Basque music will be rocking the U.S. capital.
“Amuma Says No,” the popular Basque music band from Boise, will be playing Wednesday July 14 in the prestigious Homegrown Concert Series in Washington D.C.
The series features top artists performing traditional music and dance routines from a variety of cultures in the United States.
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The concert program, produced by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, will be a great opportunity for Amuma Says No to showcase its Basque music on a national platform.
“We’re excited and we’re honored to be able to do it,” said Spencer Basterrechea Martin, the band’s drummer and one of its founders. “It will be great.”
Martin said the band was invited to Washington D.C. as a result of the effort of Maria Carmen Gambliel, director of folk and traditional art with the Idaho Commission on the Arts. She arranged for the group to play in the concert series. “She basically put it all together for us,” he told Euskal Kazeta.
The group will be performing from noon to 1 p.m. at the Coolidge Auditorium inside the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E. in Washington D.C.
Video: Amuma Says No in Bakersfield
Amuma Says No (Amuma means “Grandmother in the Basque language of Euskera) is known for playing a catchy mix of traditional and modern Basque dance music. The group also belts out Basque-flavored folk and rock tunes.
The band is always a crowd-pleaser. It was started in 2006 by lead singer Jill Adape, accordionist Dan Ansotegui, tambourine player Sean Uranga Aucutt and Martin. They were raised listening to traditional Basque music and danced with Boise’s Oinkari Basque Dancers, according to the group’s website. The band also includes Rod Wray on bass and Micah Deffries on guitar.
After its Washington D.C. appearance, Amuma Says No will return to Boise, where it will be headlining a dance party Saturday July 31 at the Ada County Expo Idaho center during the huge Jaialdi 2010 festival. You can connect with the band on its Facebook and Twitter accounts.
