Caravan of Thieves to open Seaford Community Concerts season Sept. 15

The Seaford Community Concerts Association will open the 2015-16 season with Caravan of Thieves at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 15, in the Madden Auditorium at Seaford Senior High School. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Like many musical groups, this one started with a married couple, Fuzz and Carrie Sangiovanni, writing and performing as a duo with guitar, vocals and various percussive instruments.

“It started as a romantic, bohemian vision of a couple making music, performing on the road, in parks, venues, traveling around and avoiding responsibility as much as possible,” says Fuzz. “The first thing we discovered was we loved singing together, harmonizing our voices. It just seemed to click right away.”

In spring 2008, the band grew to include fiery violinist Ben Dean and double bass madman Brian Anderson. The four of them ran away from home and never looked back.

Caravan of Thieves began to win praise for their unique blend of gypsy swing and popular music, inspiring them to record and release the debut full- length album "Bouquet" in 2009. They built an interactive stage set of percussive junk and took their show on the road, sharing stages with world-renowned artists such as Emmylou Harris, Dan Hicks, Glen Campbell, Nanci Griffith, The Punch Brothers, and many others. Their act can be understood and appreciated by folk, pop, rock and jazz audiences of all ages.

“The years spent making music as an acoustic duo, alongside street performers, forced us to create a style of music we can present anywhere, anyhow, plugged in or not, a little wild and raw,” said Carrie.

Driving gypsy jazz rhythms, acoustic guitars, upright bass and violin lay the foundation for mesmerizing vocal harmonies and fantastic stories. It’s theatrical and humorous. It’s musical and intense. It entertains, dazzles and defies classification.

“This idea of bringing the street performance to the stage led us to gypsy music and the 1930s swing era as these are free-feeling, charismatic performances by real entertainers," Fuzz says. “We had a concept going in, both from a sound and production standpoint, lyrically and thematically.” The fruit of their labor, a diverse sonic festival of an album aptly dubbed "The Funhouse" is very likely Caravan of Thieves’ hands-down best.

Concert attendees should bring a membership card and a canned good to donate to the Seaford Food Bank to this performance. For more information, go to www.Seafordconcerts.org.