Chervona

Chervona
Andre Temkin and Anton Van Oosbree performing as members of Chervona at the Alberta St. Public House, 31 December 2009. Photo taken by Xander Almeida
Background information
Origin	Portland, OR, United States
Genres	Folk punk Klezmer
Years active	2006–present
Website	www.chervona.com
Members
Andre Temkin Roman Tchamsky Andrew Alikhanov Thomas de Almeida Anton Van Oosbree Adam Schneider Olimpia Trusty
Past members
Dan Marquis Vince Schmidt Ted Ochoa

Chervona is a multi-ethnic, Russian and Eastern European-inspired band from Portland, Oregon, that formed in 2006. They have become known for their old world-inspired music and their highly energetic live shows.^[1]

Much of the band's repertoire consists of revamped classics of Russian folk songs as well as klezmer songs from the Black Sea region of Odessa. The band also incorporates many original compositions into its live performances.^[1]

History and influences

Chervona started as a side project of Miru Mir!, a multi-cultural rock/punk band known for its raucous energy and its "high-energy blend of bohemian bombast and international intrigue."^[2] After a number of initial appearances alongside well-established acts in the genre, such as Manu Chao, Chervona quickly gained the attention of the Portland music scene and has since surpassed Miru Mir! in popularity and commercial success.^[3]

Miru Mir!, itself a side project of a now-defunct band, Starbugs,^[4] was founded by Andre Temkin, who came to Portland, OR in 1995 after reading an article that voted Portland Best American City.^[3] Among his major influences he lists Lou Reed and The Beatles, of which only bootleg recordings were available in his native St. Petersburg, Russia.^[5]

Temkin met Roman Tchamsky and Andrew Alikhanov, both also Russian immigrants, in Portland and established various musical connections with the two. Tchamsky first played bass guitar for Miru Mir! and, after Chervona was founded, played tuba, which he learned during his time in the Russian army. Alikhanov, a former roommate of Temkin's, lent his clarinet to the group while maintaining a roster of other local projects, many of which he still plays with today. In 2007 Anton Van Oosbree substituted for the group's original accordion player, Vince Schmidt, on a number of gigs, but later became a full-time member after Schmidt moved to New Orleans, LA to pursue other musical endeavors. Around the same time as Van Oosbree's inception, Dan Marquis started to play drums along side Thomas de Almeida, giving the band greater scheduling flexibility and allowing the group to perform as a marching ensemble, albeit one with a vastly minimized drumline. Marquis has since left the group for his native Indianapolis, IN. In an effort to round out the band's sound Adam Schneider also joined the group in 2007 and remains at the center of the group's horn section on trombone. In 2009 Olimpia Trusty joined the band to further supplement the band's sound with violin.

The band remains self-managed and has yet to sign to a label.

Line-up

Current members

• Andre Temkin (vocals, acoustic guitar) - Russia
• Roman Tchamsky (bass, tuba, backing vocals) - Russia
• Andrew Alikhanov (clarinet, backing vocals) - Russia
• Thomas de Almeida (drums, backing vocals) - Brazil
• Anton Van Oosbree (accordion, trumpet, backing vocals) - Germany
• Adam Schneider (trombone, backing vocals) - US Virgin Islands
• Olimpia Trusty (violin, backing vocals) - Poland

Auxiliary members

• Alma Laskoniene (graphic design, promotions)
• Molly Pettit (sound engineering)

Former members

• Dan Marquis (drums)
• Vince Schmidt (accordion)
• Ted Ochoa (trumpet)

Festival appearances

• Bite of Oregon^[6] (Portland, OR)
• Slavic Festival^[7] (Eugene, OR)
• Burning Man's Burnal Equinox (San Francisco, CA)
• Red Marines ^[8] (Palo Alto, CA)
• NW Folklife^[9] (Seattle, WA)
• PDX Pop Now!^[10] (Portland, OR)
• Victoria Ska Fest^[11] (Victoria, BC)
• Under the Volcano^[12] (North Vancouver, BC)
• Arts Festival in the Forest^[13] (West Linn, OR)
• Polish Festival^[14] (Portland, OR)
• Portland Pirate Festival^[15]

Chervona in the press

• PDXposed TV segment Chervona on PDXposed
• Immigrant Revolution Party 2009 The Oregonian: Entertainment

Awards and recognitions

• Band of the Month, The Deli: Portland^[1]
• Best New Band 2009, nomination^[16]
• Best of 2010 Fans' Poll, The Deli: Portland^[1]

Charity and community appearances

In response to the devastating earthquake Haiti suffered in January 2010, Chervona participated in the Portland-based Groove Movement charity event to help raise over $4,000 in relief funds.^[5] The group has also donated its time by performing at bicycle events including the Multnomah County Bike Fair^[17] and Zoobomb's Mini Bike Winter.^[17]

In April 2011 the group organized and headlined a "Help Japan!" benefit event, which raised over $1600 in Red Cross donations to help victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.^[18]

Trivia

Chervona has performed at a number of beer-related events, including Rogue Ales' Bones and Brew Festival,^[19] Walking Man Brewery's Hoptoberfest^[20] and BridgePort Brewing Company's Hop Czar release party.^[20]

External links

• Official Web Site
• Facebook
• Twitter

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "See This Show: Chervona, August 19th at Mississippi Studios" (Web). [1]. 13 Aug 2009. http://www.thedelimagazine.com/portland/index.php?itemId=220803. Retrieved 2009-05-09. 
2. ^ "Russian rendezvous" (Web). [2]. 21 Jun 2002. http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=11719. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Clarke, Cary (7 Jun 2007). "Our Town Could be Your Life: Immigrants" (Print). [Index Newspapers, LLC]. http://www.portlandmercury.com/music/our-town-could-be-your-life/Content?oid=339403. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
4. ^ "Russian Gypsy music band from Portland, Oregon" (Web). [barynya.com]. http://www.barynya.com/RussianMusic/gypsy_band_portland_oregon.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Dundas, Zach (26 Apr 2000). "From Russia with Shove" (Print). [wweek.com]. http://wweek.com/html/musicb051700.html. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
6. ^ "Music, music, music" (Web). [Bite of Oregon]. http://www.biteoforegon.com/downloads/2008/pressroom/08%20Bitemusicschedule.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
7. ^ Baker, Mark (9 Feb 2009). "Slavic heritage on stage" (Web). [The Register-Guard]. http://special.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/updates/7295951-55/story.csp. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
8. ^ "Line up" (Web). [Red Marines]. http://www.redmarines.com/line-up/. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
9. ^ "Performer schedule" (Web). [Northwest Folklife]. http://www.nwfolklife.org/festival/performer?performer=Chervona&date=2009-05-22&x=37&y=6. Retrieved 2009-07-09. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ Petersen, Jeremy (31 Jul 2009). "Photo Review: PDX Pop Now! '09- Day 3" (Web). [Oregon Public Broadcasting]. http://opbmusic.org/blog/entries/563-Photo-Review-PDX-Pop-Now-09-Day-3. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
11. ^ "Lineup" (Web). [Victoria BC Ska Society]. http://victoriaskafest.ca/history.php?nothing=nothing. Retrieved 2010-01-14. 
12. ^ "Lineup" (Web). [Under the Volcano Festival of Art and Change]. http://volcano.resist.ca/lineup.html. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
13. ^ DeCosta, Nicole (13 Aug 2009). "Forest and art, a festive combination" (Web). [Under the Volcano Festival of Art and Change]. http://www.westlinntidings.com/news/story.php?story_id=125010471354414400. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
14. ^ "Performers" (Web). [Polish Association]. http://www.portlandpolonia.org/festival/performers.html. Retrieved 2009-09-28. 
15. ^ Staff (Aug 26 20011). "Music is the heartbeat of the Portland Pirate Festival" (Web). [St. Helens Chronicle]. http://thechronicleonline.com/out_about/article_75fb280e-ce66-11e0-8a9b-001cc4c03286.html. Retrieved 2011-09-19. 
16. ^ "Best New Band 2009" (Web). [wweek.com]. 5 May 2009. http://blogs.wweek.com/music/2009/05/05/best-new-band-2009-ballots-with-winners/. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Maus, Jonathan (2008-06-30). "Slideshow: Sun and fun at MCBF" (Web). [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License]. http://bikeportland.org/2008/06/30/slideshow-sun-and-fun-at-mcbf/. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
18. ^ "Benefit for Japan" (Web). [Oregon Music News]. 20111-04-3. http://oregonmusicnews.com/blog/2011/04/03/benefit-for-japan-at-secret-society-chervona-opa-groupa-fenby-west-and-more//. Retrieved 2011-09-19. 
19. ^ Bandolas, Banjo (3 Sep 2008). "Lineup" (Web). http://www.realbeer.com/blog/?p=872. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
20. ^ ^{a b} "Walking Man's Hoptober Fest, Sat. Sept. 20th" (Web). Oregon Live. 16 Sep 2008. http://blog.oregonlive.com/thebeerhere/2008/09/walking_mans_hoptober_fest_sat.html. Retrieved 2009-07-09.