Hanford Sentinel, January 2008

Folk and rock enthusiasts alike should be able to find something they like in Celtic rock band Tempest, 
which will perform later this month in Hanford along with the Wicked Tinkers.
"There's enough electric guitars to keep the young rock and roll enthusiast happy and there's enough 
fiddles and mandolins to keep the folk purist excited," said Tempest founder and lead singer, Lief Sorbye.
The two Celtic rock bands will perform together for the fourth time at the Weekend Winter Wonderland of 
Celtic Music concert at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18, at the Hanford Fox Theatre.
Sorbye said Hanford will be the first stop on the band's 20th anniversary tour.
"We're kicking off our 20th anniversary in downtown, beautiful, cosmopolitan Hanford," said Sorbye.
The Bay Area-based band has released 12 albums and played more than 2,000 gigs since getting together in 1988.
Sometimes described as a European folk band, Sorbye described his band's sound as "folk rock injected 
with a big dose of rock and roll energy and intensity." 
And of course, being that it is "Celtic rock," their music has roots in traditional folk music from the 
Celtic nations (Ireland and Scotland).
The band members themselves hail from all over the globe.
Sorbye, the founding member and lead singer/electric mandolinist, is originally from Oslo, Norway; 
fiddler Michael Mullen is a California native who grew up in Reedley; bassist Damien Gonzalez, another 
California native, was raised in the Bay Area. He also plays the drums and Australian didgeridoo and 
"may occasionally breathe fire," according to the band's biography. Guitarist James Crocker is a native 
of Devon, England; and drummer Adolfo Lazo hails from Havana, Cuba.
Tempest has regularly performed at prestigious festivals such as the Philadelphia Folk Festival, 
Denmark's Skagen Festival and Britain's Cropredy Festival and the Winnipeg Folk Festival. They've also 
performed at countless American Celtic festivals.
Still, Sorbye said whether they're playing for a large audience or a small theater like Hanford Fox, 
the goal is to make the audience feel like you're performing just for them.
"For me, it's not the size of the venue or the size of the audience as it is the ability to communicate 
with the audience," Sorbye said. "Whether we play for 200,000 people at a big festival or play for a 
small room of people, we try to create an intimacy. We try to make it seem like we're performing just 
for you while you're there."
At the Hanford Fox Theatre show, the Los Angeles-based band the Wicked Tinkers will open for Tempest.
The Wicked Tinkers perform at many Irish and Scottish festivals, Highland Games, and Renaissance Faires 
in the western United States.
Utilizing bagpipes, tribal drums, the Australian didgeridoo and the Bronze Age Irish horn, the band is 
known for their tribal Celtic style.
The Tinkers are: Bagpiper and frontman Aaron Shaw, Keith Jones on percussion, Warren Casey on percussion 
and Jay Atwood, on didgeridoo and Bronze Age Irish horn. 
"It's very drum oriented, very rhythmic oriented," said Casey of the band's sound. "It's all about rhythmic 
grooves and soaring pipes."
Tickets are $20. To purchase in advance, call the Hanford Fox Theatre at 584-7823 or e-mail info@foxhanford.com,
The reporter can be reached  at 583-2427.