Hey Feedel Fans,
   
     MELKAM FASIKA! That means HAPPY EASTER to all our non-Amharic speaking fans. As we shake off the last remnants of Winter, it feels great to finally feel the warmth of the SUN. Its been one of the coldest Winter's in recent memory. It was bitterly cold the night we arrived in Philly to perform at World Cafe Live and wanted to thanks the stalwart contingent of Feedel Fans who showed up in support! Much Love and Respect!  Our fans in NYC have also been especially strong, giving us the kind of love and support that makes it all worthwhile for us. Our repeat trip to Silvana's and DROM was better than expected.
    We also had our first live radio broadcast, courtesy of WFMU Radio in Jersey City NJ. Thanks to Rob Weisberg, check out  his show TRANSPACIFIC SOUND PARADISE, whch brings you music from ALL around  the world. Thanks to Rob and the entire staff at WFMU Radio for all the love and support. We had an absolute BLAST! From WFMU it was a mad dash across the Hudson River to a new world music venue, Meridian 23. We wish Stefan Andemichael and everyone at Meridian 23, all the BEST, on their BRAND NEW club. Thanks to Stefan and friends for letting us be a small part of bringing musical diversity and excitement to NYC.The very next night we were in Brooklyn, at Pioneer Works Second Sunday series. Pioneer Works is a great artist showcase, where they have all manner of events, from art to music to spoken word and more. We shared the stage with Mamady Kouyate and the Mandingo Ambassadors. What a treat! If you have the opportunity, please check 'em out.
    We're also happy to let everyone know that we'll be playing at Bossa Bistro in Washington DC. Our monthly residency began earlier this month, and we eagerly looking forward to May 1, when we return to play at Bossa. We're especially EXCITED to announce that Legendary Ethiopian singer/songwriter Teshome Mitiku will be our guest artist that evening. We already perform one of his songs, but it'll really be special to share the stage with him. WE LOVE his arrangements and lyrics, so this will truly be a SPECIAL NIGHT! Mark you're calendars, May 1 at Bossa Bistro.
    We're really looking forward to the Spring and Summer, and the opportunity to perform in front of our friends and fans. WE have some really special dates approaching in May and June. We're also looking to put together some interesting collaborations with other artists. Stay tuned for more details on that.....

Feedel to Philly and Beyond
Update for all our Fans - We've been busy all winter and some of our efforts are starting to bear fruit. As some of you know, we've been hard at work, to get our debut CD out, and some of you have heard some of our fresh material. For those of eagle eye, and sharp of hearing might have noticed a new song on our home page. Its FRESH off the presses, and all for you. The song is off our upcoming CD, entitled "Ethiopian Ocean" and the song is titled "Ethiopian Ocean. We've also posted a new page with some music offerings, and we've got a LIVE recording of "BehImè New Bewenè". It literally means "Am I Dreaming or am I Awake?" , recorded at Silvana's in NYC. Some of our new friends in Richmond heard some of the new music, when we played at Balliceaux. By the way, if your in Richmond, Balliceaux is THE SPOT, you gotta check 'em out. Great Venue! Also gotta give a SHOUT OUT, to our brothers Natan and Yoseph Teklemariam, owners of the Nile Restaurant in Richmond. BIG big ups to you fella's, hope to swing thru for a more relaxed lunch, dinner, whateva.  :)
Is there anything better than LIVE music to shake off the Winter Blues? If there is, we can't think of it, That's why we're taking our brand of Ethio Jazz, Funk 'n EthioSoul flavored music and taking it on the road. First stop is gonna be PHILLY, at The World Cafe, on Thursday March 6th. Followed by a return to Silvana's in NYC on Friday, and DROM the following night. NYC Massive, you want us, so you got us, we plan on tearing it up. Lets have some FUN. We're especially looking forward to meeting some of our Philly Fans, so come early, lets shake the brrrrrrr of this Polar Vortex nonsense. We'll bring the Music, you bring the Fun & Friends (and your dancing shoes)
Our journey over the last two years has truly been amazing, and we're always excited to meet with as many of you out there as possible. One of those chance encounters happened not to long ago, where Moges Habte, our saxophone player, met David Muse from WPFW 89.3 FM radio in Washington DC, David was very generous and has played several selections from our upcoming CD on his show. Proof that if you stay positive, good things will happen!!!
The positive energy has definitely been felt by us all. Some of that positivity hopefully will mean some special dates that are in the works, so stay tuned and we'll be posting some fun news.

Hey Hey Feedel Fans,
The past year has been a TRANSFORMATIONAL year for Feedel Band, and we have you, our fans, to thank for that. Our initial premise of wanting to  "create an atmosphere where our music will transport you, and leave you with a memory of good music, shared with even better friends" has been both self fulfilling and very prophetic. We've had numerous opportunities to meet up with old friends, and create new friendships in our travels and performances. One such opportunity came about earlier this month in New York City. We had an opportunity to perform at Silvana's in Harlem, where we played to a crowd that was totally unfamiliar with our music, but the welcome that we received was AMAZING! We're eagerly looking to our next opportunity to go back. Thanks to all the awesome people who came out in support at Silvana.
    The next night we shared the stage with several musical acts at DROM, including the LEGENDARY Hailu Mergia, who is enjoying a much deserved and LONG OVER DUE recognition for his contribution to Ethiopian music. I think we might have been more EXCITED to watch him than the other audeince members. Hats off to Hailu for a truly electrifying performance. To all our fans in the DC metro area, please check out Hailu Mergia, and Low Mentality, Tueday, Feb 11 at the  prestigious Kennedy Center, Millenium Stage at 6pm. You will not be disappointed!!! (If you look close, we'll be upfront crowding the stage) :)

This month we take our brand of music and travel to Richmond VA, where we'll be appearing at Balliceaux on Friday Feb 7, 2014. We've never played in Richmond, so we're really  looking forward to creating some new fans.

Looking forward to March, we're looking to add more dates, and a possible return to NYC, which we are very excited about. Hope to see you all real soon!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FEEDEL FANS,
Has it really been 3 months since we last updated our page?!?!?! WOW, we have been BUSY!!!
We've had an INCREDIBLE 2013, and as the New Year begins, we have many things to be happy and thankful for. Since October we've been on a frenetic pace both performing as Feedel, and supporting other artists. Recently,  we've been on the road with the legendary Aster Aweke. We've had an opportunity to meet a large number of our fans, in far off cities, where we did not even know we had fans!!! The love and support has been overwhelming!!! One of the many INCREDIBLE opportunities that's been afforded us is the opportunity to play in NEW YORK CITY on January 10th and 11th. We'll be appearing at Silvana's on January 10th, then on Saturday January 11th, we'll be appearing at DROM, also in NYC.  We are eagerly looking forward to taking a BIG BITE out of the Big Apple. Come Early, Stay late, the roster of musicians performing is a music lover's smorgasbord!!! Much Thanks and RESPECT to Jim Thomson of Electric Cowbells Records, who's been incredibly instrumental in getting us to NYC. Electric Cowbell is a Washington, DC/Brooklyn, NY-based record label specializing in boutique vinyl releases but it’s also a multi-faceted agency that specializes in expanding the reach of genre-bending roots-to-the-future music of the world’s peoples and culture through artist management, special event marketing, and music releases. Under the moniker of Multiflora Productions, label head Jim Thomson is currently the resident music programmer at the global dancehall Tropicalia and other venues in the Washgington, DC area. Barbès is a Brooklyn club and record label which just celebrated eleven years of eclectic programming – from classical string quartets to Georgian polyphonies, punky tarentellas and Mongolian rockers.

    By the By, Araya and Alemseged were invited to Amharic language Liyou Radio, and gave a brief interview and discussed the inception of Feedel, history and future of Feedel, and of course discussed our upcoming NYC shows. For all our Amharic speaking fans, please check out our interview, we have an excerpt from the show below. Thanks to Wondwossen Kebede for inviting us to appear on his show.

So New Years is supposed to be a time of reflection and renewal. As we've stated many times the love, positive energy and loyalty that our audiences gives us is what we reflect back. Its this love and support that renews us and motivates us. We recently played with Aster Aweke in Minneapolis. The amazing energy that we were feeling from the crowd is indescribable. At one point the audience was sooo loud, we could hardly hear ourselves play. It was insane!!!
In September where we had the opportunity to play Ethiopian Festival 2013, amidst the sometimes chaotic atmosphere, it was apparent that there was a magical feeling in the air. We also got a rare chance to watch another insanely talented Ethiopian band perform, Ras Band, who are an amazing bunch of musicians.  Check 'em out if they're ever in your city.

HAPPY ETHIOPIAN NEW YEAR!!!

In every culture, the New Year is a time to reflect on the year past, a time of excited anticipation, and of course a reason to party. We’ve enjoyed a PHENOMENAL year, largely in part to the incredible support and loyalty of our fans. WE are truly blessed.

This year, instead of just being part of the audience, we’ve been asked to perform at the Ethiopian Festival 2013, in downtown Silver Spring, on Sunday September 15, 2013. Its  great honor for us, and we look forward to seeing you all there. We’re also very EXCITED to see the INCREDIBLE Dink Nat Ethiopia Cultural group. Dink Nat Ethiopia is a traditional cultural troupe of singers and dancers, who hail from Ethiopia, and have just recently arrived in the US. Dink Nat Ethiopia by the way means Marvelous Ethiopia. Also from Ethiopia, we’ll get a chance to see Ras Band perform. The weather looks to be gorgeous, so bring the family, bring your friends, and enjoy a day long celebration of culture, music, and fun!

We’d also like to acknowledge our fans who came out to the August 29th event at Tropicalia. We’d also like to acknowledge the great staff and crew at Tropicalia who made us feel so welcome. WE want to say THANK YOU, to Beshou and Jim, who were so instrumental in making our evening a success. You guys are the BEST!!!

Looking forward to October, we’re gearing up for our make-up date with Petworth Jazz Project. As you  might remember, we got rained out due to a TORRENTIAL downpour, back in July. We’ve scanned the weather reports for October 5th, and it looks like we’re all set. We’re tentatively looking at an earlier start, as it does tend to get cooler and dark sooner, but we’ll update you with that info. Hope you can make it out for a lazy fall afternoon of music, family and fun!

Hey Feedel Fans,
August is winding down, Summer is slowly coming to and end, but we'd like to send it out with a BANG!!!! As some of you know, we had an absolute BLAST playing at Tropicalia back in July. The Tropicalia folks have asked us back for a second go round, and we're ready to party! So come out and have some fun, August 29th,  Our very good friend Tommy T will be join us for a special DJ set of trans-global dub, reggae dance party with a touch of hot sauce. We had so much fun last time, and the Tropicalia folks have been AWESOME in their support of us, we'd love to see you all come out and share in the fun! 

We're also looking forward to September 15th, where we'll participating in the 2013 Ethiopian Festival in Silver Spring MD. As most of our Ethiopian fans know, this coincides with the Ethiopian New Year, so to ALL our fans everywhere, we'd like to wish you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR, or as we say in Amharic "Enkutatash!". This is the 3rd Ethiopian Festival, and we're looking forward to celebrating our music and culture with all our fans. Its a Family oriented event, so hope to see the entire fan out that Saturday.

As some of you have already expressed your disappointment to us last month,  we had to cancel our appearance at the Petworth Jazz Project event due to torrential rain storms. We were very disappointed that Mother Nature did not cooperate, however, we've managed to reschedule the date, and it looks like we'll be performing on October 5th, 2013. We'll keep you all apprised of the details, but mark your calendars, coz we have! 

Part of what keeps us motivated and energized is the opportunity to meet and perform with a wide variety of artists. While Feedel Band did not get a chance to perform with Eyob Makonnen, we were greatly saddened to hear of his sudden passing earlier this month. Eyob, was a very talented singer, with a bright and promising career ahead of him. He fused Ethiopian and Reggae music, and sang of peace and unity. He will truly be missed.  Our thoughts and Prayers are with his family and loved ones.

Hey Feedel Fans.
The Summer of 2013 has been HOT!!! ...and we're not just talking about the temperature either. We started off the month with our 4 day marathon session during the Annual Ethiopian Soccer Tournament, and were very happy to reconnect with old fans and meet some new friends as well. We were especially thrilled to play for such amazing audiences. We're planning more events for August, and will update you as those dates are confirmed. What we CAN confirm at present is that we'll be performing at the Petworth Jazz Project, on July 27th from 7-9pm. The Petworth Jazz Project is an effort to build a community thru Jazz. We LOVE the vibe and efforts to bring a community together through music. Please check out their website, and bring the whole family with you. The event is free, and very family friendly!  We'd Love to see you there.

Many fans of our music have expressed how much they're drawn to the music of the Walia's Band, the Ibex Band, and others that permeated the Ethiopian music scene of the 70's. Our very own Moges Habte was of course a part of the Walia's Band, and wrote the music that you hear when you arrive at our website (Kebena Godana). We recently discovered that Hailu Mergia, one of the innovators of Ethiopian Music of that time was interviewed and that interview can be heard here. Whats even more AMAZING is that a compilation of his music from that era is available for download, or even purchased on LIMITED EDITION C60 Cassette!!!!!! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!!!!
We'll be talking more about that, but check it out for now.

Hey Feedel Fans,
What an ABSOLUTELY incredible week! As many of you are aware, the 4th of July weekend has a dual meaning for most Ethiopians living in the USA. Obviously, Independence Day, which is at the very least a day filled with friends, barbecue,  and of course the requisite fireworks in the evening. There's also the Annual Ethiopian Soccer Tournament that occurs every year at this time. This year it was held in Washington DC, and what an INCREDIBLE week its been. 

We had a BLAST opening for Munit + Jorg at Tropicalia. The vibe was great, it was great to see our sister Munit, along with her musical partner Jorg. They put on a great show, we wish them all the best on this their first joint US tour, that also marks the release of their newest CD. We're huge fans of their work, hope you give 'em a listen. If you're new to Munit+Jorg, check out their video from their previous release entitled "Noro Noro"

As many of you already know, we enjoy playing live, its especially exciting when we see some of our musician friends in the audience. This was very much the case at Laco Melza Ethio Café & Restaurant on Wednesday night. It was hard to miss many of our friends who had travelled to DC for the Soccer tournament, take time out of their hectic schedules to come hear us play. As usual the audience was AWESOME. Thanks to our hosts at Laco Melza Ethio Café & Restaurant, hope to see you again soon.

The 4th of July, held another set of fireworks in the form of Aster Aweke. Her energy never seems to wane, and the fans were crowding the stage even before she hit the stage. We've had numerous opportunities to back Aster up in the past, and it was our pleasure to do so again. Tsegaye Eshetu was in top form as usual, in his understated yet elegant style. Both of Aster and Tsegaye gave a great performance.

The amazing part of this week has been the sheer number of great musical acts that were performing in the DMV. New up & comers, Jano Band were at The Howard Theater, Alemayehu Eshete was ensconced at Bati Restaurant & Lounge, the LEGENDARY Mahmoud Ahmed and Teddy Afro on the same stage!!!! Say WHAT!?!?!? Its been an incredible week for all lovers of Ethiopian music. Even the Washington City Paper got in on some of the action, by noting some of the events on their website. WHEW!!! I could keep on listing all the great acts that appeared this last week, I hope next year is as rich and varied as this years musical performances. We hope to be there as well. In the meantime stay tuned.....

     The last year has been an especially productive and formative one for Feedel. We’ve had an incredible opportunity to perform at a variety of venues, from small clubs to wine festivals to concert halls. And whether we’re performing our brand of music, or providing support for some of our favorite singers, its always a pleasure to perform live, in front of an appreciative audience. We can never THANK YOU enough. The exchange of energy that occurs, from bandstand to audience and back is an especially special one. Its what keeps us motivated, and hungry. Its an exhilarating feeling for us.

    We are especially proud to be performing with Jorg and Munit at Tropicalia, on July 1st. We’ve all had an opportunity to perform with the incredible Munit Mesfin over the years. She has an incredible energy, and an obvious love of music. Her collaboration with Jorg has been a breath of fresh air, and we cannot wait to see what happens on July 1st. 

    We also have an opportunity to back up one of Ethiopia’s current musical royalty in Aster Aweke on July 4th at the Echostage. While we’re there in a supportive capacity, its still an incredible opportunity to stretch out and have fun with someone as dynamic as Aster Aweke. If you’ve never seen Aster live, come join us, she will leave you breathless with her boundless on-stage energy.