ARI NEUFELD
Ari Neufeld hails from a simpler time of heart and song. His live performance art has earned him numerous awards and audiences since he started performing in missionary performing arts troops at age 9. Neufeld has toured many of the major continents, pursuing a creative life; after a 3 year artist development program in Austin Texas, beginning in 2012 (with a weekly residential gig at the infamous Saxon Pub and two seasons of SXSW), Neufeld returned to his home in the Okanagan, British Columbia and realized that instead of pursuing a wide international pop audience, he wanted to focus on the heart of being a Canadian folk artist, looking for deeper, more intimate listening groups that responded to the intimacy of storytelling and hilarity, and raising his kids. To date he has performed at over 170 weddings, nearly every single casino in the province of British Columbia and played over 650 shows in downtown Vancouver alone. Typically, Neufeld plays a one-man-band routine with various ethnic percussive instruments strapped to his body and mic’d, while keeping time with a blend of instruments and microphones through an amplified stomp box. Since meeting Jennie Bice at The Arts On the Fly Festival in Horsefly, BC, Neufeld has been collaborating with her over the last six years, hosting community musical events and playing local festivals. In September-November, 2019, Neufeld and Bice collaborated on their first recording project. You can sample their songs here:
JENNIE BICE
Jennie Bice is currently performing regularly with 12 bands in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. With a combination of classical and fiddle training from an early age, it is was not uncommon for her to be active in both orchestras and old-time fiddle contests. Today she is collaborating with genres that blend over into all sorts of categories, age groups and styles. At her home in Mission, BC, Bice presides over Annwyn Studios, a multi functioning recording, teaching and rehearsal space. When she isn’t teaching fiddle and violin technique, she is performing in acting troops, leading fiddle workshops and heavily involved in fiddle camps. Her genius is in high demand worldwide, as her reputation has earned her truly great accolades since her involvement with acts like “Boris Sichon”, “John Welsh”, “Tim Readman”, “Roads Unknown” and “Murphy’s Lagh”.
ARI & JENNIE
Together, Neufeld and Bice (Ari and Jennie) have a deep rooted peace in the spotlight of spontaneous high energy musical performance. Their onstage banter is captivating and hilarious, weaving the songs together with personal stories and dramatic/comedic vignettes. When the two become engaged in their craft, a powerful source of beauty takes over and both are taken into the deepest access of their talents, and the performance is unlike anything else.
Here is a video example of Ari and Jennie collaborating with a brand new song (only performed once live before this video) in an intimate houseconcert environment:
