New Monsoon

San Francisco's rock quintet, New Monsoon, has been transforming audiences across the country into dedicated fans with their exhilarating marriage of acoustic and electric instruments, irresistible blend of sophisticated songcraft, inventive musical exploration and down home rock-n-roll.

The band's just released album New Monsoon V was produced, mixed and engineered by John Cutler, best known for his production work with The Grateful Dead on the platinum album In the Dark (co-produced with Jerry Garcia) and Without a Net (co-produced with Phil Lesh) and the Jerry Garcia Band's How Sweet It Is.

Jambase raves that "New Monsoon V moves with muscular dexterity, avoiding overplaying at every turn, always serving the songs and one another in a way only thousands of shows and countless hours of woodshedding can produce."

New Monsoon was conceived when Penn State friends Bo Carper and Jeff Miller reconnected in northern California. With Carper's rootsy acoustic finger style as foil to Miller's inspired melodies, the pair sowed the seeds of the New Monsoon sound. During the recording of the band's first album Hydrophonic, the band tapped long-time east coast friend Phil "The Pianimal" Ferlino for keyboards. Blown away by the project, Ferlino immediately moved to San Francisco and joined the band on-stage at the 2001 High Sierra Music Festival.

Strong vocals and harmonies, electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, mandolin, bass and keyboards, unify the musical styles of New Monsoon's influences, which range from rock gods Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Santana and bluesman Mississippi John Hurt to world music pioneers Tito Puente, Shakti and Peter Gabriel. New Monsoon's music is an experience in textures, rhythms, ideas and moods.

New Monsoon V is the culmination of years of touring, collaboration, heart, soul and love and respect between the band and its fans. New Monsoon has played an impressive array of major music festivals, from Bonnaroo to Summerfest and, in January 2007, they played to a sold-out Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco.

As Miller recently stated, "One thing about our scene is people are still going out to support live music. God bless them for it." In this age of digital music and file sharing, the fact the band's live performances matter so much to the band and its fans is a testament to New Monsoon's musicianship and passion.