Strong Sun Moon
Seattle, WA | Established. Jan 01, 2011
Music
Press
Some very cool pedigrees with these two, who hail from Washington state. Camelia Jade plays the charango (a Bolivian lute that produces very light, delicate notes), the ronroco (a larger, baritone or tenor) and the bombo (an Argentinian drum that produces very thick notes), among other instruments that steer some of the music away from Western tradition. These she learned from her grandfather's fellow political prisoner when her grandfather was imprisoned in Chile in the 1970's. Mike Antone has been performing since 1998 and Neil Young even picked out three of Antone's protest songs for his Living With War Today website. Antone also placed fourth out of 300 on Neil Young's Americana Contest. Needless to say the bar is set pretty high for this duo.
Sure enough, the music has such lovely acoustic textures that it almost seems unfair these sounds were produced by only two people. Though primarily acoustic, the album displays a variety of styles, from the tropical to rustic, and a wide range of emotions. There isn't a single note that struck me as out-of-place, and indeed the two musicians communicate their harmonies with such grace that the music approaches therapeutic levels of tranquility.
Jade brings the exotica to the music, weaving instruments whose names you probably couldn't pronounce into Antone's guitar melodies. Most of these songs were recorded as live takes, giving the sound a gentle sparseness to it. Even to untrained ears, though, the music is deeply complex, spiritually and technically. The two of them singing together, like on the soft avalanche of "Laugh Away" is a treat for the ears. Their voices, like their instrumentation, compliment each other.
It's funny how the simplest sounding albums can be complex to describe. I'm aware of what's going on in Strong Sun Moon; two individuals marrying two culturally different styles of folk music that share some of the same ethos. The sound is much tougher for me to crack. Yes, it's a bunch of acoustic strumming, plucking, sliding and some percussion. I know when the styles shift, Jade's quicker build-ups versus Antone's more even steel guitar explorations, for example, but it's still difficult to define,
I suppose that's where my enjoyment of this album primarily stems from, the challenge in deciphering the message these two present to us. Strong Sun Moon is a fantastic album, the kind that restores your faith in modern music, if it happened to have depleted at some point. The compositions are mixed with a loving grace that, for me, is almost unheard of nowadays. This EP is highly recommended. If I haven't described the music itself specifically enough, I hope my verbiage has done justice to the talents of Jade and Antone.
Strong Sun Moon - Camelia Jade & Mike Antone
self-released; 2013
4.4 out of 5
By Sean Dennison - The Even Ground
PORT TOWNSEND — This will be a weekend of live music and motion — for an international cause — at Room to Move, uptown Port Townsend’s yoga center at 1008 Lawrence St.
Ilana Smith, Room’s owner, has been traveling for 15 years to study and teach yoga in Molyvos, a town on the Greek island of Lesvos. She is acquainted with Melinda McRostie, who runs the Captain’s Table, a restaurant on the waterfront.
Molyvos, which is about as far from the Turkish coast as Whidbey Island is from Port Townsend, has become the place where thousands of Syrian refugees have come. They travel on rafts and rickety boats, arriving on Lesvos wet and hungry.
McRostie has turned her restaurant into a refugee center, a place where rain ponchos, shoes, blankets, socks and other clothing are collected and given out to those in need. She has established the Starfish Foundation, which will be the beneficiary of two fundraisers at Room to Move.
First is the PT Music Project’s concert, pairing the world-folk group Strong Sun Moon of Port Townsend with Bellingham’s Meghan Yates and the Reverie Machine on Saturday.
Admission is a suggested $25 donation, but organizer Aba Kiser emphasizes that no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show, which will also feature desserts by Pane d’Amore and kombucha by the glass from Iggy’s Raw Culture.
“It is difficult to imagine the courage of these people fleeing with their lives, and the volunteers who are working around the clock to provide relief,” Kiser said in her news release.
“We offer a night of music and solidarity, sending a beacon of support from our beloved Port Townsend.”
Kiser added that she was enchanted by Yates and the Reverie Machine when she heard them at Fort Worden State Park this past summer. And Strong Sun Moon has impressed her with its Latin rhythms, vocal harmonies and instruments, ranging from the charango to the slide guitar. - Peninsula Daily News
“If you can imagine yourself in a small village embraced by sun-drenched mountains on the banks of a sparkling river; and you’re cooking up something good, or dancing, or just lounging. If you can also imagine hearing in this village, the music of string instruments, drums and voices-- weaving through the air like the fragrant smoke of your cooking fire. If you can imagine all of this, then you can begin to imagine the music of Camelia Jade and Mike Antone. Soul sister and brother Camelia and Mike rock the rhythms and harmonies of life like a secret party—and you just have to be there to know the sound." - Kim Ewing, of The Black Dog Arts Café, and Festival Administrator of the Snoqualmie Valley Women In Arts Festival - Kim Ewing
WEEKEND: South American, Pacific Northwest sounds come together in Coyle concert this Saturday.
COYLE — In what should be quite the unusual concert, the sounds of South America and the Pacific Northwest will meet this Saturday as the folk duo Strong Sun Moon arrives at the Laurel B. Johnson Community Center.
Strong Sun Moon is Camelia Jade and Mike Antone, a pair of multiinstrumentalists who have moved to Port Townsend from the Seattle area. The two sing in harmony while she plays the charango, a Bolivian lute that produces light, delicate notes; the ronroco, a larger mandolinlike instrument; and the bombo, an Argentinian drum. Antone adds his lapsteel, harmonica and guitar.
“I'm anticipating some beautiful music . . . Their sound mixes South American instruments and rhythms with a more familiar Americana style,” said Norm Johnson, the Concerts in the Woods host who booked the folk singers after hearing their music online. While Antone was born and raised in the Snoqualmie Valley, Jade learned her South American folk music from a mentor who knew her grandfather in Chile. The pair, playing and writing songs together since 2010, recently played the Conscious Culture Festival in Tonasket, Okanogan County, and Seattle's Northwest Folklife Festival; a recording of their Folklife set can be found on Strong Sun Moon's Facebook page. For more about Saturday's show and links to Strong Sun Moon videos and song samples, see www.Strongsunmoon.org or www.CoyleConcerts.com and click on the “Upcoming
Shows” heading.
By Diane Urbani de la Paz - Peninsula Daily News - Peninsula Daily News
WEEKEND: Folk group to play sounds of the Americas at the Cellar Door in Port Townsend on Saturday
By Diane Urbani de la Paz - Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND — The ensemble Strong Sun Moon will bring the sounds of north and south America to the Cellar Door, 940 Water St., for a concert of world-folk music Saturday night.
The music will flow at 8:30 p.m.; the cover charge is $3 and all ages are welcome until 10p.m. for this evening of Latin rhythms, vocal harmonies and instruments such as the charango, bombo and ronroco. Harmonica, slide guitar and the cajon, or box, drum are also part of the picture when this ensemble takes the stage. Camelia Jade, Dawn Reardon and Samantha Hiatt are local residents; joining them will be Mike Antone, Strong Sun Moon's songwriter from the
Snoqualmie Valley, and bassist Gabe Herbert of Seattle. Artist Dana Hubanks of Port Hadlock will open the night with vocals and baritone ukulele.
To learn more about Strong Sun Moon, which has played the Concerts in the Woods series in Coyle, at the Conscious Culture Festival in Tonasket and at Seattle's Northwest Folklife Festival, visit strongsunmoon.org. - Peninsula Daily News
Discography
Strong Sun Moon - Camelia Jade & Mike Antone (2013)
Live on Sonarchy - Satellite by Night (2012)
A Selected Group of Objects - Camelia Jade (2010)
Photos
Bio
Strong Sun Moon is a 5-piece ensemble from Seattle and surrounding areas, featuring a blend of styles influenced by Latin rhythms, Americana and Blues. Sultry male and female vocals intertwine in soulful harmony with ecstatic solos to set your nervous system ablaze. A genre all their own--a unique combination of complex ancient rhythms, piercing 21st century lyrics, and a blend of musical styles from three continents weave a kind of inclusive love that inspires a true sense of community. Instruments from South America, Cascadia, and Eastern Europe seamlessly form a compelling musical landscape and moving painting of verse highlighting visionary lyrics and social justice. Influenced by vastly different musical forebears, Strong Sun Moon is a musical love child from the parentage of Neil Young, Violetta Parra, Ani Difranco, Richie Havens and Rising Appalachia, with musical aunties from the Latin dance scene, and rhythmic uncles in eastern European percussion.
Current Projects: Originally performing as a duo, Strong Sun Moon evolved into a 5-piece ensemble in 2015 who are currently recording the band's second album, which will be the first to include the 5 piece musical ensemble. This full-length album, scheduled to be released in late 2016 or early 2017 will be followed shortly after by an EP in 2017. Strong Sun Moon actively plays at festivals, music venues, and private parties throughout Washington State and the Pacific Northwest.
Instruments: An eclectic, energizing blend of styles, Strong Sun Moon joins North and South American instruments such as the charango and ronroco, (10 string south american lute-like instruments) with harmonica, slide guitar, banjo and world percussion, (bombo, cajón, frame drum). [[The music creates a wide range of textures, sometimes venturing into the more etheric realms of world folk, at others diving into fiery latin rhythms paired with lush vocal harmonies. ]]
[[Strong Sun Moon began as a duo with Camelia Jade and Mike Antone, multi-instrumentalists who co-write original pieces which draw upon their ancestry and cultural influences from the Pacific Northwest, to the Black Sea and South America. ]]
Background and Members:
Camelia learned South American folk from a musical mentor, a family friend who was a political prisoner with her grandfather in Chile in the 1970's. Re-discovering the instruments and rhythms like a deep memory, the music comes forth in new forms, also drawing from her experiences of being raised in the U.S.. She has performed in Canada and Europe with touring folk groups since 2007.
Mike, born and raised in the Snoqualmie Valley of Washington State, comes from a musical family rich with stories and traditions, from the PNW timber and railroad music with his brother and nephews, and as far reaching as his grandfather's stories and melodies resonating from the Black Sea. Three of Mike's protest songs have been picked by Neil Young and featured on his site "Living With War Today," and all three have reached #1 placement.
Gabe Herbert plays the fretless 5-string electric bass with great depth, sensitivity and articulation. He has been performing as a bassist with Camelia since 2006, they formed a group called "Satellite by Night". In 2009, Mike Antone began playing guitar and lapsteel with the group, from which their duo was later formed.
Samantha Hiatt, a songwriter in her own right, has added her lush and powerful vocals with percussion since 2013.
Dawn Reardon is a world-percussionist, poet and Naturopathic Physician, her contributions of complex rhythms are a potent addition.
Band Members
Links
