Artists
who's who and who's doing what?Mad Tea Party
Line up
- Ami Worthen (vocals, ukulele, tenor guitar)
- Jason Krekel (vocals, guitar, fiddle, kazoo, high hat)
- Joe Edel (vocals, bass, bass drum)
- Sean Foley (accordion, piano)
- country:USA
- region:North America
- style(s):Blues Folk
- label:Whose That Records
- type:Band
- gender:male, female
- instrumentation:instrumental, vocal
- artist submitted by:
"What happens when you mix punk, folk, psychedelic rock, old-school jazz, and rockabilly? [you get] the hyper-eclectic flavor of Mad Tea Party" (Citizen-Times).
Rife with lush harmonies, steady bass lines and a blurred sense of space and time, Mad Tea Party's music takes you on a journey. Collaborators Ami Worthen (vocals, ukulele), Jason Krekel (vocals, guitar, fiddle, snare, hi-hat) and Joe Edel (vocals, bass, bass drum) have managed to forge their own postmodern path, taking elements of old-time jazz, early stringband styles, psychedelia and vintage rock 'n' roll to create something entirely unique. Their lyrics offer clever commentary on love, life, death and the music business. Their vocals, painted across a backdrop of trippy, indie, artful music, give the thought-provoking, smile-inducing Mad Tea Party an exciting edge.
Clearly, Mad Tea Party often find themselves between genres. The All Music Guide calls it "Americana for the modern generation. Shreds of ragtime, tatters of R&B, touches of blues, bursts of rockabilly, slivers of C&W, tinges of hillbilly hoe-downs, lashes of pop, snippets of rock, a feathering of folk, and even…the hurdy-gurdy sound of the circus."
Mad Tea Party's amusing and sharp approach to an evolved brand of folk music makes them one-of-a-kind. Their offbeat sense of humor and irony appeals to savvy listeners who appreciate the band's cleverness and cheerful energy. Whether performing in front of a festival audience or the original New York City underground punk scene, this band carries its weight. The exotic harping of the ukulele, the familiar guitar and the plucking bass will transport audiences to a different time and place - both traditional and progressive, both comfortable and foreign.
The Band
"Ami Worthen is a clever tunesmith with a social conscious, a devilish sense of humor…[and a] particularly inspired brand of ukulele playing" (Radio Memeworks). The Charleston Post & Courier said, "Worthen sang with a voice that seemed to exude sunshine. Clad in an orange dress and cowboy boots, she easily won the crowd with her delightful smile."
The dynamic and talented Jason Krekel sings and plays guitar, fiddle, and kazoo. "As Worthen strummed her ukulele, Krekel...performed an amazing ballet of musicianship nearby" (Post & Courier). The Charlotte Observer described his singing this way, "when Jason Krekel takes the lead, he lets it fly with loud abandon."
The highly skilled and spunky Joe Edel plays bass and sings. A veteran of Scrappy Hamilton and the Firecracker Jazz Band, Edel is a seasoned player and a dynamic performer.
Backstory
Mad Tea Party began as the solo project of songwriter Ami Worthen. Within just two years, experienced multi-instrumentalist Jason Krekel joined her on vocals, guitar, fiddle, and kazoo. The duo caught the attention of the indie scene in their hometown of Asheville, NC. National Public Radio stations across the country began picking up their 2004 album 73% Post-Consumer Novelty. Lora Pendelton joined the band on bass later that year. The trio released Flying Saucers in 2005, also to great response on NPR stations. Mad Tea Party's critically acclaimed Big Top Soda Pop came out in October 2006. It has been enthusiastically received at college and NPR stations nationwide, and even charted on the CMJ's Top 200. (Read reviews here). Pendleton left the band at the time of the album's release, and Joe Edel stepped in. While sharing the stage with such artists as the Asylum Street Spankers, Donna the Buffalo, Baby Gramps, the Avett Brothers, Toubab Krewe, Larry Keel Experience, Malcom Holcolmbe, Reeltime Travelers and Peggy Seeger, Mad Tea Party has charmed audiences nationwide. The group plays a variety of venues and festivals, such as the Grassroots Festival, the Lake Eden Arts Festival, the Oregon Country Fair, Who Fest, CBGB's 313 in New York City, the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, the Orange Peel in Asheville and the Tractor Tavern in Seattle. Mad Tea Party has national distribution for Big Top Soda Pop with RedEye Distribution.
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