Flying Mountain was formed in 1976 when Dan Rubin, Ferguson Neville, Rawn Mongovius and Satoru Kuba Suttles met in Vancouver. Over the next four years, the four became one of the most creative musical groups in Western Canada, touring widely and recording two LPs of original music. Spontaneous and full of humour, performances by the Flying Mountain were interactive events, where the audience inspired the band and helped create the music.

At first Flying Mountain performed in and around Vancouver. During a residency at Sofia’s folk dance restaurant they established their distinctive style and developed original songs of great versatility and power. With the help of their manager Nora Specht, Flying Mountain soon headed for wider audiences, traveling east to perform at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and similar events in Alberta, and north to the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alaska. But it was in the small towns laced along the coastline and scattered through the valleys of the BC Interior that Flying Mountain developed its strongest support. In its first two years, Flying Mountain appeared in performance more than 300 times.

Vocalist and songwriter Satoru Kuba Suttles played guitar and keyboards but also doubled on saxophone. Ferguson Neville played trombone in a marching band before he joined the group as harmonica player and drummer, adding a menagerie of percussion instruments that ranged from conga drums to air drum to Coca Cola sign; he also doubled on dulcimer. Rawn Mongovius, a traditional bluegrass bass player contributed peddle steel and flute. Dan Rubin, classically trained on violin, added guitar, mandolin and bouzouki.

The subjects and styles of their songs were also broad. Flying Mountain could shift from a foot-stomping fiddle tune to an ocean-flavoured oriental ballad in a heartbeat. Their playful sense of celebration often led them to interweave music from many different cultures. As they traveled they also absorbed local images and the stories from the places they visited, and transformed them into new songs, to be passed along by the four peripatetic troubadours.

During the years they performed together they made appearances on radio and television, participated in two theatre tours with the Brass Tacks Choir and finally became house band for a children’s television series developed by Leon Bibb.
After Dan left the group in 1980 to pursue a solo career, Flying Mountain continued, then toured in Europe with the addition of Ferguson’s brother Drew on keyboards and other instruments, but once Satoru left, the group’s career arc drew to an end.

Those who remember Flying Mountain speak of the tremendous vitality of their performances, the beauty of the music and a deeply intimate link with their audience that made listeners feel they were part of the group. A new CD “The Zest of Flying Mountain” captures the recorded work of the group and allows fans to connect with the band's website to access music, photos, posters and email links.