Avalon Rising Celtic Rock Band: Band and Individual Bios

BAND BIO

Oakland, California-based Celtic rock band AVALON RISING is known for its unique sound -- a blend of original rock, Celtic, and Medieval music. Their rich acoustic/electric sound features brilliant male and female vocals over intricate instrumental arrangements, supported by a vibrant rhythmic background. Their line-up includes electric and acoustic guitars, electric violin, Celtic harp, flute, bass, mandocello, drums, and vocals.

With a repertoire that includes both original and traditional songs and ranges in feel from driving Celtic tunes to haunting harp-based ballads, Avalon Rising will enchant and excite you. Their music has been compared to Tempest, Loreena McKennitt, and Dead Can Dance with touches of Jethro Tull and the Grateful Dead.

Avalon Rising has been performing in the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest for over fifteen years at clubs, festivals, pubs, benefits, and conventions. Festival performances include the Euro-American Festival in Jinan, China, the Livermore Scottish Games, the Modesto Scottish Games, the Sonoma County Fair, the Harmony Festival, the High Sierra Music Festival, and many more.

They headlined at the Oscar Party for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: The Return of the King. Their music has been used in a Boston Globe commercial, and can be heard in several movies, including Cost of a Soul, Valley of Fear, and Far From the Sea.

PERFORMER BIOS

KRISTOPH KLOVER
Vocals * Electric and 12-string Guitar * Octave Mandolin * Oboe
is leader, lead guitarist, and a lead vocalist of Avalon Rising and writes most of the original music performed in the band. After studying vocal technique with James Schwabacher and Edwin Barlow and appearing with the Marin Opera, Kristoph co-led the bands Belltaine and Magic Fire, where he sang and played lead guitar. Kristoph's original music has been recorded on the albums Magic Fire, The Starlit Jewel, and Avalon Rising, and he has worked with women's music artist Cynthia McQuillin as co-producer, arranger, and performer on her album This Heavy Heart. Kristoph has appeared as guest musician on a total of 17 albums by various artists. He performs with acoustic Celtic/Renaissance band Broceliande as well as with Avalon Rising and operates his own recording studio, Flowinglass Music, with his wife Margaret.

MARGARET DAVIS
Vocals * Flute * Celtic Harp * Recorders
Margaret grew up in Illinois, where she was classically trained as a singer, flutist, and recorder player and received her degree in Music from Knox College. She performed for six years as lead vocalist and harper with the Medieval band Gai Saber and appeared as vocal soloist with the Renaissance music ensemble The Brass Menagerie. A life-long interest in the music of her Scots Celtic ancestry led to her work with the Celtic bands Belltaine, Magic Fire, and Four Shillings Short, with whom she recorded several albums, including Gifts of Joy, Magic Fire, and Now. She has lent her vocal and instrumental talents to over a dozen recordings in all. Margaret leads acoustic Celtic/Early Music group Broceliande and co-runs Flowinglass Music in addition to her work with Avalon Rising.

SCOTT IRWIN
Drums
He's a great guy, but he hasn't given us his bio yet!

CAT TAYLOR
Electric and Acoustic Violin
Eclectic electric and acoustic violinist Cat Taylor was educated classically with a BA in music from UC Santa Barbara and has studied with Charles Meacham, India Cooke and David Balakrishnan. She has served as music and dance director for The Renaissance Pleasure Faire and The Dickens Christmas Fair, and is currently Director of Entertainment for "As You Like It Productions." Cat has performed with a diverse combination of ensembles that include everything from classical and show orchestras and Celtic balladeers to jazz and wild rock-and-roll. Album credits include pioneering Celtic Fusion band Phoenyx's Keepers of the Flame and Celtic-Middle-Eastern-trance-dance ensemble Haunted by Waters' Like the Dust. She performed for five years with Amazon Queen.

MARK UNGAR
Bass * Mandocello * Vocals
Multi-instrumentalist Mark Ungar specializes in acoustic and electric guitars, mandocello and vocals, also playing mandola, violin, electric bass, percussion and drums. A versatile accompanist, composer, and songwriter, Mark explores the idioms of rock, folk, blues, psychedelia and Celtic traditional music, with frequent excursions into the realm of the unclassifiable. Equally at home on stage or in the studio, Mark and his compositions have appeared on several albums. He was a member of legendary San Francisco Celtic rock band Phoenyx and techno-pagan-sci-fi band Annwn, and toured Germany with super-corn folk group Shanachie. Mark has performed with Shana Morrison, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassidy (of Hot Tuna) and at the wedding of Jerry Garcia.