history Mandochet is a band comprised of mandolin, cello, clarinet, acoustic guitar, baritone acoustic guitar, and hand percussion (and maybe very soon bassoon!). The band memebers are Troy Howard and Max Strini. Max plays clarinet, Troy plays everything else. The band started as a recording project to preserve the quickly vanishing music and culture of the Rhenee Barge Folk. With these songs, we are attempting to recreate the beautiful feeling from our youth, when we spent month at a time aboard the huge barges that sailed the waters of the Nyr Dyv. We hope you will be able to close your eyes and feel the spray as a wave breaks across the side of the barge... the feeling of helplessness and rapturous abandon that overcomes you when your tiny craft is caught in a giant typhoon, and is tossed around (as the old timers say) "like a butterfly in a storm"... the light joy of humorous social gatherings, where tall tales were matched by taller truths and grandmother warns you not to "rock the apple cart"... the deep troubling conflict within every Rhenee man, woman, and child. the "weighty dillema" of wether to continue the nomadic sea-faring lifestyle, or be as the town folk are. With the increasing popularity of these few recordings, we have decided to attempt to form a live version of Mandochet. The new players, will be Joey on mandolin, Ann on basson, Arthur on hand drums, and Tom on violin. At the time of this writing, this arrangement has as yet to happen, but we will keep you up to date on any changes, as they occur.