Born in Bolinas, CA, New Monsoon is a staple of the San Francisco
Bay Area Jam/Rock Band scene. With an eclectic blend of
sophisticated songcraft, deep grooves and extensive jams New Monsoon
incorporates many influences into their own brand of rock n roll.
Celebrating over 25 years of making music, the band is better than
ever, having cultivated the experiences of years of touring and
performing nationally at top venues (Fillmore SF, etc) and festivals
including Red Rocks, Bonnaroo, High Sierra Music Festival and Austin
City Limits Festival. The band has shared the stage with String Cheese
Incident, Umphrey’s McGee, etc (Big Summer Classic Tour) and has had
numerous premier guests such as Mike Stern, Steve Kimock, and Michael
Franti.

Founding members Bo Carper and Jeff Miller met through the music scene
at Penn State University. The two were connected by mutual friend and
keyboardist Phil Ferlino who played with Bo and Jeff in separate bands
(All Shapes Ensemble and Mosaic). Bo was the first to move to California to the
sleepy coastal town of Bolinas. In 1997 Jeff moved to SF, reconnected
with Bo and the two began writing mostly instrumental pieces. One of
the songs was named “New Monsoon” inspired by the relentless rains of
the El Nino that winter. The name stuck and the two decided to start a
band by the same name. Inspired by influences including Santana, The
Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin and other world music stylings Bo and
Jeff cultivated a catalogue of songs and ideas and began to seek out
other members.

The band initially formed as a trio, adding another PA friend Heath
Carlisle who played drums. Going forward Heath, a multi-instrumentalist,
would become the Bassist and lead singer. The next phase of the band
introduced Drummer Marty Ylitalo and percussionists Brian Carey and
Rajiv Parikh. The band recorded and self-produced their first record
“Hydrophonic” and began to play gigs. After contributing keyboard tracks
on the recording, Phil Ferlino joined the band just in time to perform
at High Sierra Music Festival. After a time of playing locally as a
7-piece band, and after recording their 2nd record “Downstream”, in 2003
they began touring. Bassist Ben Bernstein eventually replaced Heath
Carlisle and they began touring nationally and released their first live
album, “Live at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival”.

In 2005 the band recorded their “The Sound” produced by original
Santana drummer Michael Shrieve who the band befriended one night on
tour in Shrieve’s hometown Seattle WA. Shrieve’s friend Paul Kimble
(Grant Lee Buffalo, Luna) also joined to co-produce and engineer the
record.

“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)

The band remained a 7-piece until 2007, and continued to tour as a 5-piece
after the departure of percussionists Brian Carey and Rajiv Parkih.
They made another significant connection with Grateful Dead Producer
and recording engineer John Cutler (Grateful Dead’s “In the Dark”) and
recorded the aptly named album “V”, with Bassist Ron
Johnson, former member of Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe.

After several years of touring as a 5-piece, and drafting another
rhythm section including Marshall Harrell and Drummer Sean Hutchinson, they
released “New Monsoon Live”. The band continued touring, Sean moved to
New York and was replaced by Michael Pinkham on Drums and the band
went on to record “Diamonds and Clay” at Bob Weir’s TRI Studios in
San Rafael, CA.

“Diamonds and Clay affirms New Monsoon as torchbearers for rock & roll
with something substantive to say about the human condition. Made of
sturdy muscle & heart, they stretch rock in the same winning ways as
Traffic and Little Feat, where great skill, undisguised passion, and
well-weathered soul combine for nourishment for folks who seek music
that’s more than mere entertainment.”
– Dennis Cook (Dirty Impound/JamBase)

Today the band remains a 5-piece with the re-vamped rhythm section of
Dale Fanning (Living Daylights)  and Mark “Murph” Murphy (Freddy Jones
Band, Stu Allen). They also continue to do “reunion” style
performances with the original percussionists Brian and Rajiv (High
Sierra Music Festival, etc.)