Notes
Driven by Alana's wild violin, chased by accordion and double bass, Vardos play music learnt in their travels and adventures in Eastern Europe. Formed in Perth in 1993, Vardos is now Melbourne based, regularly making trips to Eastern Europe to study with folk and Roma (gypsy) musicians. This stunning trio has serenaded audiences around Australia, at Four Winds Festival, Port Fairy, Victor Harbour, Illawarra and Fairbridge Folk Festivals, Bellingen Global Carnival and National Multicultural Festival among others. In 2006 Vardos return to the National Folk Festival in Canberra. Vardos made a cameo appearance on the popular series 'Seachange', and featured in 'Painted Lady', a film about artist Vali Myers, shown on SBS. The band recorded a Transylvanian-inspired version of Kylie Minogue's 'I should be lucky' for the compilation CD 'This is the Place for a Song' which was nominated for an Aria award for Best World Music Album in 2005! Vardos have also toured to New Caledonia, NZ, Switzerland and Hungary, and had successful shows at the Famous Spiegeltent in the Edinburgh Fringe and Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2003 and 2004, appeared on Scottish television and the BBC News, and were nominated for the 2003 BBC Radio3 World Music Awards (Audience Award). 'With stagecraft that is equal parts formation dancing, martial arts and Keystone Cops, the violin-accordion-double bass trio play with formidable panache... Vardos don't hold back. They give the tumbling, compound-time dances and slow airs... both barrels and not a few of Hunt's bow hairs.' **** (The Herald, Edinburgh 2004) The first Vardos CD was recorded in Budapest, Hungary in 1999, and their second CD, 'Entertaining Countess Dracula' was launched to a sell-out crowd at the Melbourne Festival Spiegeltent in 2002. 'a ...traditional and acoustic sound, with the wild fiddle of Alana Hunt.. The virtuosity is just faultless, making it a joy to listen to. They bounce through Romanian, Moldavian and Hungarian tunes with joy and ease. ' (fROOTS magazine, UK, December 2003)
