Cutting Edge Latin Music at The Gaia Festival in August 2012

The Gaia Festival takes place August 3rd, 4th, 5th, 2012 at Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, California. This year the festival presents a Latin Music Showcase featuring some of today’s top performers including Bomba Estereo, Kinky, Sambada and Rupa And The April Fishes.

Bomba Estereo

This enthusiastic quintet from Bogotá wraps traditional Colombian cumbia rhythms around psychedelic electronic beats, with whirlwind results. Its percussive fusion is a growing phenomenon in the American festival circuit: in the past few years Bomba Estéreo has manned the sizzling dance stages of Bonnaroo, Coachella and South by Southwest.

Kinky

Kinky combines the stylishness of discerning American and European dance grooves and straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll, with traditional rhythms from throughout South America. Their fresh new sound and extensive touring has attracted fans and supporters all over the U.S., Latin America and the U.K.

Sambada

Their profound knowledge and respect for the roots of afro-Brazilian song and dance creates a unique sound, samba-reggae-funk, with a universal appeal. For over ten years, SambaDa has been mixing contemporary sounds with the roots of Brazilian culture, musically uniting the Americas, drawing from percussion based styles of South and Central America, and blending it with that good old funk and reggae back beat so familiar to crowds of North America.

Rupa And The April Fishes

Combining the sensual lyricism of Latin American nueva trova with the rhythmic punch of cumbia and the theatricality of cabaret, the April Fishes’ sound is ecstatic and powerfully evocative. Coming from the land of earthquakes, social movements, social networking, peace-lovers and global corporate conglomerates, Rupa & the April Fishes embody the pluralistic and paradoxical sounds of the San Francisco Bay Area. Their music is strictly organic, nuclear-free, post-nation, many-headed and decidedly unclean.

The Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, California, is one of Northern California’s most loved concert venues. The Gaia Festival has extensive grounds covering approximately 150 acres, a year-round flowing creek, and camping in old growth oaks. This is a “green festival” and the event is powered by biodiesel generators. Just a three hour drive north of San Francisco and two hours south of Arcata.

Website: www.thegaiafestival.com