Vitus Dance by Gaia Consort

They were doing something right. In 1999 and 2001 the Consort released Gaia Circles and Secret Voices to critical acclaim in all the major Pagan magazines and a fair number of "mainstream" music journals as well. "Evolve" saw them on the Cover NeWitch Magazine, and expanded their audience substantially.

Their next CD, "Vitus Dance", will be available in stores summer 2007. Vitus Dance moves Gaia Consort into a more groove oriented collecvtion that springs from Bingham's love of hallucinogenic music of the early 70s. All still withn the framework of an expanding Gaian Culture. Friends and fans donated over $15,000 by "adopting" songs to help Gaia Consort record the disc. All of Gaia Consort's music is as much a product of a supportive community as it an individual vision.

Backing Bingham and Tinney are some of the Pacific Northwest's finest musicians. Gaia Consort's current line up includes Larry Golding on violin, Sunnie Reed on viola, TJ Morris on drums, Jay Kenney on keyboards, Betsy Tinney on cello and Dan Mohler on bass.

Guesting on this album is Trillian Green's amazing flautist, Ben Klein, Pint and Dales bansidhe hurdy gurdy-ist Felicia Dale, the wonderful Eliot Grasso on ulliean pipes and the fantasic background vocals of Pagan belter SJ Tucker.

Gaia Consort has never been about making it big in the music "industry." Eschewing the usual venues of clubs and coffee houses, Gaia Consort has managed to quietly build an audience that fills rooms, playing house concerts and self-produced shows in halls around the Pacific Northwest. They've built enough of a following to have been invited to play a variety of festivals and events, including headlining the long running Heartland Pagan Festival (2000) in Kansas, Canada's Wic Can Fest (2002) outside Toronto and Eugene Oregon's Faerieworlds (2005,2006, 2007)

Christopher Bingham's crystal clear tenor used to get compared to David Crosby but lately it's been Bare Naked Ladies and Dave Matthews. And watch out for his acoustic guitar work - think Bruce Cockburn meets Ian Anderson, fluid from one rhythm to the next.

Bingham left his hometown of St. Louis to study jazz at The Evergreen State College in Olympia in 1979, fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and stayed. Before starting Gaia Consort he released Always the Sirens (cassette, 1987) The Burning (1993) and Angel and the Hanged Man (1995) Several cuts on all CDs have received airplay on a number of college and commercial radio stations across the US and in Europe.

Sue Tinney's voice is like a lover's soft lips nibbling your earlobe while telling you the bed is on fire and what are you going to do about it? She has a special gift for picking out the perfect harmony line. She's been singing alto parts all her life and it shows. She's also co-produced four of Bingham's Suddenly Naked releases. Growing up literally in the Olympic National park, (Kalaloch and the Hoh river valley) the spirit of the rainforest is imbued in all her work.

Rooms, fairs, festivals benefits:

Some Festivals / Fairs / Clubs: Wic Can Fest 2002, Celebrate the Spirit, WV, Heartland Pagan Festival 2000, Pantheacon 99, Washington Center for the Performing Arts (Olympia) Museum of History and Industry (Seattle) Northwest Folklife, Oregon Folklife, Olympia Spiral Dance, Loving More Conference (1999, 2001), Faerieworlds, (2005, 2006, 2007)

Some Benefits: April Divilbiss Legal Defense Fund, Tacoma Aids Walk, Native Forest Network, Hands Off Washington, Planned Parenthood

Average Customer Review: