Kaleidoscope host Juliet Fromholt spoke with Lief Sorbye, founding member of the Celtic rock band Tempest, ahead of the band’s May 13th performance at Yellow Cab Tavern. In the interview, Lief spoke with Juliet about starting Tempest in the late 1980s. At the time, Lief was in his early 20’s playing in a US-based folk band. But, he said,
“I was dying to get back to my rock’n’roll roots. I wanted a band that had one foot in rock’n’roll, and one foot in the folk music experience. And that was the idea of Tempest.”
Lief also spoke about how the COVID pandemic disrupted the work of Tempest and other musicians. “The bills didn’t stop just because our gigs got cancelled,” he said. The band was forced to cancel dozens of shows, and had to find alternative ways to generate income from their music, including recording new music and releasing archival recordings. Lief said the band was initially reluctant to do social media live streams, which many bands were using to stay afloat.
“I was a little hesitant to do [a live stream] right away, because we’re a full electric band and need some production. We don’t sound good just with an iPhone microphone in somebody’s basement.”
His fears were assuaged when longtime producer Barry Goldwater offered to set up a live stream at Soundtech Studios, were the band records its albums. Lief says that Tempest’s two live streams produced at Soundtech helped the band stay afloat until live performances gradually resumed.
In addition, Lief shared fond memories of visiting Dayton, including the first time Tempest performed at Canal Street Tavern in 1990. The band went on to build an enduring relationship with Canal Street, returning each year until the venue closed in 2013.
Tempest performed at Yellow Cab Tavern on Saturday, May 13th, at 7:00pm. More information about their recordings and live performance dates can be found at tempestmusic.com.
