The Lovestruck Balladeers, Mal-O-Dua

(2018 pick) Fans of acoustic music will want to be sure to check out a pair of bands nimble enough to blend vintage swing sounds with just about any genre one can think of. The Lovestruck Balladeers, led by former Fat Babies guitarist Jake Sanders, is a quintet of multi-instrumentalists that can morph into surprising combinations. Madison’s Mal-O-Dua primarily blends the distinctive flavors of Gypsy jazz and Hawaiian guitar, but be ready for musical references much farther flung.

press release: 

The Lovestruck Balladeers will perform in Madison at The Brink Lounge on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, at 7:00.  Madison's Mal-O-Dua will open. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 day of show.

The Lovestruck Balladeers are a stellar band of traveling musicians. Together or on their own paths, they have traversed the country and the globe, carrying traditional styles into modern times and bringing new sounds to old music. The versatile quintet features twin fiddles, clarinet, a mandolin trio, acoustic and electric guitar, upright bass, banjos, piano, and vocal harmonies. Ragtime, old-time, jazz, swing, country, waltzes from around the world and dance music of all varieties are in the mix.  They are led by Jake Sanders, a veteran of The Fat Babies, Naomi & Her Handsome Devils, The Dotted Halves trio, and various other world class projects.

Mal-O-Dua: What happened when French Manouche Roma Gypsy Jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt met Kentucky thumb picking master Merle Travis and Hawaiian steel guitar virtuoso Sol Hoopii? A new type of driving acoustic swing music was born!!! Well….actually that never did really happen. However, this is the tasteful blending of diverse styles that Madison, WI based duo Mal-O-Dua is built on.  Mal-O-Dua pulls from a wide range of sources including Gypsy Jazz, traditional Hawaiian music, Kentucky thumb picking, vintage French pop, Eastern European Folk, early Parisian "Bal Musette" waltz style, and the American standard songbook to name a few. These styles are artfully bended together to create a fresh new sound