Fishtank Ensemble formed around the arrival in our midst of the gifted young fiddler Fabrice Martinez. Originally from France, he has spent the last seven years traveling around Europe in a mule-drawn caravan learning and playing folk music with the ensemble "Croque Mule." Much of that time was spent living in Romania, often in Romani (Gypsy) villages.

A series of chance occurrences caused the members of what would become Fishtank Ensemble to meet in an Oakland performance space called ‘The Fishtank’ in the spring of 2005. After 3 short weeks together, they recorded their debut album, Super Raoul. ‘Raoul’ is a gypsy slang term for ‘cool’. The album, recorded live at ‘the fishtank’ and at The Cayuga Vault in Santa Cruz showcases the bands diverse range of styles and influences.

In late 2005 the band took to the road, performing up and down the west coast USA for delighted audiences everywhere. Some of the notable venues they have performed at include the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, The Getty Center, Tangiers, The Knitting Factory in LA, The Fez Ballroom in Portland, and Djangofest in Seattle.

On the success of their first tour, the 2 bandmembers who lived in Europe agreed to relocate to the US to focus on establishing the band as a unique force in the folk and world music scenes. A new DVD showcases the bands exceptional live energy and extensive touring is planned for 2008 and beyond. To top that off, a brand new cd released in November 2007, entitled "Samurai Over Serbia" demonstrates this bands unique and exciting contribution to music today.