Concert Review : Rose Cousins & Royal Wood at the Media Club

Rose Cousins and headliner Royal Wood put on a fantastic show on November 17, 2009 at the Media Club in Vancouver-- one full of switching roles, great laughs and even greater appreciation of your loved ones.

Halifax-based Rose Cousins, touring her new album The Send Off, began her opening set by the strumming of her guitar and the clear, warm tone of her voice. Well, not completely accurate. She opened her set by commenting on the amount of people surrounded the stage and how it made her feel "popular." And indeed there was a unusually large crowd for an opening set, which consisted of a dedicated base of "Rosebuds," which included Vancouver artists such as Jill Barber, Nat Jay and T Nile. She also thanked Grant Lawrence of CBC Radio 3, who was in the audience, for interviewing her earlier on during the day and heaped praise on the CBCs across Canada.

It wasn't long into her set that the rest of the people in the room were equally captivated by her honest lyrics, perfect (can I say that?) voice and gut-busting banter, which ranged from touchingly personal to hilariously inappropriate. She also accompanied herself for the entire set on keyboards, guitar and mandolin, save the beautiful "All the Time It Takes to Wait" which was accompanied by the "talented and handsome" Royal Wood.

Rose had the attention of the entire crowd in the usually chatty Media Club. Mid-set, she put the audience on the spot by asking for things in a den-- with the crowd yelling things like "chesterfield!" and "Jenga!" and her constructing a vivid image of that idyllic childhood den with her descriptive imagination. She then transitioned into her song "The Dancers" which imagined an elderly ballroom aficionado couple waltzing around this constructed den.

This was not the only time she called out for audience participation, of course. In another great switching of roles, she called out for an audience member "who's good at keeping rhythm" before playing the last song in her set, "Sadie in the Kitchen." I volunteered hesitantly, and soon found myself sharing the stage with Rose accompanying her on the shaker egg. She gladly regaled myself, an audience member, with the spotlight (and microphone!) while she led the rest of the audience in a sing-along, complete with "random vocal projections." The adorable refrain "before bed, before bed, B for bed, B for bed..." was written with her friends' young daughter in mind, and meant to be an "adult children's song" that she composed for said friends' wedding. Her willingness to share the stage and completely engage the crowd in participation recalls the show by her good friend, Joel Plaskett, whom she supported in a Vancouver show in May.

So yes, I'm going to include that in my resume and CV from now on.

Royal Wood took to the stage with guitarist Dean Drouillard inconspicuously, launching into their first of many songs. Playing many songs from his latest The Lost and Found EP as well as his 2005 A Good Enough Day, Royal filled the Media Club with his romantic, melancholy ballads without his usual backing band. And was the show romantic! Couples lined the perimeter of the stage, as well as filling the rest of the venue, while Royal told of the songs inspired by his brother's wedding, his parents' love, his own love and that of his friend's grandparents. In one of the more poignant moments, he told the audience to never settle for less than the reverberating, lifelong love that they deserve, and for which he sings. These touching anecdotes were nicely interspersed in the song-heavy, banter-light set, which included hits "Juliet" and "Don't Fall Apart."

Royal invited Rose back on stage for 2 songs near the end of his set, and wrapped up with an extended, passionate "Acting Crazy (It's a Breakdown)." Before returning on stage for the encore, he seemed confounded by the presence of washrooms where backstage is supposed to be. The Media Club's backstage is actually at the back of the room, and he commented that he wasn't sure whether to enter the men or the women's washroom in order to get there. Matching Rose's incredible sense of humour, he poked fun at the men in the room by encouraging a final sing-along by saying "this is to show your sexual confidence," which of course, got a burst of laughter and the desired louder audience participation.

All in all, the show was a heartwarming experience, and concert goers exited the Media Club with muted smiles, holding their loved ones into the windy, rainy Vancouver night.

For more photos of the show, visit my Flickr set.

Two Hours Traffic, CBC Radio3 and Me…

So I went to see The Danks, Spiral Beach, and Two Hours Traffic show last night at Call The Office. This is a story about how CBC radio3 changed my life and got me excited about music again…

You see in the 90's I was an avid fan — going to shows and collecting albums as much as any fan did. A good portion of my student loans may or may not have gone to musical accouterments that suited the soundtrack to my life.

But then something happened…
The new millennium came and went without much of a gasp despite the electronic gloom that was predicted. Quietly though, someone collectively let the air out of the musical balloon. All of a sudden music got boring. Vanilla. And uninteresting.

I tapped out. For a good five years…
Then, the iPod came out. Podcasts soon followed. And then, I discovered this wonderful little podcast hosted by Grant Lawrence, the frontman of a now dormant band, The Smugglers. And it was produced by this unknown to me at the time emergent media division of the CBC, called radio3. The successor to Radio Sonic I'm told.

The podcast featured something at the time that no other could because of legal gobblety-gook: new music. Somehow radio3 had configured a system where they could play songs in their entirety with the artist's permission, and introduce me to this pantheon of great Canadian independent music that was happening under my radar.

At the same time, my sister-in-law, had moved from Windsor to the Toronto to be a 'sound guy' in the big smoke. One of the gigs she landed was working as a tech at the prestigious Drake Hotel – a forward thinking, tech savvy boutique hotel. So it was often when we got together at family gatherings, and shared what we were currently excited about musically. At one of these gatherings she told me about a band of these young kids, and said a lot of people will be getting really excited about them in six months. They were called Spiral Beach.

And she was right.
Back in those days CBC radio3 took over the traditional radio waves of it's terrestrial radio counterpart: CBC Radio2 on Saturday nights and ran a live show that featured this podcast host, Grant Lawrence. On one of the shows, Grant was talking about this new band Two Hours Traffic that hailed from Charlottetown, PEI. He had them on the show, and he was giving away a copy of their (then) new EP, Isolator.

All you had to do was call in…
I remember we were driving across town that night to pick up a friend at the airport, and I called in to try my hand at the trivia to win the album. The question was something to the effect of why the soil was red in PEI, and I knew it was because of the hight iron content. And in a few weeks, I was listening to that new band's EP that I won. And I loved it.

In fact, I loved it so much that I pitched the song Stuck for the Summer from that EP as a track that should be on CBC radio3's R3 30 — the station's top 30 weekly chart show. My pitch was chosen and I ended up talking on air with the show's host, Craig Norris. Because the pitch was selected I won a Sirius satellite player and six month subscription to the service where I could listen all I wanted.

On (or around) April 3, 2006 I signed up at CBC radio3's companion web site, and I have been there daily almost since. I was chosen as their inaugural "Fan of the Year" in their year-end tongue-in-cheek Bucky Awards. I was chosen to review the LOLA 2007 festival in London for their web site. I was also the – to quote Craig Norris – 'fitting first' person to co–host with Craig for his now regular The Craig Norris Hour Co-Host Iniative. I've pitched a track of the day, and I have also weaseled my way onto Vish Khanna's Breakfast Club Show with another fellow CBC radio3 blog commenter Martin 'suckaMC' Cathrae.

And I am still the person with the most total blog comments on the site… though I am not sure if I am proud of that.

I have made friends with the co-hosts there. With the director. With bands. And most importantly with other fellow music fans. It's safe to say that CBC radio3 is the one thing I'd have a hard time replacing, were it to ever disappear from my vernacular. There isn't anything I know of that is a social portal to so many of the things I enjoy – the least of which is music. It is a community and I am proud to be part of it.

I am now writing about music again too. Something that also had laid dormant from the 90's. Only now I am involved with this blog, North by East West that was created by a friend I made at CBC radio3, Justin Beach, also a Bucky "Fan of the Year", and continues to be populated with like-minded radio3 and music fans. But I've also now written reviews for Exclaim! and features for ArtSCAPE magazine here in London. And I volunteer at The Aeolian Hall – helping this venue be viable and continue to support the bands and music that fuel me.

So, the whole point of this long winded affair is not to toot my own horn and tell you about all the things I am doing. I promise that…
Last night after the show I had a chance to tell one of the members of Two Hours Traffic, Alec O'Hanley that their band and CBC radio3 had an integral part of awakening that sleeping giant inside of me. And there's no greater joy than seeing the reaction on someone's face as you tell them how much their work has given your life that excitement and anticipation of musical discovery back. I went home hoping that Alec had gotten something out of that conversation, on some level that I had with their music.

Which is why I am sharing this with you, Music Community…
It is to tell you that no mater how insignificant the things you're doing on a daily basis are, never under estimate the breadth and reach of their scope — that there likely are thousands of people out there, just like me that you are affecting with this positive change — even right now as I compose it. And while you're reading it.

This is to tell you thank you. And to hope you're feeling a fraction of the good I could see on Alec's face last night.

So… thank you.

--

"tb3"

John Teeter

Arkells Guest Hosting CBC Radio 3 This Friday

Via the Arkells' Facebook update:

Our good friend Grant Lawrence will be out to cover Regina Folk Fest so they've asked us to take over for the day.

Dan and Max will be in studio hosting with CBC's Chris Kelly. The guys will be playing a bunch of songs from their favorite artists and Chris will playing some Arkells tunes and asking the guys questions. You can also call in and speak to the band live. Here are the details.

Arkells Host CBC Radio 3
Friday Aug. 7
listen live on cbcradio3.com and Sirius 86
2:00 - 5:00 PM ET , 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM PT
Call 1-877-955-6565 ext. 2 to speak to the band live.

Maybe Smith plays Vancouver for the first time ever!

Website - MySpace - NMC

Last Sunday night in Vancouver I had the pleasure of sitting down with Colin Skrapek aka Maybe Smith before his “surprise” show at the Railway club. He’s currently touring Western Canada in promotion of his new album, Another Murder in the Morning. Don’t know Maybe Smith that well? If you listen to Grant Lawrence on CBC Radio 3 you’ll hear Maybe Smith every time you tune in as their song, Hearts Like Bears, is used for his starting intro. Click the link and listen, I bet you’ll find it familiar. Speaking of Grant Lawrence, he’s been quoted as saying that Maybe Smith is “Canada’s best kept musical secret.” If I had my way, Maybe Smith would be anything but a secret. Colin’s an amazing artist who has been consistently putting out fantastic “silly pop songs” to quote Colin himself. His style and take on pop is refreshing in its unique sounds and its quirky, infectious lyrics, much of which are highly amusing. Here’s a small chat I had with Colin before the show, we had just been talking about how neither of us knew about this show till Friday morning...

Alex: But yeah, how did that work, getting the show tonight?

Colin: Well, we were having a really hard time finding a place in Vancouver and then I contacted the Railway. I think we had contacted them a long time ago and they said, you know, they were booked already. I contacted them again out of desperation saying we could play this Sunday night because we were trying to get the Friday night, two nights ago. This last month I contacted him and he said he was going to look into it and I just never heard back from anyone. So then I thought “Okay, well, it’s a no go,” but whatever, didn’t think anything of it. Then I found out on the internet through someone’s blog that we were playing here. So I looked and I verified it on a few other web sites and it seemed all legit and everything so I phoned him and said “Is this true and why didn’t you tell me?” but, I’m glad it worked out. It would have sucked to have been booked and have missed the show because we didn’t know and then, burned a bridge at a venue and a whole city probably. Not that there’s going to be anybody here…

A: Well, Vancouver is kinda low on venues as it is.

C: That’s the impression I get. I was talking to a lot of different people in town. Trying to get anything here. We were going to play in Chris Alscher’s shed actually.

A: Oh really?

C: Well, we were considering it, which would have been fun but we just don’t have any acoustic instruments. We couldn’t really do it but yeah, it’s too bad. It’s such a big city.

A: Yeah, and there’s a lot of good bands around here, it seems strange.

C: There’s that documentary, I haven’t seen the documentary but I’ve seen the trailer for it, No Fun City thing. Yeah, well, hopefully the tables will turn at some point.

A: Yeah, hopefully that’ll change. So, when you’re trying to get a show do you personally have to solicit people or do you have someone trying to promote you?

C: We do everything ourselves and it sucks. Booking a tour is like applying for jobs in twenty different cities and you’re applying to multiple venues at once in any one city hoping it all works out and everything has to be really intricately timed, you know, based on a route that is economical. Well, we got someone to help us with this tour but he was basically just doing us a favour, it wasn’t like a booking company or anything. We just do it ourselves because that’s the cheap way to do it. But it’s definitely my least favourite thing to do. Of anything involving music, booking a tour is the worst. It’s just really really frustrating, you get a lot of non-responses or like, questionable things. I dunno, you never know where you’re at in any given city at any given time. Once it’s all booked and it’s done and you hit the road and it’s all good.

A: Anything that can relate itself to job applications and interviews has to be an arduous process.

C: You’re just sending people unsolicited emails hoping for the best basically and yeah, sometimes people are rude in their responses, sometimes they’re not. I dunno, you never know what you’re going to get in return but you just have to go through it I guess unless you want to pay someone to do it for you. I’m sure there’s better ways to do it that we’re just not aware of that other bands do. Like secrets that other bands know that we don’t, bands who have done it a million times because I just haven’t toured very much. I mean, well, I did a solo tour out east a few years ago then went with this band out east again. This is the first time out west actually, so I’ve never even done like a coast-to-coast tour all in one go.

A: I assume that’d be pretty hard to book

C: Yeah, we had one booked and then we had to cancel all our eastern shows this time because we didn’t get; another thing is that, for a band like us that’s relatively obscure you don’t get paid very much at shows. You sometimes can’t afford [it], you don’t break even on the gas money and all the expenses that come with touring and so you hope for some help through granting agencies. And so we were hoping to get a grant to go out east this time and we didn’t get it so we had to kind of cancel the shows which is too bad because we were booked to play a bunch of shows with Great Bloomers from Toronto who are a really good band, we like them a lot. We kinda had to leave them hanging unfortunately. We just couldn’t afford it.

A: That’s kind of the problem with Canada, it’s really big.

C: Yeah, and you start in Saskatoon which is in the middle of nowhere. It’s hard, you can’t just go in one direction. You kind of have to do this weird like, figure eight. I dunno, maybe it’s not actually more distance traveled, it seems like it is but maybe it’s not. But yeah, you can’t just go in one direction and then just drive back.

A: So, you tour with a band? You mostly like make all your own stuff.

C: Yeah, all the albums I do myself but in order to do anything that even closely resembles them in a way that is interesting live, like playing with a laptop doesn’t appeal to me at all. I used to do stuff like that and it’s just hard to make it interesting for yourself and interesting for the people watching you. So I’ve been going with a full band for a few years now and it’s a lot more fun. The songs don’t sound anything like they do on the record, which also makes it more fun. It’s more interesting for me that way, you get to re-imagine things a different way.

A: I imagine it can be more interesting for the crowd if they actually know your stuff previously.

C: If they know it’s either interesting or annoying. I dunno which one, I haven’t met anyone though who was like “I can’t believe you didn’t do it this way.” It’s not that far off, the last two albums have been a lot less electronic than the previous ones. So playing them with a band with regular rock instruments makes decent sense and we can pull it off semi-coherently.

A: Nice.

C: Hopefully, heh.

A: I haven’t heard much of your older albums, I only have Animals & Architects.

C: Everything before that was a lot more electronic sounding, a lot noisier sounding. I really like those records but it’s hard to play live. We don’t play any songs from those records on tour. We only play from Animals & Architects and the new one, mostly just because I haven’t found a satisfying way of doing those songs with a band. We’ve done a few before, there’s been some where its been a decent transition but some of them, I would rather they sound more like the album and so, since we can’t really pull that off very well. Well I, for better or for worse, have enough songs to call from now that, it’s okay, we can leave those ones behind for live stuff.

A: There’s always kind of stuff that you can get done for an album, when you’re producing it because you just have time to put it together. Live you’re kind of under the gun, stuff has to be done on the fly otherwise you’re just playing a recording.

C: Yeah, but there’s things that I’d like to revisit in those albums. Even if it’s doing a one off show in Saskatoon where you try to, I dunno, just play that album in its entirety and try to recreate it just because, for me, that’d be an interesting project. So, I might do something like that in the future when I feeling nostalgic about those things. I’m not quite there yet. The idea’s there anyways.

A: So, do you play a lot of shows in Saskatoon?

C: No, like once every six months probably. We only play two or three a year. Just because, well, I love playing in Saskatoon and playing at Amigos in Saskatoon is my favourite place to play in the world but you’re always basically playing to the same crowd. Even if it’s a full crowd and they really like it, you kind of feel silly playing the same songs over and over again without ever being able to offer them much new and so, that’s why I try to space out our shows in Saskatoon because I feel like there’s not much point in doing it all the time if you can’t, you know, keep it interesting for everyone involved. But, I love playing in Saskatoon, Amigos is by far my favourite place to play.

A: Amigos, I haven’t been there but I hear great things about it.

C: Yeah, it’s great and for a band, they treat you really well and whether you’re local or not they treat everyone with the same kind of respect and everything and it’s good.

A: Now, there’s always one question I ask people, it’s kind of a personal interest thing, but when did you start playing music and what was your first instrument?

C: First instrument would have been piano when I was like 6 or 7 years old probably. You know, my parents made me take lessons and I took them for a few years but I hated it mostly because the teacher I had used to make me cry and stuff. She was so mean, she was like an old cat lady and she was super mean so I quit that. In elementary school, I played trombone in the school band and then discovered the guitar at the end of elementary school. Developed an interest in sloppy indie music and stuff after that in High School. Tried to write Radiohead songs and realized that was a lost cause so I decided to write silly pop songs.

A: I dunno, I think you’re doing good on the silly pop songs.

C: Well, at least it’s more comfortable for me to do than trying to, you know, write Paranoid Android part II.

A: And besides, it’s better to do something that a little more original for you than trying to copy
someone else.

C: Ah, well, it’s not really too original since I’m basically just copying. Pop bands are easier to copy than accomplished... well… Radiohead is a pop band. You know what I mean.

A: So how’s the tour been going?

C: It’s been going really well. Yeah, we’re just doing a western swing spanning Victoria to Winnipeg; it’s been going well. We’ve played Edmonton and Prince George and Victoria and all the shows have been great. We’ve been playing with really great local bands in all those places. I’m looking forward to… I have no idea who we’re playing with here. I didn’t have time to research it as I just found out about the show but I think it’s a local band.

A: Yeah, I think actually my friends brother is in it or something. So the Railway Club set that up, I guess.

C: Yeah, haha, I assume so.

A: It still seems kind of funny that they just booked you and didn’t tell you.

C: Yeah, someone dropped the ball on it but it worked out, hopefully.

A: I think it might have been a last minute thing on their part too because I swear I just checked their calendar like a week or even a few days before I found out about this show and then someone told me about it and I looked on their calendar and there it was.

C: Yeah, I have no idea when it appeared on the internet. I mean, it couldn’t have been too long ago because our original conversations were in the middle of June so it would have been end of June, maybe? I dunno…

A: Hopefully you get a decent turnout, it can be a hard sell on a Sunday.

C: Well, I don’t have high expectations. I mean, it is a Sunday and there’s a big act, Reverend Horton Heat is playing the Commodore. There was a huge line for that down Granville.

A: Maybe I’m too cheap or something but I have to like a band quite a bit to go to the Commodore these days. Every show is like thirty five bucks.

C: Really? I’ve never been to the Commodore.

A: I think it almost holds like a thousand people or something. It seems like no tickets are under twenty bucks and then Ticketmaster takes its cut and it’s up to thirty five.

C: Exactly.

A: I dunno, I like the Railway Club. You played here before? [I seemed to have forgotten one of the first things we talked about]

C: No, I’ve never played in Vancouver before

A: Oh, right right. This is the first time.

C: Yeah, this is our first time. I’ve played in Edmonton and Calgary before but no where in BC so first time Victoria, first time Prince George.

A: Where’d you play in Victoria?

C: At a place called the Fort Café which is just a little basement restaurant bar which was fantastic. It was really good. The owner was really cool and played with a Vancouver guy named Pete Samples who was supposed to be playing at this show but I guess he wasn’t booked in all this confusion.

A: That sucks, I believe I’ve heard Pete Samples before.

C: He lives here now, he used to be in Winnipeg but he gets play on Radio 3 and stuff so you might have heard him through Radio 3.

A: I definitely listen to a lot of Radio 3.

My recording ended here but after this we talked about the satisfaction one gets from meeting people who get esoteric references you make. I wish I had it but on a related note, you should look into getting one of Maybe Smith’s T-shirts, I’m wearing mine right now. He doesn’t have anything set up on his site to order them but I’m sure if you email him you guys can work something out.

After the interview I was in for a great show. Maybe Smith might have played to a small crowd that Sunday night but they definitely didn’t slack off because of it and the crowd reciprocated that enthusiasm. Apparently a midnight curfew was given so they tore into as many songs as possible, filling the room with bouncy pop tunes with filled lyrics you’d end up finding yourself singing on the way home. As we had talked about the live versions of the songs are played on regular rock instruments and gives them a different feel. To me, it was a great to hear a different take on them, removing some the electronic distortion giving the songs more of a stronger pop/rock hit than off the album. I think this almost gives them a bolder sound live that makes excellent dance fodder. To sum up, don’t miss out on Maybe Smith if they come to your town, they’re a band that should be filling up venues even on a Sunday.


They’re still on tour so here are the upcoming dates:
14-Jul: Calgary @ The Palomino w/ The Nix Dicksons
16-Jul: Regina @ The Club w/ Crosstown Rivals and Lambtadas
17-Jul: Winnipeg @ Lo Pub w/ TBD
18-Jul: Saskatoon @ Amigos w/ soso, Nestor Wynrush, and Yy

Also, Colin runs his own independent label called Sir, Handsome Records that has produced his 5 albums and 2 EPs. The newest album, Another Murder in the Morning, is available through Zunior, Maple Music and the iTunes music store. Colin also has an amusing blog that I’d recommend paying attention to as well. Visit the site and check it out, then spread the word.

Let’s make Maybe Smith less of a best-kept secret and more of a well-known artist.

- AlexOfAnders

Radio 3 Podcast #211 - Sing For Your Song All Request Special!

CBC Radio 3 has posted the Sing For Your Song All Request Special podcast with Grant Lawrence. This one though is just a one hour version of what's to come: on Canada Day between 4pm and 6pm, Grant Lawrence and the too rarely heard Amanda Putz will be hosting a much longer and live version "Sing For Your Song Canada!".

Personally I will be loitering somewhere around Parliament Hill with credentials of some kind (media, medical, police?? still working on it) but if you can't join me there you should definitely check it out.



Download the Podcast Here!

The Boycott that Wasn't

This morning I logged onto Twitter and found this from CBC Radio 3's Grant Lawrence:

"Did Canadian music blog @nxew really boycott #nxne?! why?!?"

I had no idea this was a question. Nowhere on the blog, or anywhere else as far as I know, did anyone say that we were boycotting. There were in fact several - posts - promoting NXNE Events and encouraging people to attend - including people who couldn't be in Toronto. I even said last night several hours before Grant's post:

"Yesterday (Saturday, June 20, 2009) NxEW.ca turned 3 months old. Of course yesterday was also the biggest day of the North by North East music festival (because I'm in Toronto) that means I am playing catch up. Starting a few weeks before the festival began I was deluged with email and requests pertaining to the festival. I still have alot of email to wade through and several hours of video to check."

So I was really surprised by the question and responded:

"@GrantLCBCR3 @adammacisaac @unjoyeuxluron - No @NxEW didn't boycott #nxne - where did that come from? - JB"

Note: @adammacissac and @unjoyeuxluron were not a part of the rumor, they simply re-tweeted Grant's question and so were included in the response.

There was no direct answer to the question and to the best of my knowledge no one involved with NxEW.ca was asked about the rumor before hand. Grant has asked if I'd be interested in being on this afternoon's show to talk about it, I've responded with a definite maybe and haven't heard anything since (though I asked again where it was coming from.

I was, as a matter of fact at CBC Radio 3's NXNE Showcase on Saturday - I didn't talk to Grant but I did run into Craig Norris. I was really impressed with the crowd chanting "CBC" have a look (part of the several hours of video I mentioned)):



So, no idea where this is coming from and may or may not be on Radio 3 talking about it this afternoon, but I'd really love to hear where this is coming from. I sincerely hope that there is a good source for it and it's not just unsubstantiated crap to give Radio 3 something to talk about. I mean, it is unsubstantiated (and untrue), but given that I talked to someone at Radio 3 at NXNE on Saturday I hope that there is a point to this exercise.

It's bad enough that the MMVA's were allowed to be turned into the Great American Douche Fest - Canadian music doesn't need the National Enquirer treatment.