CrosspulseNOW

Tenacious, innovative string musicians/percussive dancers, Evie Ladin & Keith Terry combined their Oakland, CA-based groups Evie Ladin Band / Keith Terry & Crosspulse for a big festival commission. The experience of both performers and audience was so hot, it sparked the desire for more.

“You know what a grand stage that is to fill on Saturday night, and you put together an extravaganza of sights, sounds, and energy that lifted everyone.” – festival organizer

Spectacularly crowd-pleasing, the concert is a dynamic flow between virtuosic, harmonic roots music and percussive dance/Body Music. While Evie’s band has the roots of Appalachian stringband music and songwriting, and Keith’s group is a multicultural percussion ensemble, the combination serves up explosive body percussion, quintet harmonies and a deep dive reconnecting African diaspora and Appalachian cultures with a big dose of fun. Evie Ladin on clawhammer banjo and guitar, Keith Terry on bass and drums, Bryan Dyer on bass vocals and beatbox, Amber Hines on harmonies and percussion, and Erik Pearson on bass and resophonic guitar – the group dances, sings, and continues to draw the audience in with seamless, surprising and engaging festival sets.

The polyrhythmic heat of Evie’s clawhammer banjo, real stories and rhythm dance have since been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Celtic Connections, Lincoln Center to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Brazil to Bali. Evie grew up steeped in traditional Appalachian roots music/dance, always working to reconnect Appalachian music/dance with other African-Diaspora traditions. In this she found a natural fit with Keith Terry & Crosspulse – part international drill team, part polycultural rhythm section, bringing together synchronized movement, lush vocals and innovative Body Music.

Keith Terry is a renowned percussionist/rhythm dancer, and the founder/Artistic Director of the International Body Music Festival, and non-profit arts organization Crosspulse, Inc. A pioneer in contemporary Body Music, Keith produces large-scale intercultural collaborations and educational outreach, in demand around the world. He has performed with a wide range of artists including Charles “Honi” Coles, Turtle Island Quartet, Bill Irwin, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Tex Williams, Robin Williams, and Bobby McFerrin. Keith brings a cinematic ear to playing bass as tonal percussion with the Evie Ladin Band.

For twenty years Evie & Keith have produced concerts and recordings on both sides of their creative worlds, and are excited for this bridging of their groups – with Erik Pearson, Bryan Dyer and Amber Hines.