OLAS

Heavily influenced by Andalusian Flamenco and Arabic folk music, translated through a blend of American folk, rock, Arabic, and Afro-Cuban sounds, OLAS is an original, all acoustic mash-up of very raw and passionate music and dance, complete with songs sung in Spanish, original, non-traditional dance choreography, and traditional instruments such as the cajon, oud, ney and guitar. OLAS creates, congregates and plays for the love of playing. That's it.

The musicians of OLAS come from a rich and diverse musical scene based in Portland, Maine. Chriss Sutherland and Tom Kovacevic hail from Cerberus Shoal and Fire on Fire, Dylan Blanchard from Portland’s premier salsa band Grupo Esperanza, and Leif Sherman Curtis from Conifer, who has released two records on Important Records. Dancers Lindsey Bourassa and Megan Keogh come from an eclectic dance background that includes ballet, modern, jazz, salsa, and flamenco. And palmeras Molly Angie and Anna Trunzo are local artists from Portland, ME who have spent the past year learning and performing the palmas rhythms inherent to the music of OLAS.

Lindsey Bourassa - dance and palmas
Megan Keogh – dance and palmas
Chriss Sutherland - guitar, voice and ney
Dylan Blanchard - cajon, percussion, voice
Tom Kovacevic - oud, ney, voice
Leif Sherman Curtis - guitar, voice
Molly Angie - palmas, voice
Anna Trunzo - palmas, voice