Tom Rigney, the fiery, electrifying violinist/composer, joins forces with some of the finest musicians on the San Francisco roots music scene to form Tom Rigney and Flambeau, a band that generates enough heat and energy to ignite a dance floor or lift an audience to its feet. Now into his second decade as the leader of Flambeau, the flamboyant Rigney has leapt dramatically into the spotlight as a performer and as a composer. Flambeau showcases his passionate, virtuoso fiddling, his commanding, charismatic stage presence, his range and originality as a composer, and, of course, those notorious red boots! His bandmates are all longtime veterans of the Bay Area roots music scene and together they have forged a unique sound that blends American Roots styles into something completely original and HOT--a sound that mixes irresistibly infectious grooves with deep musicality, tight ensemble playing, and spectacular solos.
Flambeau specializes in blazing Cajun and zydeco two-steps, low-down blues, funky New Orleans grooves, Boogie Woogie piano, and heartbreakingly beautiful ballads and waltzes. Most of the repertoire is composed by Rigney, but they also mix in a few classics from the Cajun/zydeco/New Orleans songbook. And if, along the way, you pick up a trace of Rigney’s Irish roots, or echoes of Eastern Europe or the coast of Spain, it just makes the musical gumbo that much tastier. In recent years Rigney’s skills as a composer have broadened and deepened, and he is today writing some of the most evocative and compelling music you will hear anywhere. His violin playing is ferociously virtuosic one minute, and tonally rich and emotionally charged the next. And Rigney’s charismatic stage presence, humor, and high-energy showmanship pull the audience into his performances and make them feel that they are a part of the music and the show.
Tom Rigney and Flambeau were voted Best Cajun/Zydeco Band of 2004 by the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame and they have been tearing it up at festivals--Blues, Jazz, and Folk--performing arts centers, concerts, dances, and nightclubs from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale to Ecaussines, Belgium. Their critically acclaimed debut CD, “Red Boots and Rice”, was released on the Parhelion label in late 2000. Many other releases have followed, including a live CD and DVD video in 2007 and Rigney’s two Blues violin CDs, the second of which, “Back Porch Blues”, hit Number 1 on the XM/Sirius Satellite Radio’s Bluesville Radio Chart in September, 2009. Flambeau’s latest release, “Serious Fun”, was unleashed on the unsuspecting world in 2010, and people haven’t stopped dancing and partying since! This is a band you have to hear!
Flambeau specializes in blazing Cajun and zydeco two-steps, low-down blues, funky New Orleans grooves, Boogie Woogie piano, and heartbreakingly beautiful ballads and waltzes. Most of the repertoire is composed by Rigney, but they also mix in a few classics from the Cajun/zydeco/New Orleans songbook. And if, along the way, you pick up a trace of Rigney’s Irish roots, or echoes of Eastern Europe or the coast of Spain, it just makes the musical gumbo that much tastier. In recent years Rigney’s skills as a composer have broadened and deepened, and he is today writing some of the most evocative and compelling music you will hear anywhere. His violin playing is ferociously virtuosic one minute, and tonally rich and emotionally charged the next. And Rigney’s charismatic stage presence, humor, and high-energy showmanship pull the audience into his performances and make them feel that they are a part of the music and the show.
Tom Rigney and Flambeau were voted Best Cajun/Zydeco Band of 2004 by the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame and they have been tearing it up at festivals--Blues, Jazz, and Folk--performing arts centers, concerts, dances, and nightclubs from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale to Ecaussines, Belgium. Their critically acclaimed debut CD, “Red Boots and Rice”, was released on the Parhelion label in late 2000. Many other releases have followed, including a live CD and DVD video in 2007 and Rigney’s two Blues violin CDs, the second of which, “Back Porch Blues”, hit Number 1 on the XM/Sirius Satellite Radio’s Bluesville Radio Chart in September, 2009. Flambeau’s latest release, “Serious Fun”, was unleashed on the unsuspecting world in 2010, and people haven’t stopped dancing and partying since! This is a band you have to hear!