The Modesto Bee
Friday, January 7, 2000
Tempest Set To Storm State
  By ROGER W. HOSKINS
      BEE STAFF WRITER

	Lief Sorbye counts himself lucky to be able to earn a living doing what he loves.
	"Music is painting on a large canvas," says Sorbye, who is leader, vocalist and plays the
double-necked mandolin for Celtic rock group Tempest. "The emotions people feel are
very individual. I want people walking away from our concerts feeling rejuvenated...
so their spirits have been lifted."
	That's what happened at the Philadelphia Folk Festival last summer.
 	"We had one of those close-to-perfect moments," Sorbye says. "Linda Rondstat was
there and we were the closing act on Friday night. The crowd was just into it with us."
 	Fortunately for Tempest fans on the West Coast, that perfect moment was captured for
posterity and is the group's latest CD release. It might be the first recording that does
justice to Tempest's energy and musicianship.
	"Flowers of Red Hill," "You Jacobites by Name," and "Green Grow the Rashes" would be 
a fitting finale to any music festival. The thousands on hand in Philadelphia were
treated to a striking blend of Celtic and rock, a marriage made perfect by Tempest.
	Modesto audiences can compare Tempest with the Donal Lunny and Coolfin performance 
that brought the house to its feet at the State Theatre earlier this year.
	The Jan. 15 concert at the State will reunite Sorbye with Golden Bough, a group he
helped start 20 years ago.
      Called "Celtic Folk Meets Celtic Rock," the concert will feature the traditional Celtic
folk songs Golden Bough has made famous and the driving rhythms of Tempest. The two groups will 
even join forces for a few numbers.
	"I try to make sure the folk tradition survives," Sorbye says. "I do that by updating it
to make it more accessible to the younger audience. I combine it with rock to make it
contemporary."
	He believes his formula is working. Tempest is "picking up younger listeners from
those who might think world and folk music is kind of geeky."
	Sorbye sees a yearning for home and tradition behind the revival of world folk music. "I
see people trying to search out their own roots through music. The appeal is a little bigger
than just folk music."
	Sorbye's own roots reach back to the Fairport Convention and The Incredible
String Band. He counts seeing the String Band's reunion concert this year as one of the
thrills of a lifetime, along with playing with the Byrds' Roger McGuinn when he performed a
Byrds anthology.
	But it was two other rock icons who set Sorbye's feet to the beat of a musician's life.
 	"The first time I saw the Beatles, I knew that was what I wanted to do," recalls Sorbye.
"But it wasn't until I heard Bob Dylan, with his simple chord changes, that I knew I could be
a musician."