Dayton Voice September 17-23, 1998
Tempest: Old world sounds with new day style

	"We're doing a pretty hectic tour schedule right now because it's our 10th anniversary as a band," Lief Sorbye, leader of celtic rock quintet, Tempest, says from his home in Oakland, Calif. "We are enjoying it. Touring has been our main source for getting the music out to the people. We're selling records and getting some airplay, but the main way we promote the band is through the grassroots method and taking it on the road."
	"We've been coming through Dayton for the last eight years," he continues. "I don't think we've missed a year. We've had good shows at Canal Street and always look forward to going back."
	Such is the case this Saturday, Sept. 19, when Tempest - Sorbye (lead vocals and acoustic and electric mandolins and mandolas), Adolfoo Lazo (drums), Michael Mullen (electric and acoustic violins and vocals), John Land (bass, vocals), and Dave Parnall (guitar) - returns to Mick Montgomery's music venue on East First Street.
	Since forming in 1988, the group has logged more than 1,000 live performances and released seven LP's including Surfing to Mecca, Turn of the Wheel, and Serratededge. Along the way Sorbye and his cohorts pioneered a style of music unlike anything else on the musical map.
	Tempest puts a progressive rock twist on traditional folk-based music to create something that transcends mere marketing terms. Because of the group's diversified make-up, it would be tough for them to stick to any one style of music. Sorbye, who was born in Oslo, Norway, plays the double-necked Mandolin and brings with him a love for Celtic music, old world Norwegian songs, Irish jigs and Scottish ballads. Drummer Lazo, who hails from Cuba, adds an unexpected, but highly energizing, polyrhythmic punch to the Tempest sound. Season the mix with an American rock bassist, a virtuoso fiddler and a guitarist with a background of classical and flamenco styles and you come up with something quite unique.
	"The backbone of our music is in traditional, old European folk-based songs with rock 'n' roll energy and arrangements," Sorbye says. "What we've done for marketing purposes is stick with the term Celtic rock. Now it has grown into a genre, but when we started out, nobody else was doing it. People were confused when you said, 'Celtic rock'. Now, mixing Celtic music with rock 'n' roll is something more common. It gives us more competition, but it opens up a lot of tours and gets more attention from the press."
	Tempest recently completed a new release that takes a look back at their earlier years. As Sorbye explains, "we rearranged and re-recorded a lot of songs we used to do in the old days. We surveyed our audience and recorded a group of songs that we haven't played in a while."
	The results, The 10th Anniversary Compilation, won't be available to the general public until the new year, but folks who catch the band at Canal Street will get the opportunity to pick up the new LP early.
	"The CD won't be in the stores until January," Sorbye says, "but we'll have some with us that will be available at the show."
	"Our last CD, The Gravel Walk, only came out last year, so it's not that old," he continues. "We've had a new release each year since we started recording. These days groups record an album every three years or so, but if you're inspired and have the material, heck, you should make a record each year for the fans."
	From their relentless tour schedule, energetic live show, prolific CD output and dedication to fans, it is safe to say that the members of Tempest will be mixing European folk and rock 'n' roll for some time to come. Here's to 10 more years of creating old world sounds with a new day style.

-Don Thrasher