"A fixture of the Bay Area's eclectic music scene since 1998, pickPocket Ensemble echoes Parisian cafe music, Gypsy jigs, and ragtime shuffles with an infectious musical intimacy that turns living rooms and clubs alike into a grotto or oasis. Rick Corrigan's accordion, Marguerite Ostrovski's swooning violin, Tim Fox' guitar, Will High's bass, and Aharon Bolsta's tabla-steeped percussion infuse the present with sounds of the past, providing an incredibly universal and immediate musical appeal."
Buz Poole, East Bay Express September 8, 2004

Reviews of The pickPocket ensemble’s If I Were A Highway:

"After much too long an absence from the recording studio, San Francisco's own Pickpocket Ensemble returns with their third album and an apparently expanded line up. Listening to them on disc I still lament the loss of our beloved Radio Valencia where (how spoiled we were then) one could catch them live for free on regular basis. For those unfamiliar, the Pickpocket Ensemble play a wonderfully unselfconscious amalgamation of, for lack of a better term, folk music from around the world. The group is led by accordionist Rick Corrigan, who also writes the bulk of their material and filled out by violin, double bass, guitar and percussion. Along with both the Parisian and Eastern influences that form the bedrock of the Pickpocket Ensemble, Corrigan has been further embracing the sounds of Klezmer music and in addition he seems to be delving into the realms of both Spanish and Nubian music. But parsing out specific influences with the Pickpocket Ensemble is a tricky thing as Corrigan's superb arrangements are knit so tightly it becomes difficult to separate the musical threads. The reason I suppose is because Corrigan and company choose to use their alembic to reinforce the commonalities of such diverse elements as much as they do to punctuate the differences. The result of course is just plain fine music that can only come from the Pickpocket Ensemble. Corrigan, an excellent accordion player, has always surrounded himself with great musicians and the recent additions of Marguerite Ostrovski on violin, Tim Fox on guitar and Will High on double bass are certainly no exceptions. Highly recommended!"
Aquarius Records, San Francisco, January 24, 2003

"The pickPocket ensemble is an instrumental quintet from the United States of America that has taken my attention. Their music is somehow very light and harmonic (I do not mean easy listening!). The tunes are creeping through the ears into my mind - where they will stay for long. It is not to easy to pigeonhole the music of the pickpockets - it is melodious instrumental urban acoustic chamber folk music of the world with edges of jazz klezmer swing etc ... and this mixture makes up wonderful music.. The five musicians are Marguerite Ostrovski on fiddle, Greg Kehret on double bass and ac. bass guitar, Tim Fox on guitar, Aharon Wheels Bolsta on percussion and finally Rick Corrigan on accordian. Rick does also write all these fine tunes. I can imagine to hear their music somewhere in a nice street cafe - but also on the big music festivals... Hopefully this ensemble will find their way also to Europe soon!"
Christian Moll, Folkworld Magazine October 18, 2003

"pickPocket Ensemble - Packed Her Things: Este es un grupo de músicos de Berkeley que tocan bajo la dirección de un acordeonista llamado Rick Corrigan, quien creo que si se sabe mover puede llegar a ser un excelente compositor de música de películas. Después de escuchar estos tres temas, sólo te quedará suponer que Hollywood lo está esperando. Toca música gitana, de Europa del Este, con toques de medio oriente. En "Packed Her Things" uno ya se imagina la historia. La violinista flaca mantenía un romance con el acordeonista, pero parece que se pelearon y ella empacó sus chivas y se fué. Corrigan, ni cojudo, llamó a su amante -la otra violinista- y la puso en la banda a tocar un tema dedicado a la primera. Para el verano del 2003, los pickPocket Ensemble se han ido de gira a Holanda. Espero que estén tocando en las estaciones de metro y en los parques, te aseguro que van a ganar más dinero de esa forma. Es una banda del pueblo para el pueblo. "

"pickPocket Ensemble - Prague: Esta canción es la perfecta imagen de la mujer checa o eslovaca. Rubia, bellísima, y de tetas redondas. Uno puede estar pensando en aquel mujerón hasta que de pronto te das cuenta que te han robado la billetera entre el café y la estación del metro."

"pickPocket Ensemble - Valls: Rick Corrigan tratando de ser Augusto Polo Campos. O Félix Pasache. El acordeonista está haciéndome recordar la Lima de antaño, sin éste haber estado nunca en la Ciudad de los Reyes." Del CD If I were a highway (pP productions, 2002)
CacaoRock, Peru