The Klezmonauts draw upon the musical skills and diverse backgrounds of a wide variety of talented local musicians who between them boast many hundreds of years of playing experience. Listed below are the profiles of just a few of them, detailing some of their individual musical odysses and what has led them to Klezmer:

TOM DEAKINs early dabblings with wind progressed to a classical clarinet training at the Welsh College of Music. Attraction to John Peel's eclectic taste led to abandoning clarinet, whilst pursuing indie-rock guitar dreams in various dives around Manchester. Took up clarinet again in squats around the North with punk band 'Number One Son' (described as heavy metal snake charmers!) & then Bass guitar duties with dance rock outfit 'Bull Goose Loony'. A move back to Wales revived an interest in playing folk tunes (badly!) on the mandolin & so the clarion call of the Klezmonauts reunited Tom & the clarinet, on which he was pleasantly surprised he could still honk. In Klezmer, he found beautiful melodies with precision & wild abandon in equal measures!
Webmasters comment: Tom plays a most beautiful & unusual metal clarinet.

CHRIS has been a Clarinettist for more than 20 years, having toured Europe with both Band & Orchestral experience. A love of mid Wales resulted in him moving to the area & taking up Saxophone. With an eclectic taste he might be heard belting out Peter Gunn on his red Tenor Sax (nicknamed "The Tarts Handbag") but can most often be found playing his Fremont Soprano Sax (also red so The Tarts Purse?) with The Klezmonauts. With some musical arrangement skill (?) any "bum notes" are invariably his fault - but don't tell anyone!

ANDY WARREN: Following his experiences of playing bugle in a scout band he took up recorder when a student and simple system flute some years later. Since the tender age of 36yrs he has played tenor sax as well. Particular interests include C17 English, French dance, English ceilidh music (in sax-saturated style), Irish, Jazz, South American flute & guitar and - yes, Klezmer. He's self taught apart from some sax lessons, and has played in Kitty and the Tomcats (once billed finest ceilidh band in Wales), a flute and guitar duo with eclectic tastes, and with the poet and storyteller Andrew Fusek-Peters.

CORNELIUS (A.K.A. David Eger) grew up in a practising Jewish family in London. For years, he forsook his origins in favour of Irish music. It was not until moving to that most Gentile of places, Mid-Wales, in late 2006, that he was unexpectedly grafted back onto his rootstock by the Divine Gardener and became part of the budding sprig of musicians that has blossomed into The Klezmonauts. He is now a practising luthier and has founded Montgomeryshire's first secular synagogue.

'B' was imbued with Mozart whilst still in the womb & emerged into a big family where each sprog was expected to take an instrument to at least grade 5. At 16 she rebelled & gave up the violin for ~20 years. In 1996, she picked up a fiddle at a jam & realised she was still in love with it. Rock-folk band 'Naked Feet' soon found her & off she went playing at folk festivals in Lorrient, Kilkenny & Cornwall. The band fell apart leaving B hungry for something that seemed to run in her veins: Klezmer, her Great-Grandfather having come from Budapest. 'The Merry Maids' soon formed playing Cornish & Klezmer tunes. In 2006 B moved to Wales with fate bringing her to us, transforming B from 'Merry Maid' to 'Klezmonaut' over night!

DAVE MEEHAN originated on Hayling Island, beach bum by birth, Celt by nature. Was involved in the Bristol music scene the early 80's, but was let off with a caution. Soon after found himself in Wales working with Heavy Horses. Nowadays he mostly tries to play the Bodhran, Bass, an array of percussive instruments, and renovate wooden boats (the latter not on stage!).