2011 has started as a busy year for Sheesham and Lotus, releasing “Five Miles From Town” and simultaneously planning the release of a trio record to be recorded with horn-man Sonny Sanderson. “We've had a lot of positive feedback from our 2008 release, 'Everytime!'” says Sheesham from Wolfe Island, Ontario, “which is encouraging because we really recorded that record the way we wanted to hear it. We are obsessed with antique recordings and, against the advice of some, we recorded it using old technologies like horns and old microphones and just had a good time with it, adding scratchy sounds and filtered vocals, etc.” The duo has performed across the globe from Paris and Bordeaux to Vermont and Montreal of late, as well as a cross-Canada trip sponsored by VIA Rail, entertaining on the train from Toronto to Vancouver. Sheesham and Lotus continue their tradition of playing not just for old-time music fanatics at festivals and concerts but also public schools and universities. “Our affiliation with Prologue to the Performing Arts has been wonderful and rewarding for us as performers. Its always an honor to be invited to play for schools around the province,” chimes Lotus from Stuttgart, Germany. Sheesham and Lotus remain dedicated to bringing you the finest in old-time quality and strive to keep the music as fresh as can be. Lotus says, “We are always experimenting with new sounds and configurations of instrumentation, whether it is a combination of simultaneously played crazy instruments or a new arrangement of a tune...We like to keep trying new things. The latest configuration that we have been working on is Sheesham on fiddle, harmonica, foot-stepping percussion and vocals, while I play contra-bass harmoniphoneum, banjo and sing. It is essentially a five-piece band with the two of us.”