Persephone's Bees

Led by Russian singer/songwriter/keyboardist Angelina Moysov, Persephone's Bees took its name from a poem by Russian poet Osip Mandelstam and first formed after Moysov relocated to the United States, where she encountered guitarist Tom Ayres in 1993. The pair began working together, pulling from Moysov's early exposure to Russian folk, Gypsy music, her brother's assortment of British and American recordings, new wave, and underground Russian punk. Following a string of unsuccessful rhythm sections, the duo relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1999, where they recorded a demo that led them to bassist Bart Davenport and drummer Paul Bertolino.

After issuing the self-produced LP City of Love, Persephone's Bees shared stages with Cake and Jonathan Richman, and the album's title track appeared on the 2005 film soundtrack for Bewitched. Although both Bertolino and Davenport stepped away for a period to pursue separate endeavors, they returned in time to record the band's first major-label full-length, Notes from the Underworld, issued by Columbia Records in August 2006.