The Cisco story so far...

Many years ago, a group of poor, but honest folk from Newcastle got together to form a band and play the music they loved. Sadly, they all loved different styles of music, so rather than leave anyone out the cold, they decided to play all the styles, and thus formed the concept of Country And Estuarine.
In fact, outside of the Cisco Kidneys themselves, the Country And Estuarine style of music is little known, yet it is remarkably rich, varied and original. The richness comes from the fine artistic feeling and luck of these happy peasant boys. The variety comes from the chequered history of the band, starting as a recorder ensemble, later developing into a jazz orchestra, blues big band, percussion trio and finally as the Country And Estuarine quartet you hear on this album.  The originality comes from the manner in which the fiercely independent, often intellectually isolated musicians have sought to evolve their own self-made music, building on virtually every piece they've ever listened to, incorporating borrowings from here and there, as well as personal inventions, often of scheduled insanity.Some of this music may be heard on their fine CD, Bootskanka. This 1996 recording offers a sampling of authentic Cisco Kidney music. The items include folk songs, functional songs, love songs, ballads and dance music. The recording was made in the course of a three hour recording binge in 1996 that covered only those songs that could be played in the space of a three hour recording binge.

Former Cisco Drummers

  • Dave the Drummer — disappeared while on a hunting trip with Bill Mundie.
  • Daryl the Drummer — decided to join an "old time dance band".
  • Rob Saraswati the Drummer — played the tabla for the band during the Kidneys brief flirtation with Country and Eastern music. Left to start a cult somewhere up North.
  • Hans the Drummer — wife banned him from ever having anything to do with the band after his first two practice sessions.
  • Steve the Drummer — vanished after refusing an offer he couldn't refuse.
  • Adam the Drummer — I'm not too sure about this one. He could be just a nightmarish flashback from a time of too many chemicals.
  • Alexander Teetering the Drummer — went to prison to join an old flame who'd often said that Alexander was "too beautiful to live". His present whereabouts are unknown.

Alternate Names Used by the Cisco Kidneys for various reasons...

  • The Hexham Swamp Stompers
  • The Buchanan Bobcats
  • The Hellbrew Orchestra
  • Señor Montana's Party Band