Members, Present and Past
 |
Jorge was born in Florida and moved to multiple states as a child. Studying music for several years, he started out on the guitar and bamboo flutes and plays the violin, piccolo, melodica, chromatic and diatonic harmonica, darbuka and glockenspiel. He has dabbled in several differnt styles of music. He has been apart of many variety shows, vaudville acts and circuses throughout the years…he is the bus driver and mechanic. He loves apple pie and hot chocolate and has been known to travel long distances to obtain them.
|
 |
Willo hails from the appalachians of North Carolina where she played piano from the age of 4 and recently switched over to the squeeze box. She has honed her singing skills in many different ways from singing in madrigals choir to singing for hours on end with Billie Holiday. Her angelic voice has the ability to transport you to another world. She sings in several different languages including Serbian, Roma, Bulgarian, Albanian, Macedonian, Greek, French, Hebrew, Spanish and English.
|
 |
Scott Stobbe comes from Santa Cruz, CA, studied composition at PSU, and performs in many projects around town including avant rock band Zdrastvootie as well as an experimental chamber music ensemble Regenbogen that performs his original compositions. He plays many styles of music, from free improv to oldtime and acoustic blues, using such varied instruments as gamelan, sitar, and shamisen as well as the more traditional guitar, banjo, and mandolin. Scott is currently accepting students for guitar, music theory and composistion, and he makes a damn fine cup of tea…
|
 |
Danielle has been dancing and performing for over fifteen years. A student of many styles from Balkan to Butoh, her love affair with bellydance in particular has been her gateway into live music, both the playing of and dancing to. Together with The Underscore Orkestra and RevelMe! she offers a dynamic performance not to be missed!
|
| Tom Fenollosa: Another multi-instrumentalist, mix master Tom plays upright bass in The Underscore Orkestra and with other portland pals The Dapper Cadavers. Other instruments include washtub bass, guitar, piano, accordion, and more. Tom, an avid cyclist, is often seen biking around town to gigs with his bass on a trailer. He Graduated from Reed college, now spends his time as a musician, farmer, and a wedding officiator, is there anything this man can’t do? | |
 |
The best gosh darn trombone player we’ve ever met. Kyle went to Berklee school of music and also plays accordion, banjo, guitar and various other instruments. He is a great composer and works with his two other Portland based bands The Bootz Orchestra and A King, as well as Russian gypsy punk band Chervona.
|
| Dave Hill.
Master of keys. |
|
 |
A Master of using any and all cups and other cavernous objects to make abstract sounds come from the bell of his trumpet, Sam is a Portland native but now calls the East Coast home. He studied at Berklee in Boston and now resides in NYC. He has been apart of many projects over the years including John Browns Body, Klezwoods and countless others. Whether as a band leader, a soloist, or a sideman, My Dear Sam Dushane will put a rocket in your pocket and get you up on that dance floor to hoot and holler.
|
 |
Andrew was born in Russia, and has played in numerous bands throughout the years including Portland’s own Chervona and Professor Gall. Andrew was born with a clarinet in his mouth. He is an amazing improvisor and plays with a zeal seldom found among mortal musicians.
|
 |
Oakland-based Drummer/percussionist Aharon Wheels Bolsta has performed or recorded with a wide range of artists including the Fishtank Ensemble, Khi Darag, Rumen Shopov, Sean Hayes, Dan Cantrell, Kugelplex, and many others. Aharon wishes to thank his teachers, tabla maestro Swapan Chaudhuri and Hindustani raga exponent Ali Akbar Khan at AACM. Aharon is also grateful for his opportunities to travel and perform music to children of all ages, elders, exotic dragonflies, random street cats, and everyone in-between and to his remarkable teachers in Brazil, Bali, Japan, Mali (West Africa), Turkey, India, the Balkans, France and Ireland, and the good old USA.
|
 |
Hailing from Somerville, MA and formerly known as “CupO’Joe”, The Underscore Orkestra has had a hand in louring this budding young starlight away from the glamorous world of fancy high end baristaism. Joe can make sounds come out of that big hunk o’ metal like no other that you have heard in your lifetime. Joe plays in such bands as Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band, Environmental Encroachment, and The Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band. Joe also enjoys the simpler things in life.. walks on sandy beaches, street activisim, and above all nothing beats a good ole CupO’Joe.
|
 |
The Fire that comes from this man’s hands is akin to no other. When you hear the sweet melodies that pour forth from his fingertips you can’t help but laugh, cry, shout, scream, dance and boogie down. Lucas hails from Florida where it is rumored he sold his soul to Lucifer himself for the ability to manipulate the guitar in this magnificent way. Lucas enjoys coco puffs early in the morning, often times rising before anyone else in the band to make sure he gets his share of the sweet sweet cereal that the dodo craves. Any evening with Lucas is one you will not soon forget.
|
 |
Self proclaimed worlds greatest artist and holds the guniess book of world records for most cookies eaten while playing the oud. He plays with The Underscore Orkestra, is a founding member of the band Negara, and plays in Krebsic Orkestar. Doug plays numerous instruments Including Oud, guitar, saz, jimbush, mandolin, and percussion. He often gives workshops and teaches turkish percussion technique.
|
 |
Drummer Extarordinaire, he has been studying percussion since he was a young boy. Jason is equally at home on the drum kit, the Turkish darbuka, and davul. He gets the red color of his coat from all of the shrimp that he eats. He spends most of his time thinking about beats, and his favorite rhythm is 9. A date with this boy will be full of fun filled adventures and generally ends back at his place for a drum solo.
|
 |
Cody was born in the gambling state of Nevada, in the worlds smallest big city…Reno…he comes from a blues, punk and swing guitar background and has played many instruments throughout his years including the fiddle and the piano. His energy on the guitar is seldom matched by anyone living. He has played with many bands including The Bears And The Bees, Mori Morte, Gherkin Soup, Below The Salt, and The Blair Street Mugwumps. He syncopates and resonates, enjoys long walks on the beach, and is amazing to watch when he takes his rigorously calculated smokin hot solos. The way to Cody’s heart is through sushi.
|
 |
Born into the life of a tight rope walking goat in a small family cirkus in the outskirts of a small town in Finland, Linsay eventually ran away and made her way to the deserts of New Mexico where she picked up any number of sticks and began beating them against things. She eventually decided to try it in a rhythmic fashion and became pretty proficient at all manners of percussion intruments. She now resides in the ultimate city of sin, NYC. The only thing is when we go places we have to be careful that she does not slip back into her old habits of eating the curtains and the recycling.
|
 |
Susanna studied violin classically for several years and is now fully immersed in Chinese medicine and accupunture, currently studying Mandarin, Tai Chi, and Kung Fu in Taiwan. She plays several styles of music including Indian, Irish and oldtime. She has a deep love and respect for her animal companions Butter and Ujima. She spent a long time in NYC and has been on the west coast for only a few years. She is a dreamer and a doer and brings a special energy with a charisma and drive that is inspiring to watch.
|
 |
Peter has a history longer than could ever be recounted in 3 sentences. He was born and raised in Portland, has made his primary living as a tattoo artist in many different locales, played with Gypsy Caravan for 8 years, is part of the Pan Zen Conspiracy Network, and is an artist with visual skills beyond compare who shows his work in several galleries around town. He is interested in exotic weaponry and will be ready for the apocolypse, and enjoys tinkering with large metal objects in his free time. 75% of his body is covered in ink and body piercings. He has played many styles of music in his long career including Turkish, Middle Eastern, punk, meta,l and of course swing, jazz, klezmer and Balkan.
|
 |
Cliffton was born a cleptomaniac, was reformed by the age of three, and immediately started playing the cello and the contrabass as part of his rehabilitation. He comes from Bellingham and is a good family man. He plays guitar, bass, drums, and has been apart of numerous musical projects throughout his musical carreer. He pays the bills as a preschool instructor where his experience with screaming 3 year olds has prepared him for his ultimate destiny of playing bass with The Underscore Orkestra.
————————————–
Bevin Victoria
Hybrid BellyDance Having spent most of her life upside-down or in the air, once it occurred to Bevin to put her feet on the ground, it made sense to keep them moving. What started as mandatory ballet practices for gymnastics turned into a love-affair that led her to pursue training in Lyrical, Hip Hop, Pop, Tribal Bellydance, Salsa, African, Native, and Tango. A black belt in Tae Kwon Do, SCA heavy fighter and practitioner of Bikram yoga, Bevin marries the control, focus and physicality of a life-long competitive athlete with the exuberant showmanship of a Vegas Showgirl on stimulants. Hybridbellydance.com
|
