Jauns Mēness is a Latvian folk rock band formed in Rīga, Latvia in 1987 by Ainars Mielavs and Gints Sola. Both of them are also the only remaining band members from the original lineup. During the last years Jauns Mēness was almost grown into a real orchestra - there were seven musicians with occasional appearances by guest artists. The band was the first and only Latvian band of the post-Soviet period to win the prestigious and still popular Sopot Music Festival.
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Jauns Mēness is a Latvian folk rock band formed in Rīga, Latvia in 1987 by Ainars Mielavs and Gints Sola. Both of them are also the only remaining band members from the original lineup. During the last years Jauns Mēness was almost grown into a real orchestra - there were seven musicians with occasional appearances by guest artists. The band was the first and only Latvian band of the post-Soviet period to win the prestigious and still popular Sopot Music Festival. This happened in 1991; in the fall of the same year the band visited United States for the second time and performed on such legendary stages as CBGB's in New York, Metro Cabaret in Boston and 1st Avenue in Minneapolis. All of these venues have been graced by practically all the great rock'n'roll heroes of our time, from The Rolling Stones to U2. The most popular video by Jauns Mēness is Piekūns skrien debesīs, since 1992 regularly demonstrated on MTV Europe and French Music channel MCM. Speaking about the musical style of the band - Artemy Troitsky, a prominent Russian journalist and music critic has once called it the most impressive if not the only example of baltic rock - alluding to similarities with the world famous celtic rock. Jauns Mēness is also unique having released the largest quantity of albums of all Latvian artists during the 1990s, both in LP and CD formats. The band disbanded in 1999, when their leader Ainars Mielavs launched a solo career. In 2005 former members Ainars Mielavs, Gints Sola and Juris Kroičs formed Mielavs un Pārcēlāji. In 2012 Jauns Mēness announced 25th anniversary concert, which is scheduled for the Palladium concert hall on December 2012. http://www.upe.lv/meness.html
