy flair. The band ranges through the entire history of acoustic music with a sparkling, high energy show marked by breathtaking musicianship.
— East Bay Express
Workshops, Master Classes, and Residency Activities
Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem have led singers of all abilities in their powerful, participatory harmony singing workshops. The band also does school and family shows, as well as workshops in songwriting, song arranging, ensemble playing, finding your own singing voice, and rhythm for the non-drummer. Percussionist Scott Kessel, a 20-year veteran teacher, also offers a "Recycled Rhythms" workshop (or residency) for kids from 2 to 102, in which participants make instruments from recycled materials and learn to play rhythms from around the globe.
