The Wheat in the Barley
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Meet the Wheaties!

How to describe this colorful band of multi-instrumentalists?  After hearing a few blazing Celtic and Slavic numbers, you might be tempted to peg The Wheat in the Barley as a fiddletune band.  But listen again, as an achingly beautiful version of an ancient harp tune or an air on the flute floats you along in a reverie of chamber music stylings.  Along the way, a few pit-stops in Spain, North Africa, the Middle East and South America will round out The Wheat in the Barley's world music tour. 

As a listening experience, their sound is detailed, sumptuous and more than a bit cheeky — a flying fiddle tune can easily take a detour into the land of the Beatles or an African percussion jam.  Their creative arrangements are full of surprises, featuring trilling pennywhistles, rhythmic accordion, bluesy mouth-harp, passionate violin, searing saxophone and more, all against a backdrop of one of the finest rhythm sections in Southwestern B.C.  Their storied songs feature up to 5-part vocal harmonies.

The Wheat in the Barley are equally at home mesmerizing audiences from a concert stage or laying down irresistible grooves for the crowd on the dance-hall floor.  Available for conventions, weddings, special events and festivals in four to six-piece configurations. 
 
Steve Gidora
 The group's name evokes images of Irish and Ukrainian agriculture, which sums up the heritage of its founder, Both sides of the family were very musical, and Steve received his first mandolin from his Ukrainian grandfather at the age of 10.  Since then he has played with a wide array of Vancouver artists and has served in the schools as a music teacher in Langley, BC, as well as providing vocals, mandolins and guitar with the band.  Steve has shared the stage with folk singers such as Ann Mortifee and Charlotte Diamond and his groups have opened for the legendary Pete Seeger and Odetta.
 Another well-known member of the group is a gifted Celtic music interpreter respected for decades of outstanding work with other Vancouver folk groups such as Under the Moss, The Stoaters, Tiller's Folly, Fear of Drinking, Shenanigan and the Paperboys. His instrumental arsenal includes accordion, whistles, violin, flutes, guitar, bohdran drum and bones. His discerning ear is evident in his co-production of the group's second CD, Grandad, with Steve and the third, After the Battle, with Steve and Mark. He records and produces CDs for other artists in his own studio, Red Crow Music.
 Victor Smith
Mark Dowding
   Woodwind specialist who is also a founder of the Gypsy jazz group The Hot Club of Mars and a member of Janet Lillian Russell's group The Wheel, adds inventive leads, harmonies and counterpoints on all kinds of flutes, whistles, saxophones and harmonicas, and creates a jazz-funk fusion feel in many of the group's exciting new arrangements. Mark teaches private lessons on flute, sax and harmonica, and handles graphic, multimedia and website design for the group and for many other artists through his new-media company, WindGod Media Services. He also co-produced the group's third CD, After the Battle, with Steve and Victor.
The group's newest member is violinist whose brilliant improvisations and lively stage presence add a sparkle to their live performances. She also sings beautiful lead and harmony vocals and has written several of the group's tunes. Nicole is a frequent performer with a local symphony orchestra, heads up her own group, The Red Hot Strings, and teaches violin in private lessons and group workshops several days a week. She has recently released her own solo CD, Colouring.
Nicole
MickeyHovan
 the group's guitarist and bassist, brings to the group’s concerts the energy and excitement developed through years of playing the rock and country music scene around British Columbia.  He adds driving rhythms and blazing flat-picked melodies that make the group’s concerts take off, complete with a wacky sense of humour.  He has also been heard around British Columbia with a number of popular pop-rock and country groups.
who provides bass and percussion, is a graduate of White Rock's Semiahmoo Secondary School music program, where he received a scholarship to attend the Columbia Academy of Recording Arts.  He is a veteran professional musician and sound engineer who operates and maintains the group's sound equipment, and can often be found making good things happen at Turtle Recording in White Rock, BC.  Ed is also a member of premier Vancouver blues band "Brickhouse" and White Rock's popular alternative rock group "Cozy Bones".
 Ed Johnson
INFO & BOOKINGS Further information, group bookings or copies of the CD's can be obtained from at (604) 723-3052, or from  at (604) 506-6916.
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