Countercurrent

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Countercurrent is a powerhouse acoustic duo based in Seattle WA, featuring fiddle, guitar,
harmony vocals, and foot percussion.In nature, when two flowing bodies moving in opposite
directions share energy with each other, the process is called countercurrent exchange.
Countercurrent met at Oberlin College in 2009 and have been performing at concerts, festivals,
festivals, and dance eventes ever since. As concert performers, they have played at such
venues as Club Passim in Cambridge, MA, and Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, CA. As dance
musicians, they have regularly been the closing band for Northwest Folklife Festival, and have
played for contra dance festivals and events all over the country. Brian and Alex are highly collaborative musicians; in addition to Countercurrent, they have toured in other bands (including One Dollar Whiskey,
Gallimaufry, and the Iona Fyfe Trio). Alex Sturbaum is steeped in musical traditions from
both sides of the Atlantic, equally comfortable performing for dancers in a crowded grange hall,
singing original songs at an intimate house concert, belting out sea shanties at a pub sing,
or playing bluegrass music at a festival. Brian Lindsay has been dancing since he could
walk, singing since he could speak, and holding a fiddle to his chin for most of his life.
Surrounded by both contra dance and Irish music and dance throughout his childhood, Brian
spent much of his youth going to sessions in theNY area and studying with respected Irish fiddle player Brian Conway. An accomplished peformer and Mid-Atlantic Irish Fiddle champion by the age of 17, Brian has also finds the influences of many other musical styles and traditions make their way into his playing.