Imagine Siouxsie Sioux and Dee Dee Ramone had a duo that was inspired by Django Reinhardt, Edith Piaf, Toulouse Lautrec and Deepak Chopra, this is what it might sound like. One part Dresden Dolls, Sonny and Cher and one part White Stripes. A pixie spirited flexitarian band of tree hugging, gothic, folky, troubadours by way of Paris and New York. Doused in red wine, kale and granola, raised on punk rock and ballet, eclectic and uplifting... fun with a capital F!

The product of a 1998 office romance, the two left their temp jobs, traveled as a solo musician (him) and artist (her) selling their wares until 2005 when, Stephenson, the sultry French born singer jumped onstage and joined, Helland, the fiery punk rock guitarist from the golden days of the hardcore scene, and Frenchy and the Punk was born.

They were named one of the ''Top 25 duos in America' by Yahoo music. The unlikely pairing has since released 6 full-length CDs, produced a live concert DVD and have performed all across the U.S. and in Europe.

Their show is a carnival of two that will take you from the Moulin Rouge to CBGBs and back again. A rollicking flapper folk punk cabaret with Taiko meets Rio de Janeiro pounding drum instrumentals.

Listen and Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/YdOJghNNDqg

Unwoman (aka Erica Mulkey) is a San Francisco-based solo cellist-singer-songwriter. Her sets feature stand-up electric cello with live looping. She received two Steampunk Chronicle Reader's Choice Awards in 2015, for best solo musician and best album (Circling). Unwoman has performed with Amanda Palmer, Voltaire, Abney Park, Rasputina, Stripmall Architecture, Vernian Process, and many others. She is active on Patreon and has run over a dozen successful kickstarter campaigns.

HEAR UNWOMAN’S MUSIC ON BANDCAMP:
https://unwoman.bandcamp.com

UNWOMAN is sponsored by Devi Lanphere! Our community makes it possible to bring you these wonderful artists!

PHOTO CREDIT: INDUSTRIAL EYE PHOTOGRAPHY

Festival Favorites Sharon Knight and Winter are internationally touring musicians in the mythic-Celtic vein. Their penchant for combining fierce and gutsy bravado with ethereal beauty, a hearty dose of fantastical lyrics, and an obvious love of storytelling has inspired their own style, “Neofolk Romantique”. This often sound less Celtic and more “Folktales that ran away with the Faeries at the turn of the century and took cover in an old trunk bound for the circus, which was then commandeered by pirates.” This suits them fine. 

They have shared stages with mythic music favorites such as Faun, Omnia, Corvus Corax, SJ Tucker, Tricky Pixie, Heather Dale, Wendy Rule, Stellamara, and many more.

Hear Sharon and Winter’s music on Bandcamp:
https://sharonknight.bandcamp.com

See Video:
https://sharonknight.net/video/

PHOTO CREDIT:
Full Band: Paul Nordin, EMB Films.
Close Up: PixieVision Productions

Fans of Wardruna will delight in the haunting, dark Paganfolk of Weoh!

A sacred triptych of the macabre, Wēoh ritualizes the present through the storytellers of our past. Weaving together the disciplines of linguistics, folklore, and musicology, Wēoh reimagines the dark tales of Beowulf in its original Anglo-Saxon tongue. The ghoulish rebirth of spirits past takes form with vocal polyphony, visions of nature and blood, and instruments of wood and bone. 

 Cavan Wagner: guitar and voice
Brighid Holliday-Wagner: vielle and voice
Jenn Grunigen: drums/bones and voice

Hexenfest is honored to feature this up and coming band on Friday night!

Hear their music on Bandcamp:
https://weoh.bandcamp.com/releases

Sound Temple is comprised of renowned world music artists Stephen Kent and Jeffry Alphonsus Mooney. They bring their dynamic duo to Hexenfest Friday afternoon!

Multi Instrumentalist and composer Stephen Kent's musical career has taken him across five continents, living at various times in the UK, Spain, East Africa, Australia and the US. His musical scores, composed for theatre, circus and dance companies, have received international acclaim and his work as a performer and recording artist has established him in the world music scene, exploring a broad range of playing styles and musical genres. As a performer on the Australian Aboriginal Didjeridu he has pioneered its use in contemporary music across the globe collaborating with a number of musicians, including Airto Moreira (Brasil), Zakir Hussain (India), Habib Koite (Mali), Omar Sosa (Cuba), Leonard Eto (Japan), Choi Jong Sil (Korea), Steve Roach (USA) and many more. Stephen also hosts Music of the World, a weekly show on Pacifica Radio's KPFA.

Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney is an accomplished musician, ritualist, teacher and performer working in the Bay area for 30 years. He has taught in Australia. Canada, and various parts of the U.S. He is affiliated with the Bay area Wiccan group, Reclaiming.

Together, these two are awesome!

Learn more at: https://stephenkent.net/#about

Listen on Bandcamp:
https://musicmosaic.bandcamp.com/track/yekke-stephen-kent

Alexander James Adams returns to Hexenfest!

From the Land of Fae comes the Faerie Tale Minstrel with songs and stories of days gone by and futures yet to come. Guitar and fiddle support a voice that enchants the ear and comforts the heart. Jigs and reels, lust and lullabye, the magic and music are there for those that believe.

Bonus: Such is Alec’s charm, that Sharon features him as the “Fiddle of Dubious Intent” in her song Crimson Masquerade.

ALEXANDER JAMES ADAMS is sponsored by Alexia Retallack! Our community makes it possible to bring you these wonderful artists!

Alec plays Friday afternoon at Hexenfest.

Learn more about Alec here:
https://alexanderjamesadams1.bandcamp.com

From San Francisco, California comes a singular musical voice.

Elven, dreamlike, and entirely original.

When Noe’s fans were asked to describe her music, these were a few of the words they used.

Here are a few more:

Haunting. Penetrating. Shadow realms. Redemptive. Tender. Deeply moving.

Priestess. New myths. Revealing the unseen.

Noe’s lyrics are both rooted and whimsical. In the tradition of musical innovators like Kate Bush, Noe’s soundscapes call to the wildest recesses of the soul. The SF Bay Gaurdian wrote that Noe’s music “stuns and enraptures so thoroughly that multiple listenings are required to unravel her mysteries of music and meaning.”

As an independent artist, Noe has built a loyal following around the world. She has toured nationally with Ani Di Franco and many other well-known artists, seen her songs featured in film, appeared on national television, and been nominated for awards, both for her voice and her writing. Her inimitable voice can be heard on releases by Ani Di Franco and Vienna Teng, who also covered Noe’s song, Midsummer Night’s Dream.

A multi-instrumentalist, Noe plays guitar, mountain dulcimer, piano, and celtic harp. In order to capture a vibe of maximum intimacy, she does most of her recording at home.

She is currently at work on a new album.

CHECK OUT NOE’S YOU TUBE CHANNEL HERE.

Cliona Arract is a Northern California based mermaid who will remind you to drown the boy and find the power within yourself. With a mix of humor and song, she is here to remind you that mermaids are not always benevolent. No need to be worried about being enthralled by her sea song, she wants to recruit you for her nefarious quest in eating the bloody heart of the patriarchy.

Hexenfest will be the debut of Cliona’s stage musical act, where we will find out what should be done about the drunken sailor.

Cliona opens the Saturday musical festivities.

Larger-than-Life Cabaret Badass Rockubus hosts a sultry late-night cabaret! Celebrating the human form in motion!

ROCKUBUS is Sydney Miles, classically trained opera singer and pianist, voice actress, dark tribal fusion bellydancer, horror burlesque, MC, event and sound producer. From the Bay Area to Beelzebub's Boudoir, you can find her using erotic performance for everything from raising money for the AIDS Foundation, to using her voice to uplift the marginalized, to raising money for local LGBT+ interest groups (MC @ YaoiCon), putting her whole heart into her produced shows and in a hundred venues across the States, from private upscale speakeasies to glittering, seedy dives.

Her passion for Hexenfest began very early in the festival's history, standing out for her as place for artists to capture their magic in very earnest ways, and for people of all stripes to vent their spirit creatively and indulge in the dark, holistic, and transportive.

Join her for a sumptuous evening of entertaining delights, from the ferociously beautiful to the wickedly complex.

Rockubus sincerely welcomes Special Guest performer ARIELLAH to close out the show!

BONUS: Rockubus will also be announcing our Steampunk Masquerade costume winner during this show, so be sure to stay up for it! Plus you do not want to miss ARIELLAH!

(Facebook and Instagram: Rockubus.
Bookings at RockubusRex@gmail.com)

Ariellah is an international fusion dancer, performer and instructor with much passion in her heart for life, for music, for love.

She has an extensive dance background that includes strict classical ballet training for 12 years with the Royal Academy of Dance from London. She has studied and performed belly dance since 2001, commencing her training with Janine Ryle of Danse Mahgreb and as a founding member of The Indigo with Rachel Brice.

In 2009, Ariellah began training in classical Indian Odissi dance, studying in India at the Shakti School of Dance and currently continues her studies of this dance form yearly with Colleena Shakti. Ariellah's style infuses many genres of dance, all with a modern dark flavour that is uniquely her own. Her dance manifests what is deep in her heart and expresses her own experience and perceptions of this wondrous, beautiful and tragic thing called life.

Her dance is utterly captivating and we are delighted to have her headline Rockubus Presents Late Night Cabaret!

Ariellah also teaches Mindful Awakening on Saturday afternoon.

www.ariellah.com