Band Bios

Seth Blair - cello, hilarious muttering, vocals

Sure, Dr. Blair is a distinguished professor of cell biology, developmental biology, genetics/genomics, and neuroscience, BUT his REAL calling is playing the cello and composing songs that run the gamut from wistfully ardent to sarcastically spooky to utterly silly. Seth is an alumni of Reptile Palace Orchestra, the Bad Boys of Boston, and a riotous coffee-house solo act.

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Ed Feeny – tamboura, zesty yelling, vocals

Ed began folk dancing in gym class as a freshman at City High School, sparking his interest in the music and dance of regions ranging from the Middle East to Scandinavia. At 17, he picked up the electric bass and then helped create Napred, a group which played Eastern European folk music on traditional as well as non-traditional instruments. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Ed is a member of Reptile Palace Orchestra.

Dave Grindrod – accordion, vocals

Seattle-born, Hoosier-raised (mostly), David grew up studying classical piano and pipe organ, but loved listening to old rock and roll, recordings of renaissance polyphony and every kind of world folk music with exotic rhythms scales and harmonies.  He always loved picking up and trying to play any instrument or sound-producing object such as the washtub bass, rubber band or garden hose. As a member of Madison's mythical Wild Budgie Band, Dave played recorder, marimba, and pill-bug mandolin. He currently sings with the Madison Yiddish Choir, and plays bass domra with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Russian Folk Orchestra. 

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Anna Purnell – vocals, trumpet

Raised on jazz, opera, ethnic music, and head-phones-only rock and roll listening, Anna Purnell, a Milwaukee native studied with Richard Davis and Joan Wildman, but is entirely to blame for the way she turned out. Anna currently fronts the band Combo Noir, performs fervently with Forward! Marching Band, and is the veteran of the Quickies and the Reptile Palace Orchestra. She’s the adjunct vocalist with klezmer phenoms Yid Vicious, and performs as a guest artist with a number of other groups.

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Greg Smith – tupan, flute

After a lifetime devoted to playing clarinet and saxophone, Greg snapped and demanded that, just once, he get to play the DRUM! Of course, the Intemperance Collective said yes. Yet, do not permit his finesse with the tupan to blind you to his other side. The Madison native has been the bass clarinetist in the Madison Symphony Orchestra since the early 1970's. Other ongoing musical endeavors include the Caravan Hot Club Swing Ensemble, Capitol City Concert Band, the Avenue Sizzlers (Dixieland), Yid Vicious (klezmer). Previously, he performed with bands such as the Reptile Palace Orchestra (Balkan lounge funk), North Country Drifters (Western swing), and Grupo Candela (salsa, bachata, meringue).

Flora VanWormer - cello, gadulka
Flora discovered the cello at age twelve after an early retirement from piano and violin. She taught in the Cincinnati area and then lived in Western Massachusetts for five years. There, she taught cello in the public schools, a Waldorf school and privately. She also performed as a freelance cellist, and played with the Pioneer Valley Symphony, the Wholesale Klezmer Band and Druzhina. Flora has a Suzuki Cello & Bass studio and freelances in the area. She performed with Veseliyka, a Bulgarian village-style band. She has traveled to Bulgaria to study its language and music.