Bering Strait (band)

Bering Strait was a country music band made up of musicians from Russia that mixed country music with traditional Russian song making. Their style was sometimes called "redgrass" (a reference to bluegrass). The band achieved prominence in 2003, being nominated for a Grammy Award and featured in a segment on the prestigious American news program 60 Minutes, but never caught on with major sales. The group disbanded in 2006.

History

Bering Strait is actually the band's third name. The original name of the band was Cheerful Diligence. In 1996 they first recorded in the US under the name Siberian Heatwave and were guests on TNN's Prime Time Country. The band dissolved in late May 2006, but the official announcement was not made until June 1, 2006.

At the time of its dissolution, the band comprised five musicians:

• Alexander Arzamastsev (drums)
• Natasha Borzilova (lead vocals, acoustic guitar)
• Sergei “Spooky” Olkhovsky (bass)
• Alexander “Sasha” Ostrovsky (dobro, steel guitar, lap steel)
• Lydia Salnikova (lead vocals, keyboards)

Former member Ilya Toshinsky played electric guitar, acoustic guitar and banjo on the band’s first album but left the band after recording the second album. Other former Bering Strait musicians are Sergei Passov (mandolin and fiddle), and Andrei Misikhin (bass). Chris Pandolfi, of the bluegrass band the Infamous Stringdusters, served as their touring banjo player early on.

Natasha Borzilova is the daughter of a nuclear scientist who died from the results of the Chernobyl disaster.

Works

Bering Strait’s self-titled debut album was released in 2003 on Universal South Records. The instrumental “Bearing Straight” from the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance, but eventually lost out to the Dixie Chicks.

A full-length documentary film, "The Ballad of Bering Strait", chronicled the band's career over two and a half years, and was released to theaters and broadcast on CMT. They were featured in a segment on 60 Minutes, and several tracks from the album were used in the television shows Animal Planet and Alias. Despite the media exposure, the album sold only about 150,000 copies and received almost no radio airplay.

The band’s second album, Pages was released in 2005 and featured a more rootsy, less polished sound. The first single from the album was a country remake of Fleetwood Mac’s "You Make Lovin’ Fun".

Current projects

Sasha and Spooky are currently playing with the new group Buckledown. Lydia and Natasha are pursuing solo projects.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

• Audio/Video - All six members are the only guest in program 254 of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour