The band formed in 1988 with Lief Sørbye (mandolin, vocals), Adolfo Lazo (drums), Rob Wullenjohn (guitar), and Mark Showalter (bass). The band has seen a changing cast of musicians, with Sørbye and Lazo being the only two constant members throughout the duration of the band's existence.
The current lineup consists of Lief Sørbye (mandolin, vocals), Adolfo Lazo (percussion), Lee Corbie-Wells (fiddle, vocals), Nikolay Georgiev (guitar), and Hugh Caley (bass, backup vocals), with members from around the world: Lief from Oslo, Norway, Adolfo Lazo from Havana, Cuba, Lee Corbie-Wells from San Francisco, California, and Hugh Caley from Detroit, Michigan and Nikolay Georgiev from Pleven, Bulgaria. In 2010, Tempest released Another Dawn - it was Tempest's 11th full-length studio album. In 2006, Tempest released their 10th full-length studio album, entitled The Double-Cross. In 2007, the band released a live CD, entitled Lief's Birthday Bash. The Birthday Bash CD was recorded on the evening of 23 March 2007 at Ashkenaz Dance Community Center in Berkeley, and features tracks including a number of musicians that Lief has played with over the years: both past Tempest members and some members of Golden Bough as well. Much of the recent live CD is actually acoustic. In 2022 the band released the CD Going Home, their first album after leaving Magna Carta records. It was released on Celtidelic Records, and engineered by Robert Berry at Berry's Soundtek Studios.
Frontman Lief Sørbye occasionally plays in an acoustic Celtic folk duo called Caliban, usually joined by a current or former Tempest fiddler, such as Kathy Buys, Michael Mullen, or Sue Draheim. They have released one self-titled recording and often do shows during Tempest tours. Lief Sørbye has also released two solo albums, Springdans (1987) and Across the Borders (1994). Incumbent fiddler Kathy Buys was the fiddler with a world fusion band called The Druid Sisters Tea Party. Former bassist John Land was previously in a band called Coyote Pudding. They had one release, titled Joking, Drunk, or Bored as Hell.
Personnel
Members
Current members
Adolfo Lazo - drums (1988-present)
Lief Sørbye - vocals, mandolin (1988-present)
Lee Corbie-Wells - fiddle (2020-present)
Nikolay Georgiev - guitar (2020-present)
Hugh Caley - bass (2021-present)
Former members
Mark Showalter - bass (1988-1989)
Rob Wullenjohn - guitar (1988-1998)
Ian Butler - bass (1989-1995)
Michael Mullen - fiddle (1992-1993, 1996-2001, 2004-2012)
