Somehow, actally we ended up here.. you just never know,ha!

http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/Semi-Finalists_2008.htm

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REFERRED BY: The band's website, they're the best!! Tell Limpopo I
love them, thanks!

Here's a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Duu4dIbNU

Music
Give Them a Break
By Nina Korman

Print Article| E-mail to a Friend| Pages: 1 2   Show All Feb 26, 1998
While some would argue that there are many jackasses in contemporary music, there's only one elephant butt -- or so I believed for more than three years. In 1994 at the now-defunct Stephen Talkhouse in Miami Beach, completely by accident I saw and heard a quartet of Russian musicians with the curious name of Limpopo.
They sang a slew of Russian folksongs. They danced raucously and acrobatically, kicking up their heels like (former) Soviet Rockettes. They dressed like Cossacks: baggy pants tucked into knee-high boots, elaborately embroidered puffy shirts belted at the hips. One of them even played the giant three-stringed triangular instrument known as the balalaika. As I watched Limpopo -- Yuri Fedorko on accordion, Igor Khramov on trombone and tuba, Oleg Bernov on bass, and Igor Yuzov on guitar -- perform their hyperkinetic shtick, it all somehow seemed familiar. Maybe it was the half-Ukrainian in me.
When they ended their show with a familiar tune, at last I realized where I knew them from. No, it wasn't "Volga Boatmen," which they had performed. And no, it wasn't the Beatles' "Back in the USSR," which they'd also done. It was the theme from the Kit Kat candy bar commercial. Limpopo was that bunch of zany musicians I had seen several times on TV singing, "Gimme a break/Gimme a break/ Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar."

Real TV stars -- from Russia, no less! After the show I felt compelled to speak with them. No matter how poor their English or how awful my Russian (which I studied briefly in college), I was sure we would understand each other. So I chatted up Oleg, the bassist. Drenched in sweat, which had rendered his puffy shirt see-through and which still trickled down his forehead, he was nonetheless smiling -- lively, not exhausted. Figuring the name Limpopo meant something exotic in Russian, I quizzed him slowly yet insistently about its definition. His answer, delivered in heavily accented English: "Elephant butt."

He had to be kidding. Russian or not, Limpopo couldn't possibly mean anything so decidedly unglamorous, so exceedingly earthy. I asked him to repeat himself, hoping he had somehow mangled the words in his attempts to translate. "Elephant butt," he said again with a straight face. Then I polled the other band members. They all agreed. Limpopo was Russian for elephant butt.

A few weeks ago I found out I'd been had. In actuality Limpopo is the name of a river in southeast Africa, although most Russian kids know it from Doktor Aybolit, a folktale similar to our Doctor Dolittle. Typical Limpopo move. Not that the band is made up of a bunch of con artists. Just a bunch of men who like to have fun, even if it's at the expense of a fan forever associating them with a pachyderm's posterior.

"Yes, for a while we did tell people that Limpopo meant elephant butt, as a joke," chuckles Khramov, speaking by phone from the band's headquarters in Los Angeles. "We chose that name because we liked the sound of the syllables. It was catchy. It reminded us of childhood. It just makes you smile."

Limpopo started as a duo -- Fedorko and Yuzov -- in Russia in 1986. The pair began performing in small theaters and then graduated to 1000-seat venues. Original "happy avant-garde" songs made up the bulk of their repertoire, according to Khramov, with a few traditional folktunes thrown in. Soon they were embarking on tours of communist-bloc states. In Poland in 1987 the group met fellow Russian Khramov, who was on the road playing with a big band. One year later he joined them. In 1989 Limpopo, still on the avant-garde kick, briefly visited the United States, performing dates in California, Colorado, and Utah. The minitour was arranged by an American friend whom they had met when they all participated in a peace march in Kiev.

The band liked America so much they decided to return -- permanently. In 1990 Fedorko emigrated to the United States, and the Russian incarnation of Limpopo was no more. One year later Khramov and Yurov followed. By 1992 Limpopo had re-formed, adding bassist Bernov and settling in the Los Angeles area. Their main gig at that time was playing on the Venice Beach boardwalk for handouts.

"I used to play on the street with my eyes closed," recalls Khramov. "I was so embarrassed. Back in Russia I had been a successful working musician, playing jazz, going on tours. But I got used to it and eventually opened my eyes. It was a good thing for us. We had a face-to-face connection with people. We got their attention. And when we saw that they were giving us money, we went out and recorded a cassette, which we began to sell for ten dollars."

The cassettes flew off the sidewalk. "When people see you live, that's when they buy," notes Khramov matter-of-factly. Soon Limpopo had a second street gig, this one at Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. People swiftly embraced the band and its self-described blend of folk and roll. A Secret Service agent saw them playing outdoors and arranged a prestigious job: a private reception welcoming Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev, who were paying a social visit to Ronald and Nancy Reagan at their ranch in Santa Barbara.

Later in 1992 an advertising executive, captivated by the kooky musicians, urged them to audition for the Kit Kat television commercial. They did and got the job. Then a talent scout who had seen them suggested the band try out for the popular TV show Ed McMahon's International Star Search.

Limpopo-I discovered them on a Google search for Russian Folk Music Bigrock Balalaikas & Zigeunertrio Kalinka- I listened to song samples on CDBaby and was intrigued enough to perchase. David

I absolutely love this band .I have seen them live four times in my life and everytime they came to losangeles I was definately there,/ you are one of my most favorite bands ever and this is my most favorite album ,infact I had to re-buy it because I listen to it so much .Thank you /

we heard of limpopo from rhapsody (a subscription service). i haven't seen my husband this happy in the twenty years i've known him! thank you, limpopo! if you are ever in the boston area, give us a call LISA

Great - excellent 'craftsmanship', especially excellent singing - during the last hours listened to all songs with constant delight - and above all I like your witty video "Ask The Nature": perhaps the only way to deal with this global warming business, making people think and change their acting...
Best wishes,
Angelika

Limpopo
Rybalochka
Unreal.

These guys may be a Russian folk band, but these guys rock. It is impossible to not be moved to do something when you listen to these guys. Throw in a little bit of blues and more than a little bit of jazz, put it in the blender and sprinkle on some comedy and you have one of the most entertaining groups I've ever heard. I cannot overstate the impact you will feel if you listen to Limpopo.

I get the feeling that Limpopo is a band that plays for each other and the pure joy of performing. Whether it be for themselves in rehearsal or playing for the President of the United States (they played for President Reagan during a private welcoming party for the Gorbachevs), they seem like a band that just wants everyone around to be having as much fun as they are. Listen to this release and you yourself will be going "bop, bop, bop" all night long.

Limpopo: www.limpopo.com
Kyrby Raine
http://www.ink19.com/issues/january2007/musicReviews/musicL/limpopo.html

Into the bass on “Bit 5”. “Jazzy” makes me think of Duke Ellington with Tom Waits singing. Happy New Year, Mark

- Genre: 'Indie' - Release Date: '2006'

Our Rating:            
Listening to Limpopo (http://www.limpopo.com) one cannot help but to be massively entertained. The most impressive thing about Limpopo is how much fun these guys are definitely having.

If your house parties are getting a little bit dull and predictable, I beg of you to slip a little Limpopo into your stereo and see what happens. Your most crusty house guest will be up on the house top in their underwear with a beer bong, sucking down a dozen raw eggs, and screaming at any Italians in the crowd where Rocky can go and what he can do when he gets there.

If you want to get to the essence of what Limpopo brings to the table, put in the title track. It will get you moving faster than an Olympic sprinter on a Starbucks bender. Then go to "Po Rumochke." That song should be played by any boss who wants to get any employee moving just a little faster. The only downfall to the great Limpopo is that I cannot in good conscience recommend anyone listen to them while driving. I was and it prompted me to do dangerous things in a half-ton moving vehicle.   
author: Adam Harrington