The Canadian Celtic-funk band Mad Pudding hails from Vancouver, where it merges contemporary and traditional sounds for its turbo-charged stylings. Members of Mad Pudding are: Amy Stephen (vocals, accordion, pennyswhistle); Andy Hillhouse (vocals, guitar, mandolin, bazouki); Cam Wilson (fiddle, vocals); Boris Favre (electric bass, piano, vocals); and Allan Dionne (percussion). The quintet has released three albums: BruceÆs Vegetable Garden (1994), Dirt & Stone (1996), and Rattle on the Stovepipe (1997). The bandÆs appearances include the Shetland Folk Festival, Glasgow Folk Festival, Skagen Festival (Denmark), TorontoÆs Harbourfront Celtic Festival, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Mad Pudding has shared the stage with artists such as Boys of the Lough, Tom Paxton, Maddy Prior, the Albion Band, and Colin James.
AFTER SIX YEARS of touring festivals and clubs on both sides of the Atlantic, Mad Pudding have developed a well-earned reputation for consistently exciting and entertaining live shows, performing a euphoric music that skillfully blends North American and Celtic styles with jazz, funk and world rhythms. In an evening with Mad Pudding, you will hear stunning vocal harmonies, inventive and joyful instrumental arrangements, and original songs deeply-informed by tradition but with a contemporary twist.
Equally at home inspiring dancing crowds in the open air as they are in intimate concert settings, Mad Pudding has played festivals and toured in Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Denmark, England, Bermuda, the US and Canada, and has been invited to perform in Australia and Asia. With four CDs available and one on the way sometime in 2001, Mad Pudding have an unwavering commitment to their music and their audience. They've been featured by the CBC and the BBC in various national interviews, as well as in various magazines, including Dirty Linen (US), Folk Roots (UK) and Sing Out! (US), where they have also received rave reviews for their "turbocharged" performances. Mad Pudding has been nominated for three West Coast Music Awards, two for their CDs, and one for "Best Live Act". Mad Pudding was the first Western Canadian band to have been invited to the prestigious Celtic Colours Festival in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and they have performed unique arrangements of their music incollaboration with several choirs and orchestras including the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Chor Leoni, Musica Intima and the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra.
MAD PUDDING's exuberance is contagious and makes dancing impossible to resist! Performances have included, among others, the Shetland Folk Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Skagen Festival (Denmark), Orkney Folk Festival, San Francisco Celtic Festival, Celtic Colours Festival (Cape Breton), Philadelphia Folk Festival, New Bedford Summerfest, the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the Vancouver International Folk Festival
9/10/01: Mad Pudding
11/13/00: Mad Pudding
