Rumput live on WRIR

WRIR selfie

We dropped in to play a set for WRIR-LP-FM’s Fall Fund Drive.  Many thanks to Alan Coberly of The New Breakfast Snob!

Playlist:
00:32:00 — Introduction to kroncong
00:32:44 — Walang Kekek
00:38:15 — Jali-Jali
00:51:40 — Valley Forge / Walking Up Georgia Row
00:58:48 — Wedang Kacang
01:03:04 — Nyi Roro Kidul
01:09:00 — Band introduction
01:16:20 — How Come That Blood

Clifftop Appalachian String Band Festival

Photo by Amos Perrine for No Depression.

The Clifftop Appalachian String-Band Festival is a week-long gathering for musicians and friends that features concerts, contests, flatfoot dancing, campfires and workshops. Rumput entered the Neo-Traditional competition and made it to the finals!

We also made some great new friends.  Watch for future collaborations, shows, and crankies with this year’s neo-traditional winners The Early Mays.

See the write-up at No Depression.

Shadow Ballads

In April 2016 we toured with Shadow Ballads — a collaborative music and shadow theater performance involving Balinese master puppeteer Gusti Sudarta, master Javanese kroncong musicians Peni Candrarini and Danis Sugiyanto, and old-time Appalachian balladeers Anna & Elizabeth. This production incorporated new arrangements of traditional Indonesian and Appalachian music as well as a newly produced crankie based on The Ramayana.  We performed at The University of Richmond, Cornell, Wake Forest, Bucknell, the Indonesian Consulate in NYC and the Indonesian Embassy in DC.

Photos, bios & tour/production blog

First gig: The Indonesian Embassy!

Our first gig was before a discerning audience — staff and guests of the Indonesian Embassy at the Ambassador’s residence in Washington D.C.

Indonesian Amabassador's residence, Spring 2015.
Indonesian Amabassador’s residence, Spring 2015. Photo by Nyoman Saptanyana. L-R: Paul Fleisher (bass), Andy McGraw (cello), Jesse Wells (violin), Jessica Zike (voice), Brian Larson (hammered dulcimer), Kyle Dosier (cuk), Hannah Standiford (voice, guitar), John Priestley (cak).

News article with many high-quality photos featuring Gamelan Raga Kusuma and various performers from the Indonesian community: Banjar Bali USA celebrates Dharma Shanti at Indonesian Embassy Residence