Michael Farkas is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, teacher, actor and clown who has performed and taught all across the US and abroad. For nearly 7 years he has been globe-trotting with The Wiyos, and is affiliated with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the 92 Street Y in NYC. His training includes, The Goldston and Johnston School for Mime, The Dell'Arte School, The SITI company with Anne Bogart , and the internationally acclaimed Polish theater company, 'Gardzienice.' He has collaborated with the playwright Deke Weaver on, 'Saturn's Wake', acted and composed for The Begat Companie in France, and was a Payaso in 'The Brother's Minkovitz' performed at Chalon dans la Rue and Théâtre de Rue et des Arts de la rue d'Aurillac in France with renowned European Clown Moshe Cohen. He has also made his coin as a street performer in Barcelona, Spain. When off the road, Michael likes to read, draw, spend time with family and friends and look out his window. He currently lives in Western Massachusetts. Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and vocalist Teddy Weber joined The Wiyos in 2008. He previously spent five years touring and recording the US and Europe with The Hunger Mountain Boys. His reputation as a skilled steel guitarist landed his playing on various recordings from freak folk symbol Devendra Banhart to roots-based artists like The Bowmans and Todd Mack. Originally a cornet and trumpet player, Teddy has mostly traded in his brass for stringed instruments and joins The Wiyos on various acoustic and electric steel guitars, parlor guitar, alto horn and vocals. A true enthusiast of western swing and rockabilly (two showcasing idioms for non-pedal steel guitar), he periodically appears with northeast bands like The Blue Ribbon Boys and Chops/Kraut & The Velvet Frog. More recently, he sat in with the legendary international rockabilly icon, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys. When not on the road performing or recording, Teddy retreats to upstate New York and the New England hills, where he is an avid backcountry skier and Appalachian trail maintainer. Seth Travins is a songwriter, bassist and guitarist from Hudson Valley, NY. When he was 12 years old, growing up in Queens, NY he discovered records by Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson (1 and 2) and Elvis Presley. Armed with a Marine Band Harmonica, and later guitar, keys, and bass, Seth has explored a path through rockabilly, classic soul, garage rock, country, jazz vocals, and the Great American Songbook. Over the past 10 years, he has become a fixture of the legendary Club Helsinki music scene in Great Barrington, MA (now Hudson, NY), where he has led and participated in numerous bands of regional notoriety (The Blue Ribbon Boys, The Big Iron Skillet Band, The Minivans). When not playing music Seth works for Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent, NY where he has created a line of raw organic sauerkrauts marketed throughout the region (hence the name Sauerkraut Seth !). He appears as himself in the 2010 motion picture release, Morning Glory, staring Harrison Ford, Rachel McAdams, and Jeff Goldblum. Seth joined The Wiyos in January 2010. Parrish Ellis, the guitarist/singer/songwriter in The Wiyos, was raised in Richmond, Virginia where his high school guitar teacher introduced him to the world of American rural folk music recorded in the 1920s and 30s, opening his ear to the singular styles of John Hurt, Gary Davis, Elizabeth Cotton, Merle Travis and Doc Watson. After studying classical guitar for two years in college (where he met Joebass of The Wiyos), he picked up the banjo and acoustic steel-string guitar and traded his sheet music for a comprehensive record collection of country blues, ragtime, swing, jugband and Appalachian mountain music. In addition to releasing four records with The Wiyos, he has made two solo albums. After 8 years in NYC, he now lives in Asheville, NC where he is studying Appalachian fiddle and banjo music, occasionally collaborating with respected old-time multi-instrumentalist Adam Tanner and running, hiking and paddling. past members and collaborators Joeseph "Joebass" Dejarnette Adam Matta Sxip Shirey |
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