Original members included mandolinist Eric Stein, bassist Bret Higgins and guitarist Joshua Engel.
[9][3] This album received great acclaim and captured a Canadian Folk Music Award for "Instrumental Group of the Year.
[15] During this period the band was involved in many unique and challenging collaborative projects, including a series of concerts with legendary singer/actor Theodore Bikel,[16] numerous collaborations with Josh "Socalled" Dolgin,[17] two separate stints as guest accompanists with the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir on world premieres of ambitious choral works,[18] guest soloist turns with the Toronto Children's Chorus on a world premiere composition by clarinetist van de Ven, and performances alongside CBC radio personality Barbara Budd with the National Arts Centre Orchestra,[19] the Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.
There were also self-initiated collaborations with other esteemed world music ensembles such as Creaking Tree String Quartet[20] and L'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio.
[25][15] In 2017 Beyond the Pale released a new album, Ruckus, and was nominated at the Canadian Folk Music Awards for Instrumental Group of the Year.