Tribal Fest 9 - Sebastopol, CA - May 13 - 17, 2009!
For the latest news and announcements, visit the BSBD tribe!

NEWS!
10.31.08 - Workshop registration, class info, performance guidelines,updated FAQ are all up!

New This Year! Welcome to info on Tribal Fest’s first ever “Tribal Bellydance Jam Band” with Open Floor! Here is the deal... We are trying something new this year at TF. An open dance floor with a music jam! The vision is we have a core group of players and people join in and dancers do their thing..

Introducing the “Tribal Fest Jam Band”! Jeremiah Soto of Solace, Jeff Rees from Gypsy Caravan and Mizna and August Hoerr of The Mezmer Society (see bios below).

They will take the Tribal Fest stage and invite anyone who would like to come play with them to come up. Like a great big drum circle! This is your chance to come up and jam with some of the most outstanding musicians in the bellydance scene today! Bring your drum, your zills, your mizmar WHATEVER!!! Join them on-stage and add to the sound and excitement. Don’t be shy!! When will you have the chance to do this again??!! Everyone is welcome to join in. Dancers, do you have a hubby or partner who plays something? This is their chance to be apart of the show!

Now if THAT weren’t enough excitement, of course it is an “Open Floor Dance Time”!! Time for all you Tribal dancers to get up and show the world that you can dance as one. Improv at it’s finest!

Doesn’t matter what “style” you do or how long you have been dancing. Come on stage, or in front of the stage for an awesome open floor with what will be the best Tribal Jam Band ever to jam on a stage. You don't need to sign up, there is no cost and it's all about da fun!

This will go down in history!

Jeremiah Soto
Jeremiah has been composing music since 1986 and has evolved through several genres of music including Industrial, Gothic, Electronic, Contemporary World and currently Middle Eastern Dance music. Arabic percussion has always been a fascination of Jeremiah's and he has studied with renowned dumbek master Souhail Kaspar as well as learned African polyrhythms and frame drum technique from Ronnie Engel. After being in groups such as Kokuein, Eventide, and Still, Jeremiah embarked on a solo project, thus forming Solace in 1995. www.soundsofsolace.com/solace/

Jeff Rees Jeff’s first exposure to learning a musical instrument was playing the accordionand clarinet as a young boy. Jeff’s music took a big turn when he joined Paulette’s newly formed tribal bellydance troupe, the Gypsy Caravan. From travels and research he started playing the zurna from Turkey, the ney and the mijwiz from Egypt, and created the distinct sound of the Gypsy Caravan band. He now plays a vast assortment of horns and percussion, also including the Egyptian rababa, the Indian shruti box, the Armenian dudek, and the Australian didgeridoo.

Playing with Gypsy Caravan, Jeff also started a new band, Mizna, who released their firstCD of tribal bellydance music in 2006. Touring the world with Paulette and Gypsy has been an enormously rewarding experience, as he has had the opportunity to play with musicians and for dancers in many other states and countries. With Gypsy and Mizna, Jeff has recorded nine CDs and various films and DVDs. He has made guest appearances on several CDs outside of Gypsy, including playing with Domba, Solace, and Americanistan. Playing music is Jeff’s meditation, his passion, and his art; he plays from his heart and soul. www.gypsycaravan.us/mizna.php

August Hoerr, Accordionist
August taught himself to play accordion as angsty teenager, and after discovering Middle Eastern music, began working with Tribal dancers in 1999. Discovering a mutual interest in Balkan music and quirky party songs, he formed The Mezmer Society with Onça (Baraka Mundi) in the Autumn of 2007. They have taught and performed at events including Tribal Fest, TribalCon, and Tribal Revolution, and they are scheduled to continue touring throughout the United States. The Mezmer Society is fully committed to spreading the aesthetic of hafla joy as quickly and loudly as possible.
In addition to to The Mezmer Society, August is a member of the quartet Ashes in Order, and maintains a career as an internationally represented figurative painter. He is the president of the Institute for the Advancement of Occultism and Aerophonics (previously Asheville Accordion Club), and he has released albums with the cinematic trio Soora Gameela, and Greek fusion band Makari. August lives in Asheville, North Carolina and is currently working on material for his first solo album. www.augusthoerr.com