Stretching the parameters of acoustic swing, Caravan of Thieves has been winning immediate praise for their new and unique brand of gypsy flavored song writing and their high intensity show. The vocal harmonizing, acoustic guitar spanking husband and wife duo Fuzz and Carrie have extended their family to include fiery violinist Ben Dean and double bass madman, Brian Anderson to complete their colorful vision. Seeking inspiration from beyond the great divide, the quartet produces layers of Beatlesque vocals, driving rhythms, satirical, dramatic song writing and an overall circus of sound.  Caravan of Thieves joins host Aer Stephen for a raucous evening of swinging sounds in the WTJU LIVE Studio.  You can catch their performance in person later this evening at the Belmont venue, Bel Rio, right here in Charlottesville, at 8:30 PM.

Caravan of Thieves create fun yet elegant compositions that embody the spirit and swing of early gypsy jazz but with plenty of witty, inventive lyrics and vocal harmonies to serenade the listener.  Fiery violin arrangements, thumping upright bass & rhythmic acoustic guitar spanking counteract the sweet, melodic, harmonious male/female vocals of Fuzz and Carrie.  Within their first year together, Caravan of Thieves have managed to win immediate praise for their new and unique brand of alt gypsy acoustic music and their high intensity show. During that time the quartet found themselves performing in premiere venues around the country with world renowned artists such as Dan Hicks, Tony Trischka, Tom Tom Club, Menudo, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Trout Fishing in America and Ryan Montbleau Band. Caravan successfully connected with audiences on each of these diverse and at times, odd fitting bills proving the music to be a hit with folk, pop, rock and jazz appreciators alike as well as all age groups. This became evident when in only ten months they went from support act to selling out their first headline show.

Also in that first year and in a fit of creativity, the group wrote, recorded and released their debut full length album, “Bouquet” featuring 12 original compositions including a guest appearance from accordion player Bruce Martin (Tom Tom Club), producer Keith "Touch" Saunders and mastering engineer, Joe Lambert (B-52’s, Bright Eyes, Animal Collective, R. Kelly). To accompany this collection of dramatic and comical short stories, they built an interactive stage set of percussive junk and full multimedia production which delivers the audiences directly into the wild, imaginative minds of Fuzz and Carrie and the Caravan of Thieves. Comprised of Fuzz and Carrie Sangiovanni, the singers and acoustic guitar players, Ben Dean the violinist and Brian Anderson the double bassist, this ragtag cast of characters converge from vastly different backgrounds in folk, pop, classical, jazz and rock. Fuzz (who has spent the past thirteen years touring the world with funk and dance groups such as Tom Tom Club and Deep Banana Blackout) teamed up with Carrie in 2004 to create an acoustic duo and their full band Rolla together. In those early years they developed their songwriting and vocal harmonizing skills together, released two records and played hundreds of shows around the country. As their vision developed, the couple knew they needed to expand their palette and in early 2008 recruited Brian, who had toured previously in his experimental jazz trio Raisin Hill as well as Ben who had studied jazz and classical violin since an early age and performed in a variety of ensembles, bands and orchestras around Connecticut. Some notable Caravan of Thieves shows would include: Green Apple Music Festival in Miami, FL; Spring Gulch Folk Festival in New Holland, PA; Gathering of the Vibes Festival in Bridgeport CT; CMJ Music Marathon in NYC; The Mint in Los Angeles, CA and State Theater in Falls Church, VA. Many more to come in 2009!