Sat., Aug. 30 Festival of Good Things Point Lands, Sarnia, Ont. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. FREE After 6 p.m.: $40
Didn't make any plans for Labor Day weekend? We just made them for you. Take a drive up to Sarnia for the Festival of Good Things, which includes some good music. Don't have much to spend? Before 6 p.m., these bands are free:
Canadian folk festivals are announcing their lineups (we're still waiting on NXNE), including the Home County Folk Festival in London-- Jul. 20-22-- which N2D will be attending along with a robust group of CBC Radio 3 bloggers. Suggested donation per day is only $5, and CBC Radio 3 host Craig Norris will be on hand as a main stage announcer. Which band are we most looking forward to hearing? The Kramdens. The lineup thus far is listed below.
Hawksley Workman at Home County Folk Fest 2011
Sarnia's Artwalk (Jun. 2-3) has also announced their initial performer lineup. They're introducing ticketed evening shows this year, and making it well worth your money: Hawksley Workman and Regina's Rah Rah. Also scheduled to play: Sunparlour Players, who easily became one of our top shows of 2011 after seeing them at Windsor's Capitol Theatre.
Sunparlour Players at the Capitol Theatre
Home County Folk Festival scheduled performers
(a few more to come):
Notice something conspicuously absent in that title? The number 10.
Out of the 108 bands/performers we saw in 2011, we couldn't choose just 10. Because it's our blog and we'll do what we want to, here is our list, in chronological order, of our top shows from last year. Our criteria: it just had to be an experience that for whatever reason-- musically, emotionally, artistically-- was particularly memorable out of all the great shows we saw. Truly, we are continually amazed by the talent that's out there in Canadian indie. Note: since we did a Top Ten list for NXNE, we did not include any of those shows here.
Currents in a river can run stronger than the surface suggests, until you wade in and find yourself going for a ride. Fans of Victoria, B.C.'s Current Swell have been flowing along to the band's eclectic rootsy rock music for more than five years. Now, after winning the top prize of $100,500 last week in Vancouver's PEAK Performance Project and with a month-old album that reached #1 on iTunes Canada singer-songwriter charts, Current Swell is poised to break the surface. And that's just swell with them.
"We're pretty stoked," said vocalist and lead guitarist Scott Stanton about winning in an interview with N2DS2W on Sat., Nov. 19. "There's an insane amount of buzz in town. I haven't stopped smiling."
That buzz hits London, for the first time ever Windsor, and Sarnia this weekend as Current Swell play back-to-back shows with Windsor's Michou (who took home Artist of the Year from the 2011 Verge Music Awards).
"We're really excited for our first Windsor show and playing with
Michou," said Stanton. "Sarnia has drawn the biggest crowd for us out
east, almost like a
hometown show. We played a smaller bar and it was packed with fans who
knew all the words to our
songs."
Stanton said fans were already singing along to songs off of the band's fourth album, Long Time Ago, at shows immediately after its release in Canada on Oct. 25 (U.S. fans will have to wait until January). "The response has been unbelievable," he said, even though despite its title, Long Time Ago is a departure from its predecessors. "In the past, we jumped all over the place as far as genres, reggae,
blues, folk rock," Stanton explained. "This one is different in that it's very cohesive. We
wrote a lot of songs, then distilled them down to five we knew had to be on the record, and then picked the rest to make it the most cohesive. We're very proud of it."
As they should be; the album is thoughtfully and beautifully crafted, with a mellow front porch-music vibe that sheds the surf-rock label frequently used to describe their earlier work. Stanton said he and songwriting partner Dave "Davers" Lang are most partial to the emotionally-charged "Brad's Song" (see video below) written in memory of a friend who passed away. "Family and friends remember a loved one who's died by looking at pictures," Stanton said. "I get to remember Brad every time I sing that song."
Veterans of Canada, U.S. and Australia tours, Current Swell has opened for Bedouin Soundclash, K-OS, K'Naan, Ron Sexsmith and even the
Beach Boys. They've played on stages at the Ottawa Bluesfest, the 2010 Olympics, Junofest and Rifflandia. Far from peaking, Stanton says "We put tons of thought into what we'd do with the money" from the Peak Performance Project. "It was simple for us. We knew we wanted to invest it back into the band and push our music around the world."
Current Swell is: Dave "Davers" Lang (guitar and vox), Scott Stanton (guitar and vox), Aaron "Ghosty" Wright (bass), Chris "Chrispy" Petersen (drums) and Dave St. Jean (percussion, trombone; not touring with the band due to other commitments). Additional tour dates: Nov. 30 @ Nicky Zee's, Fredericton, NB; Dec. 1 @ Baba's Lounge, Charlottestown, PEI; Dec. 2 @ Pavilion, Halifax, NS; Dec. 3 @ Manhattan's, Moncton, NB (all shows with Michou).
Edmonton's The Wheat Pool, who played the Phog Lounge this past March, will definitely be on our list of Top Ten shows for 2011, so we're delighted to have another opportunity to hear from one of the band's members. Mike Angus is touring in support of his first solo album,Hymns. We've only heard one track-- you can listen to it here-- but we're already singing its praises.
Toronto is losing Criminal Records. Sarnia is gaining Red Vinyl Records and Turntables. The project of fellow CBC Radio 3 blogger RedVinyl, the small independently owned record shop will be selling new- and hard-to-find vinyl (some used), turntables, players and record player accessories, as well as accepting special orders. The grand opening is Fri., Aug. 5, and features an in-store performance plus a concert at the Trinity Lounge.
Need proof vinyl is really back in a big way? We were coming back from the Al Tuck show at Phog Lounge in Windsor on Tuesday, and declared the CD we'd bought. The border guard looked at us and said: "You didn't buy vinyl?"
Mike Angus, Shameless Records artist from Edmonton and one half of The Wheat Pool’s songwriting brothers, steps out with his first solo LP, Hymns, released earlier this week on July 19. Listen to the single "Swallow It Whole" at the Shameless Records link above.
.
Hymns could be described as the hum of the amps once a band has left the stage. The void of an emptying venue as the room goes dark. In between the music and silence, there’s an echo. That’s the moment Angus chose to write Hymns from. The songs were written in Italy, where Angus spent two weeks in a Tuscan farmhouse working on new material. What emerged were sparse, immediate songs reflective of his headspace at the time.
“An unexpected dark gem …offers private, contemplative music of the highest order. Highly recommended.” No Depression
“Hymns is an accurate description for the collection, which has a spacious, prayer-like quality and would sound beautiful performed in a church.” NOW Magazine
Hymns Tour Dates
Aug 26 – Windsor, ON @ Taloola w/ Andy Shauf Aug 27 - Sarnia, ON @ Trinity Lounge w/ Andy Shauf
Aug 28 - Toronto, ON @ Central Bar w/ Andy Shauf
Aug 30 - Ottawa, ON @ Elmdale Tavern w/ Andy Shauf
Aug 31 - Montreal, QC @ Burritoville w/ Andy Shauf
Sept 01 - Toronto, ON @ Czehoski w/ Andy Shauf
Sept 02 - Hamilton, ON @ Freeway Coffeehouse w/ Andy Shauf
Sept 09 – Winnipeg, MB @ Ellice Theatre
Sept.11 - Moose Jaw, SK @ Java Express
We enjoyed Wax Mannequin's show at the Phog so much in February, we decided to make a run up to Narnia, uh, Sarnia at the end of May to see him again at Paddy Flaherty's. Unfortunately, a cool, rainy night kept us indoors, but then again, if we'd been outside on the patio, we wouldn't have gotten to see Wax bring down the house.
We jest about the whole Narnia/Sarnia thing, but a Wax Mannequin performance is a little like being in a fantasy land, between the handfuls of crystals, dark fairytale and fairytruth music and body bags full of balloons. Except this time, as Wax was hanging the bag, the shelf over the stage area he tried to affix it to split and gave way, and a treasure trove of bar bric-a-brac crashed down.
The rest of the show was anything but anticlimatic, as Wax delivered a jaunty set that included hits from his latest album, Saxon, plus, to the delight of the audience, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and "The Log Driver's Waltz." Even Paddy's sound man seemed to enjoy himself, despite the bag of ice on his head from the wreck of the shelf.
If for whatever reason late night shows aren't for you, Sarnia's Artwalk is the perfect occasion to catch some great Canadian indie bands long before bedtime. And enjoy them with your kids as well, beginning with Maylee Todd at 1:00 p.m. on the North Stage, and ending with a bang at 5:00 p.m. when one of our favourites, Elliott BROOD take the stage. In between, we're looking forward to hearing Harlan Pepper sing about Great Lakes (2:00 p.m.), the Rest perform Modern Time Travel (4:00 p.m.), and meeting fellow CBC Radio 3 blogger RedVinyl. Don't miss Olenka & the Autumn Lovers on Sunday (3:00).
The Wilderness of Manitoba soar in an atmosphere of ethereal sound, mythology and Tibetan singing bowls. As a multiphonic instrument, the singing bowl is both complement to and beautiful metaphor for the Wilderness of Manitoba's incredible vocal harmonies, courtesy of Stefan Banjevic, Scott Bouwmeester, Melissa Dalton, Sean Lancaric and Will Whitwham and their various instrumental talents. We were especially impressed with Lancaric's unique approach to drums/percussion. Their talents aren't limited to music; Dalton created the art and cover design of their full-length album, When You Left the Fire. Via N2D
We had Artwalk (Jun. 4-5) on our radar as soon as we learned that Elliott BROOD and Harlan Pepper were scheduled to perform. After seeing the lineup, now that blip is the size of a 747. There are no times listed yet, but R3 artists we know and love include, in addition to BROOD and Harlan Pepper, the Rest, Olenka & the Autumn Lovers and Maylee Todd.
Treelines, from Vancouver, BC, and Jon Janes, the man from Corner Brook, NL behind The Mountains & The Trees, recently completed their "Lessons in Geography" cross-Canada tour. Luckily for us, it included the stop in Sarnia, where the Detroit Radio 3 blogger contingent--N2D, Wapuche and jojodillon-- got to meet fellow bloggers cacophonously (of Petrolia, ON) and photographer extraordinaire Christine McAvoy of Vancouver. Word to the YVR3.
This was our first visit to Paddy's, but it definitely won't be our last. Although the stage is a little awkwardly placed (it's set deep enough that the view from the left is disadvantageous), the sound was excellent, the atmosphere authentic and warm (first venue where Yort took her coat off all winter), the food, although a little pricey was satisfying (Guinness poutine, anyone?) and the hard cider (Magner's) delicious. We're looking forward to catching a show there on the patio in the summer-- we were sorry to miss Elliott BROOD there last year.
This was not our first time seeing Jon Janes (here's our post from his show in Aug. 2010 at Windsor's Phog Lounge). We'll never count the times we've seen him because we could never get tired of his gentle, intimate songs and that floral suitcase kick drum. Fortunately, Janes is a songwriting machine: "I just wrote this song a half hour ago," he'll announce, and then play it as if it was an old friend. Expect a new album to complement I Made This For You in the near future.
Treelines-- brothers Matt and Steve Lockhart, Matt Kelly and Grant McKinnon at the kit-- have the look, assurance and sound of a mature band. We had to keep reminding ourselves that they've only been around for less than two years and released one full-length album (self-titled, 2009) and one EP (Young Man, July 2010)
Matt Lockhart, who began the evening with a solo set (and has a solo effort in the works), gets frequent comparisons to Bruce Springsteen. Even playing sans electricity by Paddy's decree ( "Acoustic shows are fun," says Steve, "because they allow us to showcase a different side of our band"), Lockhart and Treelines are less gritty and more green than blue-collar. Instead of a sensibility rooted in a microcosm, their folk-pop-rock speaks to a more national state of mind. Photos: Russ Gordon
Matt Kelly at the pedal steel.
While Christine McAvoy films...
The Mountains & The Trees (left) and
Matt Lockhart create an on-the-spot
video for a song Janes wrote less than
24 hours before.
Lessons in Geography
When we started this blog last year, the Windsor/Detroit area's three main venues for Canadian indie bands were booking so many shows neither our schedules or budget could keep up with them all.
What a difference a year makes. Of those three venues, only Windsor's Phog Lounge is still consistently showcasing Canadian indie music. Because our passion for this music knows no boundaries, we're enlarging the blog's boundaries. We've already been listing shows at the Ark in Ann Arbor; we'll be adding Sarnia (just over an hour's drive from Detroit) and some significant festivals coming up this summer in London (ON) and Toronto, focusing on bands either from Windsor or who have come through the Windsor/Detroit area. Of course we'll continue to seek out new worlds and boldly go-- oh wait, that's been used. We'll continue to find Canadian indie in Windsor/Detroit and work to bring bands to the area.
As you drive through the mountains and the trees, across the prairies and over the bridge you will see it. There, just past the treelines, it's the magical place known as...
Sarnia.
Thursday, March 10 @ Paddy Flaherty's, Sarnia, ON
Vancouver, BC's Treelines and Cornerbrook, NL's The Mountains and The Trees bring an exquisite collaboration of local yokel folk-pop and an acoustic version of ballads, rockers and anthems that can only be described as Canadian indie music at its very best.
The Mountains And The Trees video was filmed, produced and directed by Martin Cathrae. Here's his link. You may also listen to The Moe and Martin Show here.
An archive of our golden years as part of the CBC Radio 3 community and writing about, reviewing and promoting Canadian indie music in Detroit, Windsor and beyond.
