Tumbleweed Wanderers

Tumbleweed Wanderers is a group of multi-instrumentalists based out of Oakland, California. They meld rock, soul, bluegrass, and folk into a genre they describe as “street folk and soulful rock and roll.” The band has been playing music together non-stop for the past nine months, putting out two EPs and touring the Southwest.

Jeremy Lyon and Zak Mandel-Romann formed Tumbleweed Wanderers in March
2011. Sharing a mutual admiration of the “O Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack, Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On” and Fleet Foxes “Ragged Wood” the two left college to pursue music full-time. They recruited keyboardist Patrick Glynn, whom Zak had played with since he was ten, drummer Daniel Blum, whom Jeremy met when he was sweeping the floors of a recording studio, and singer / banjo player / guitarist Rob Fidel, whom Jeremy met at an open mic on the first day of college at UC Santa Cruz.

TW have played shows at a growing list of the Bay Area’s small to midsize venues. In just a few months they’ve gone from humble beginnings at Brainwash Café in San Francisco to headlining sold out shows at Bottom of the Hill, The Crepe Place, and The Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. Together, they’ve performed anywhere and everywhere from clubs such as the New Parish, Boom Room, and The Uptown, to house parties and street performances. TW have been seen by thousands of concert-goers, in spontaneous acoustic street performances outside of venues such as the Greek, the Fox and the Fillmore, regularly drawing crowds of enthusiastic audiences excited to continue their music experience. They have become recognizable staples of these shows by many of the regular attendees of these concerts.

After a number of months in and out of the studio, their debut self-titled EP was released at Bottom of the Hill on November 25, after which they embarked on a Southwest tour in which they sold 600 copies out of their van in three weeks. Since then, they’ve been working on their debut full length album, which they’re recording to tape in April with John Vanderslice at his Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco. TW will then embark on two Southwest tours and a Northwest tour before releasing the album in July, followed by a heavy touring schedule.