New Monsoon San Francisco rock quintet New Monsoon is the collaborative vehicle for the vocal and instrumental prowess of founding members Bo Carper (acoustic guitar and banjo), Jeff Miller (electric guitar) and Phil Ferlino (keys). Now well into its second decade of national touring, the band also features the muscular rhythm section of Marshall Harrell (electric bass) and Michael Pinkham (drums). New Monsoon’s exhilarating blend of acoustic and electric instrumentation shines in an irresistible blend of sophisticated song craft, inventive musical exploration and down home rock-n-roll. “They have a collective power that comes off as a real unified force on stage. It’s not just a band, you know? It’s something transcendental.” - Michael Shrieve (original drummer, Santana). New Monsoon has shared the stage with heavyweight guests Mike Stern, the late, great Martin Fierro (Zero, Legion of Mary), Steve Kimock, and Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), to name a few. They've toured with String Cheese Incident, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Umphrey's McGee (Big Summer Classic Tour), supported Moe, The Wailers, etc. and are a featured headliner in venues such as the Fillmore (SF), Gothic Theater (Denver), and the Warehouse (Houston). They are also a perennial favorite of the festival circuit including marquee festivals like Bonnaroo, Wakarusa, Langerado, High Sierra, Telluride Bluegrass, Austin City Limits and many others. The band's quality associations continue with their recorded output. 2007's V was produced by Grateful Dead sound engineer John Cutler, and 2005's The Sound was helmed by original Santana percussionist Michael Shrieve and Paul Kimble (Grant Lee Buffalo, Luna). The latest album, New Monsoon Live, a double-cd set, features tunes from all eras of the band’s deep catalog. Miller and Ferlino have also recently formed a supergroup collective, The Contribution, along with Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth) Keith Moseley (String Cheese Incident) Matt Butler (Everyone Orchestra) and Sheryl Renee (Black Swan Singers). SCI Fidelity Records released Which Way World, The Contribution’s inaugural album, in 2010. Miller released his first solo album, Ancient Wisdom, in 2011. Carper performs as a solo act and as half of the duo, Bo & Lebo, with Dan Lebowitz of ALO.

Band's Official Website

Limited Flag: ApproReq + BandCurate / PhishPol (none specified yet?)

Please note the updated policy, below. Also, as of 6/2005, archivist Jeremy Ward will be working directly to curate this band section. (Earlier, the band had also authorized archivists Gary Hartman and Alan Friedman to contact us in case a recording needs to be removed for some reason, such as plans for an official release of a date.)

New Monsoon Taping & Distribution Policy
Rev. Feb. 2005

New Monsoon encourages and appreciates the taper community. Taping and trading is a wonderful craft and allows folks who love music to enjoy, preserve and share their favorite moments. By respecting the following guidelines you can help the band extend the privilege of taping for many years to come.

Not all venues are familiar with taping or allow taping so please be patient with local staff. When New Monsoon is performing at a festival or other event featuring multiple bands, that event's policy may override New Monsoon's customary taping policy. When New Monsoon is opening for another artist, the artist's policy may override New Monsoon's taping policy. Under certain circumstances we may not allow taping and/or duplication of a specific show due to the potential commercial distribution of that performance.

When there are multiple tapers at a given show, we hope that the tapers will take the opportunity to experiment with different mics and different locations. In other words, try to avoid patching out of the same source. Stuff happens, machines break. The more sources, the better chance of some excellent tape being pulled.

Under no circumstances shall any New Monsoon rehearsal or soundcheck be taped without the express prior permission of New Monsoon's road manager.

The enjoyment of the audience in attendance at a concert always takes precedence over recording efforts. This means that at no time should tapers ever require other patrons to be quiet or otherwise interfere with their enjoyment of the show. Please be kind.

We will do everything we can to assist tapers, and we have these preferences:

1. Rigging.

Please limit the amount of equipment you bring to that necessary to do an independent stereo original capture. This means microphones, batteries, etc. You should be self contained. Stage and house space is usually very precious, as we are a 7 piece band with a lot of gear. Please do not block lines of sight or cause any interference with the sound technician.

2. Sound board availability.

At times we can provide a board feed to those interested. Since we work with many different sound companies and venues, the availability will vary. Sound persons tend not to want to deal with this (and rightly so, they're busy!) so ask a crew member to coordinate the feed with the house. Be prepared to deal with XLR, 1/4, RCA jacks, or tin cans on strings.

3. Matrix recording.

Many people prefer to use multiple microphones, or mix microphones with a sound board feed. This is fine, again, as long as there is no close miking of instruments, and it is transparent to the production of the show.

4. Multitracking.

We don't want multitrack recording done without the permission and production cooperation of the band. Close miking is extremely cumbersome to our staging, and it is uncomfortable to walk on wires. So we would like to help plan and execute these types of recordings. But again, if you want to do something special, we are more than willing to help and get involved.

5. Video.

Amateur handheld video is fine, but you must agree, in writing, to send us a copy in MiniDV or DVD format. Find our road manager before filming, please, as he will definitely find you. A video production involving multiple cameras, lighting or booms will require the permission of and coordination by the band.

6. Photography.

New Monsoon allows photography in any format, including digital. Photo passes are not required. Try to keep flash use to a minimum: courtesy to the working crew and your fellow fans is key. Please do not intrude on the space of others in your zeal to capture that perfect shot.

7. Send it to us!

Please forward a copy of your recording to us, so that we can include it in our archive. We prefer audio CDs or data/shn/flac discs, but we'll also be happy with DAT. We would like to recognize the taper community via our web site, so let us know who you are! Send recordings destined for the archive to:

Gary Hartman
724 Peddie Street
Houston, TX 77008
Email: gary.hartman@tapirproductions.com

Or

Alan Friedman
22007 Crossbrook Drive
Katy, TX 77450
Email: texastapir@earthlink.net

8. Sharing.

Share any audio recordings freely. We have space set up at

archive.org

as a repository for this music. There are full services for documenting the sets, procedure, gear and participants. If you upload a show to archive.org, please drop a line to Gary or Alan or let them know if you have questions or need assistance with archive.org:

All participants in audio and video recording exchange (regardless of format) acknowledge and respect the copyrights and exclusive ownership of the music and performances by the performers, writers and publishers.

All taping must be for personal use only, which may include trading (via analog or digital tape, CD, or digital file transfer).

Under no circumstances may a New Monsoon rehearsal or soundcheck be included on a tape, CD, or digital file circulated in the tape trading community. If you were given permission to record a rehearsal or soundcheck, you must not include that material on any tape, CD, or digital file you trade.

The media by which audio and video trading is publicized may not be commercialized. Therefore no commercial gain may be sought by websites offering digital files of our music, whether through advertising, offering links for compensation, exploiting databases compiled from their traffic, or by any other means.

If we have chosen to offer for sale a particular New Monsoon performance, this "official" version will take precedence over amateur recordings and said recordings should no longer be traded, or made available by websites, servers, or other means. In no case may any officially-released New Monsoon recording (live or studio) be duplicated or otherwise traded or offered.

Taping at New Monsoon concerts is authorized for non-commercial purposes only. Unauthorized sale, duplication and/or distribution are strictly forbidden. All New Monsoon performances and recordings are the exclusive property of New Monsoon. We reserve the right to withdraw our sanction of recording, tape trading, and/or non-commercial digital audio and video file transfers on a case specific basis or in general, as we deem necessary.

We have been approached by companies wanting to collect and sell these amateur recordings, but we feel that they are of, by and for the community. Enjoy them, freely. If you ever are asked to pay for a show (other than the physical media cost, e.g., CDs, DATs), you and we are potentially getting ripped off. Let us know if you see this happening.

If you are aware of any person or site in violation of this policy, please inform us c/o Adam Haft, Polikalas/Haft Management (adamh@newmonsoon.com).

Do not share our studio recordings or commercially released live recordings. Buy them, and help us keep the tunes coming!

Lastly, please support all the artists you tape and trade by purchasing the merchandise that keeps them on the road (CDs, T-shirts, etc.).

Thanks for taping and trading, but most importantly, have fun at the shows.

Bo, Jeff, Ben, Marty, Raja, Brian and Phil
New Monsoon

Adam Haft
Polikalas/Haft Management

www.newmonsoon.com


On February 26, 2003, New Monsoon gave permission for shows to be hosted at the Archive:

Subject : Re: New Monsoon gives persmission to use taper recordings...

[previous policy notes, now superseded by above]