Hazmat Modine, Bonfire Tour 2024

HAZMAT MODINE plays the kind of Blues one might have found in a barrelhouse in New Orleans had the city been inhabited by gypsies who performed with Otis Redding and the city had been built on the Black Sea. The band is driven by harmonicas, tuba, drums, guitars, Banjo and a full horn section. Guests play such exotic instruments as the Romanian cimbalom, the banjitar, and the Claviola. Front man Wade Schuman has the appropriately throaty voice of someone who has both hopped freight trains and collaborated with the Throat Singers of Tuva. For the past fifteen years, the band has been touring in over 40 countries worldwide. They have collaborated/performed with a vast range of artists including Bombino, Kronos Quartet, Cat Empire, the Gangbe Brass band from Benin, Son of Dave, Balla Kouyate and Natalie Merchant. The title track from their first CD BAHAMUT was used in the 3D film Pina by Wim Wenders, and currently in a performance by Pina Bausch and the Stuttgart Ballet. Their second CD Cicada was awarded the Charles Cross award in France for best blues album of the Year, and topped number one on the World Music Charts in Europe. More recent CDs include Hazmat Modine - Live, Extra-Deluxe-Supreme, and Box of Breath out now on Geckophonic records.

("Hazmat" is a portmanteau of "hazardous material" and "Modine" is the name of a company that manufactures commercial heaters but may be used to refer to the heater itself.)

Program and cast

Wade Schumann: diatonic harmonica, guitar, banjitar, lead vocals
Erik Della Penna: vocals, banjo, guitar
Pamela Fleming: trumpet, fluegelhorn
Steve Elson: baritone, tenor saxophone, clarinet, duduk, flute
Daisy Castro: violin, vocals
Joseph Daley: sousaphone
Patrick Simard: percussion, drums