Port Folio Weekly
Article by Jeff Maisey
April 2005

Irresistible Tempest

When Tempest was formed sixteen years ago by Lief Sorbye, a transplanted electric mandolin player and singer 
from Oslo, Norway, it was with a specific purpose: taking Celtic and Scandinavian traditional music and fuse 
it with rock 'n' roll. "I wanted rock 'n' roll musicians to sink their teeth into the traditional music forms," 
Sorbye said in a phone interview from his base in Oakland. "We've been evolving ever since and we're still 
exploring what we can do."
With 11 albums to its credit, including Shapeshifter (2003), Turn of the Wheel (1996) and Sunken Treasures (1993), 
Tempest is America's most prolific and road-tested Celtic rock band. Lately, the quintet -- Sorbye, Adolfo Lazo 
(drums), Michael Mullen (fiddle), Ronan Carroll (guitar) and Ariane Cap (bass) -- has been crisscrossing the 
United States in promotion of its 15th Anniversary box set, a three CD collection of live recordings, radio 
promotional performances and rare studio tracks that failed to make it on any proper release. Among the studio 
recordings is a brilliant rendition of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War." Because of Sorbye's passing resemblance 
to Ian Anderson and the band's mix of rock and folk, many people compare them to the Heavy Horses and Songs 
From the Wood era of Jethro Tull.
"I can certainly see it," says Sorbye. "Musicians in Tempest over the years have had a strong Jethro Tull influence 
and I think it might have put a mark on our music. I never made any conscious effort as the band leader of Tempest 
to have a Tull sound per say, but I think whoever you listen to and whoever you're influenced by will shine 
through in your music."
Tull comparisons aside, the music of Tempest is actually much more rooted in traditional music. As is done by other 
contemporary folk groups, including Scotland's Battlefield Band, Tempest gives traditional songs, such as the 
rousing "You Jacobites By Name" and "John Barleycorn," a new twist. They also compose fresh material in the sonic 
image of the past, and hopefully no one detects any difference.
When Tempest performs Tuesday, April 19 at the White Horse Pub in Pembroke Mall, it will be one of its most cozy 
gigs. Sorbye & company are a big draw at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and at numerous outdoor Scottish and 
Celtic festivals scattered around the country. The awareness of the genre has been growing steadily.
"Over the last decade there's been a real growing interest in world music," says Sorbye. "Because your British 
Isles and Celtic music is very accessible, if you expose it to a large audience a large audience would really enjoy 
it because it is an uplifting, high spirited style of music that lends itself well to be blended with contemporary 
music form. I think that is key to it being enjoyed by a wider audience. It's the same thing that happened to 
country and western music; you can take any kind of roots music and bring it out in a more contemporary form and 
it will put a mark on the contemporary music scene."
Tempest's greatest strength is its high energy, musically marveling live performance. As a true showman, Sorbye 
is masterful at engaging his audience and always leaves it wanting. There're plenty of tongue-in-cheek Spinal Tap 
poses and between song musings to get the audience laughing and clapping along. And just when it seems the kinetic 
energy connection between band and fan can get no more illuminating, Sorbye and band parade through the crowd 
while playing a high octane jig and reel.
"We're a band that likes to have fun; that's the number one thing. Our music sometimes can get intricate and very 
arrangement intensive, but we never forget it's fun. We take our music very seriously but we don't take ourselves 
too seriously. We show that in our stage show and I think the audience enjoys that. They can expect a very loose 
sense of humor and kick-ass music."