Who are we?
We are Lisa, Fábio, and Ivo. Three friends from different nationalities (Slovenian, Portuguese, and Dutch)
who met at the beginning of 2023 and formed the Red Oak Troubadours. When we first made music together, we bonded through a shared passion for, primarily, traditional American and English folk, blues, and Western music and these are the influences that came through in our first EP Rubedo Sunrise.
Although this passion shines through in the music we have been creating together till today, we are also constantly looking for new sounds and influences. Being the three of us from different cultures, we find it fascinating to explore different musical heritages. We believe that deep down we are all connected through the experience of being human and our differences should be celebrated.
With Fábio being Portuguese, we were presented with the opportunity to explore the rich landscapes of Portuguese Folk music in more depth. We traveled to Portugal together for the first time in the Summer of 2023 and that's when we met Isabel Martinez.
Isabel Martinez was born in Porto, Portugal, in 1992. She is a multi-instrumentalist musician and actress. She studied acting at Porto’s Superior School of Music and Performing Arts, and is currently studying for a Master’s Degree in Sound Art and Technology at the same institution.
Isabel started her path in folk music in 2009, when she took interest in Portuguese bagpipes and traditional percussions and singing. She is and was part of multiple community, folk/trad and medieval projects: MãeBruxa, CRUA, Loba Galharda, Gambuzinos, Hadras i Baranas, arquiCoro, Lôa Trovadoresca, Colectivo Foice, Eiró, Leyriath, O Marta, between other national and international collaborations.
Isabel is also a youth worker and seeks to establish close links between theatre, music, community and non-formal education in her work.
Since meeting Isabel we've been taking turns traveling periodically between Portugal and the Netherlands to develop our new EP Prima Materia, as well as a full show in Portuguese around it where we explore in depth Traditional Portuguese Folk music. The songs we perform with Isabel are a mix of original compositions and our own interpretations of old traditional songs, and yes, Lisa had to learn how to sing all of them in Portuguese!
