Chicago-based sextet Canasta headed to Mongolia to perform

Canasta — an all original Chicago-based sextet featuring two Northwest Indiana natives — will soon be thawing out the frozen tundra of Mongolia with red hot performances of their unique orchestral pop tunes.

"We were warned to prepare for temperatures in the negative 20s," said Crown Point's Elizabeth Lindau, the group's violinist, vocalist and co-founder. "After living my whole life in Chicagoland, I've never feared the cold, but being told to expected ‘high temp of -8 Fahrenheit' has changed that fear for me," added keyboardist/pianist/bassist Ryan Tracy, a 1993 graduate of Crown Point High School.

"Figuring out the logistics for the band and our gear has been no easy task. Add in mismatched electrical currents, airline baggage limitations, and a 12-hour time difference, and it becomes quite a challenge. But we are thrilled and honored to have gotten the invitation."

The invitation to tour a handful of cities in Mongolia — beginning in the capital of Ulaanbaatar, and continuing in Tsetserleg, Harhoran and Arvaikheer — came courtesy of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs' Arts Envoy Program.

The Arts Envoy Program share the best of the U.S. arts community with the world, to foster cross-cultural understanding and collaboration and to demonstrate shared values and aspirations. The program includes not only musical talents, but poets, playwrights, film and stage directors, performance artists and curators, among others.

The tour begins this weekend and concludes mid-February.

Canasta will be treating the Mongolian people to the same sounds local fans enjoy at The Metro, Schuba's or The Old Town School of Folk Music, where they regularly perform.

Though a few short tours to Minneapolis, New York and Texas have been done, Canasta has primarily stayed in the Great Lakes region over the years.

"This is the first time the band is going out of country," said Lindau, who worked the better part of two years to get her band on this government-sponsored trip half way around the world.

Regionites may remember Lindau from her days of playing violin with the Valparaiso-based band Social Sometimes, which also featured guitarist Chris Funk, who has gone on to fame as a member of the national recording/touring group The Decemberists.

Lindau teamed up with multi-instrumentalist Matt Priest of Mount Prospect to form Canasta in 2001.

"Originally, we through the band's sound was more old-timey with violin, piano and trombone in our line-up," said Lindau of why they borrowed the group's name from an old-school card game.

Canasta played their first show at Schuba's in the summer of 2002 and released their first recordings in 2003. To date, the band has released an EP ("Find The Time") and two full-length CDs (2005's "We Were Set Up" and 2010's "The Fakeout, The Tease and the Breather"), plus a remix album ("We're All Mixed Up"), which can be heard and purchased at: WWW.CANASTAMUSIC.COM

Rounding out Canasta on their Mongolian tour are guitarist Jeremy Beckford from El Paso, Texas; drummer Brian Palmieri from Huntsville, Ala.; and keyboardist Megan O'Connor of Yellow Springs, Ohio. O'Connor is a former member, filling in for current member Sarah Kneebone. All members except Palmieri share vocals.

Along with playing music, Canasta will conduct workshops, mentor young musical hopefuls and discuss the creative process.