The Aroostercrats

An Australian and a Polish man sat down with a bottle of wine, a violin, a guitar and some lyrics... and The Aroostercrats were born. The Aroostercrats began playing on street corners and bridges in Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet, entertaining passers by with their unique, original blend of folk country music. It may seem strange that an Australian and a Polish man came together in Italy to form a duo reminiscent of a style originally inspired by American and Celtic folk music however it goes down easy like a nicely aged whiskey. The duo became good friends in 2008, while studying classical violin at the Conservatorio di Musica in Verona, and in 2009 branched away from tradition to form The Aroostercrats. Drawing on aspects from Lukasz’s Polish background and Mark’s Australian lifestyle, they recorded their first DEMO CD in 2010, a CD that, according to one review, “[...] breathes the intimate chamber music that one hears in a pub, with a warm atmosphere and holding a freshly poured beer. The poignant themes expertly interpreted by the violin, mark time and character of the songs, leaving the sweet voice to complete the outline of the music together with the guitar and harmonica.” Before “The Aroostercrats”, the duo had very different lives. Lukasz began the violin at the age of 8 and gave his first public solo performance at the age of 9 with the orchestra of the Radom School of Music. After his schooling days he then toured all over Poland for 4 years starting in 2001/02 with a Polish reggae band playing guitar as well as the violin. Mark’s musical bone started to grow at the age of 4 when he began playing piano and a year later he also began learning the violin. During the following years he added the trumpet and vocal studies to his repertoire and since moving to Italy in 2007 has added the guitar and harmonica. Starting out on the streets of Verona they have now played throughout Italy including festivals in Ferrara, Grezzana and Lecce and traveled to Ireland to play on BalconyTV Cork where their video of "Nowhere Train" remains in the Global Music Rumble top 100 videos for a whole year and is now an editor's pick. 2014 saw Mark and Lukasz achieve the highest honors (110 lode) finishing their diplomas in classical violin, the release of their second album “Nowhere Train”, BUSK2014 Busking Festival in Bolzano and a European tour travelling through Germany, Switzerland (opening for the Hackensaw Boys (US)), Sweden, Norway and Czech Republic, ending in Treviso Italy playing on the Jack Daniels Stage during the “Home Festival” 2014. So far in 2015 The Aroostercrats have played at the Paradies Festival Obervinschgau in Malles opening for Hans Söllner (DE), opened for Lydia Loveless (US) of Bloodshot Records during her European Tour and successfully made their way into the final round of Video Festival Live 2015 in all of Italy. Now The Aroostercrats look toward another European tour as well as exploring the United States of America and the United Kingdom. www.thearoostercrats.com info@thearoostercrats.com