Broadside Electric

Broadside Electric
l-r: Helene Zisook, Jim Speer, Joe D'Andrea, Tom Rhoads, Amy Ksir
Background information
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Genres	Electric folk
Years active	1990 – present
Labels	Clever Sheep Records
Website	broadside.org
Members	Joe D'Andrea Amy Ksir Tom Rhoads Jim Speer Helene Zisook
Past members	Melissa Demian Rachel Hall

Broadside Electric is an American electric folk (self-described as "folk music with teeth") band from Philadelphia. Formed in 1990, the band was still active in 2011. Audiences expect an erudite and eclectic mix of traditional material, including child ballads, foreign language songs, and the humorous, obscure, and sometimes absurd.

Formation

Broadside in the name is taken from the single-side printed song lyric sheets which became popular in the 16th century.

The band was formed in 1990 by Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College students and alumni Rachel Hall, Tom Rhoads, Jim Speer, and Helene Zisook.

Current band members

• Joe D'Andrea, 1997–present (drums and assorted percussion, vocals).
• Amy Ksir, 1997–present (accordion, tin whistles, flute, oboe, vocals).
• Tom Rhoads, 1990–present (lead vocals, guitars, Appalachian dulcimer, cittern, harmonica).
• Jim Speer, 1990–present (NS/Stick, Chapman Stick, electric bass guitar; wind instruments including recorders, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, crumhorn and rauschpfeife; backing vocals).
• Helene Zisook, 1990–present (acoustic and five-string electric violins, viola, mandolin, backing vocals).

Previous band members

• Melissa Demian 1991-1994 (lead vocals, Appalachian dulcimer, occasional percussion, police whistle, siren). Left to pursue a Ph.D in social anthropology.
• Rachel Hall 1990-1991 (English concertina, piano/keyboards, recorders, tin whistle, accordion, vocals, occasional percussion). Left to pursue a Watson Fellowship.

Discography

• Black-edged Visiting Card (Clever Sheep, 1992)
• Amplificata (Clever Sheep, 1995)
• More Bad News ... (Clever Sheep, 1996)
• With Teeth (Clever Sheep, 1999)
• Live: Do Not Immerse (Clever Sheep, 2002)

External links

• Official website
• Broadside Electric on MySpace
• Broadside Electric on last.fm
• Broadside Electric on Virb