Auburn Journal
4/17/08

NO CAR FOR KARFLUKI FOUNDER
By Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer

Celtic-folk rockers Tempest are on an East Coast swing right now and Media Life caught up with leader-singer 
Lief Sorbye in the great state of Delaware this week as the band prepared to make the trek south for another 
one-nighter in Virginia Beach, Va.

Sorbye, the founder of the band, revealed that while he’s comfortable on the road, you won’t find him behind the 
wheel between gigs. He never has had a driver’s license – and there’s a story there.

“I tried one time and had a learner’s permit but a truck plowed into me.” he said.

Sorbye survived the accident unscathed but all his musical equipment burned in the subsequent carbecue.

“I took that as an omen,” he said.

Tempest will return to Auburn – their home away from their Oakland home in the early spring – for the Karfluki 
Fest on May 3 and May 4. This is the third year the band has put on the eclectic music festival and will mark 
the first time, however, that it will extend to two days.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Tempest and former band members will be arriving from Florida, New York 
and Ireland to fill out four “classic” lineups from various stages of the group’s evolution.

Fans are also coming in from all points, including a German folk music journalist. 
The Foothills Motel, Karfluki’s unofficial festival headquarters, is already sold out for the weekend, Sorbye said. 
All the vendor slots have already been sold out.

“The little Celtic rock band from Oakland is putting Auburn on the map,” he said.

Sorbye, ensconced in his favorite seat behind the driver while out on the road, said that Karfluki is adding 
a bonus for people buying advance tickets to the festival – a free DVD from the first year of the Auburn fest.

The weekend will focus on the music, with Those Darn Accordians from Washington State, the Bay Area’s 
Tom Rigney & Flambeau, the French gypsy sounds of Fishtank Ensemble. Los Angeles Latin-World Music band 
Incendio and several other acts performing at the Gold Country Fairgrounds.

Tickets are available at www.karflukifest.com and the Live Music Center at (707) 448-1511.