Bella’s Bartok comes from the streets—literally. Its members were busking in Great Barrington in the summer of 2008 when they were asked to put together a band to appear at a local festival.
“This promoter fellow approached me two summers ago about getting in on a slot at Shire Fest,” says guitarist and vocalist James Bill. “Some of the guys had been busking on the streets of Great Barrington, but there was no real band at the time. He said, ‘Whatever, if you’ve got a band, or even classical guitar [you can play],’ and I literally thought, ‘Wow! We could play in front of people!’ So I asked Asher [Putnam, vocals, guitar] if he wanted to get something together since he had had the vision for an Eastern Euro/Gypsy oom-pah band kicking around in his head. He saw it as and opportunity to get that off the ground. It came together far quicker and was far more fun and likeable than either of us could have imagined. Oddly enough, Shire Fest never happened.”
The band, now based in Amherst, has blossomed since that fateful invitation. In addition to Bill and Putnam, the group counts among its active ranks Vashti Poor on vocals, glockenspiel, and harmonica; Steve Torres on bass viol; Mark Schilling on drums; Sean Klaiber on trombone; Amory Drennan on trumpet; Tony Barone on sax; violinist Monte Weber; and on accordion, Doug Wright.
Bella’s Bartok sounds like a carnival blowing through town. The group colorfully labels its music as anything from acoustic Gypsy punk circus to Gypsy Balkan rockabilly fusion and, as weird as it might sound, they are pretty apt descriptors.
Audiences are responding enthusiastically to the band’s music. “Mass confusion, hysteria and tears,” jokes Putnam. “There is always a lot of tears. Then after a few minutes of shock and psychiatric help, dancing ensues.”
“They bop up and down, often smiling,” Bill adds. “When we used to busk on the street, people would stop and smile as if to say ‘Geez, this is cute. This is wild.’ We are less of a novelty these days.”
One of the band’s main objectives appears to be the use of its music as a unifying force to bring people together. Is this altruism really the case, or is that reading too much into things?
“Well, with a bit of a blush, I guess I would say that [is] correct,” says Bill. “Bella’s Bartok wants to get people up and moving to the music. We want to have a good time and we want our audience to have a good time. We are a 10-piece band and so we are basically our own party wherever we go. We are a party cluster of party cells whose raison d’etre is to assimilate and multiply. We also want to get older folks in the mood. We are pretty sure that we have saved a few marriages. We are like the Balkan rockabilly equivalent of Marvin Gaye in that regard.”
“We are a cultural party revolutionary whose sole goal in this life is to wreak havoc upon the dance floor,” adds Putnam. “We epitomize the Balkan Booty Drop.”
Bella’s Bartok plays Northampton’s Iron Horse May 15, 10 p.m., www.myspace.com/bellasbartok.
