Roaring out of Austin, Texas, for its Ashkenaz debut, WinoVino brings a nonstop, action-packed approach to vaudeville-Gypsy-rock cabaret. Or, as the nine-member band puts it: From the cobbled streets of Paris (circa 1920) to a dusty wagon train across Romania, from peril on the high seas, to the seedy underbelly of prohibition era cabaret, WinoVino has hitched its way across a century and more. The colorful crew has brought back an acoustic revelry of uproarious instrumentals, swooning ballads, and an intoxicating live performance for young and old alike.

WinoVino was formed in the summer of 2006 when singer-fiddler-mandolinist Forrest Johnson began collecting other musicians with a similarly eclectic view of music and performing. Everyone brought their own songwriting and musical stylings to the forefront and began shaping the cooperative WinoVino sound. The Reverend Flint Fancy came in and stayed in, bringing her uncanny percussive skills, washboard, stage presence, and some much-needed estrogen to the group. Over the past few years WinoVino has honed its stage act, recorded an album, and is now setting out to conquer the world with its fun, fresh vision. Along with Fancy and Johnson, the band is singer-guitarist Ian Everett, accordionist-singer Joe Egnot, bassist and ukulele whiz Jeff Luna, drummer Derek Hansen, and the blowers: clarinetist Roy Coon, trumpeter David Gilden, and trombonist Eddie Lehwald.  

Mano Cherga plays traditional and pop Roma (Gypsy) and Slavic music from across the Balkans, slightly tweaked and accommodated to new arrangements. The band began in San Francisco in mid-2010 with a few friends and friends of friends with instruments, hailing from all over - Sarajevo to Paso Robles - but united by a shared love of Balkan traditional music. They have taken their slightly twisted but sincere sounds from Berkeley's Pagan Alliance Festival to the San Francisco AIDS Walk fundraiser, and now to Ashkenaz. Mano Cherga is guitarist-singer Beodan, bassist Zenya, accordion player Sasha, tenor tuba and Sousaphone player Jamie, drummer Nino, and Ivan on tapan and clarinet.