Band Member Bios
Name: Fenn
Role: Banjo, Vocals
Fast Fact: She is fluent in 12 languages. English was only the fourth.
Bio: Born deep within the Pyrenees, it’s little wonder this Andorran feels more at home in the mountains than in these city walls. Raised on a small sheep farm outside Encamp, she watched with a heavy heart as her tiny crossroads country eroded away, unchecked, due to the rampant deforestation and overgrazing of mountain meadows. Each river borne grain of silt heightened her sense of urgency. Surely there were some who appreciated their surroundings; some who saw alternatives to exploitation.
The quickest course to change she saw available was education. Education not by book, but by experience – the vision’s unconventional nature only strengthened its potency. Organic farmers became her teachers. Mountaineers became her mentors. Upon leaving Andorra, she journeyed east with her banjo in hand. Mandalas, saigas, and taiga filled her days. Farther on still, she tarried in the rain forest and was waylaid by the fjords. In New Zealand, she worked on many an organic farm. But even so, she moved on.
In the US, she hitchhiked from Seattle to Pittsburgh, stopping in many a little town along the way. Always learning, her eyes and mind were like a sponge. In Minnesota, she began assembling a pictorial essay of her journey. Released to wide acclaim, A World Divided, And Now We Multiply, was a New York Times best seller for a record 96 weeks. Her keen photographic eye and uncanny observations won her accolades from National Geographic and the World Wildlife Fund. Offered countless staff positions, she shunned the office life for work in the field and walked into the northwoods to find the elusive lynx population.
Tracks led her into the hollows east of Burlington. Having documented their behavior like none before, she published many a watershed work. One particular morning, after having played in a bluegrass jam the night before, she was sitting in a white pine atop Camel Hump. Looking down she saw four people gathered around the base of the tree. She remembered them from the jam. “Why don’t you come down and play with us?” said the tie-dyed fellow. “You know, the world would love to hear your song.” Indeed she wanted to sing out. She’d been silent long enough. And so she clambered down to join the revolution.