Sound Salvation Army

It’s been too long since I’ve seen a good, energetic, original, live set of music. It’s been an area in which I’ve cut corners recently, partly because it’s winter so good shows are harder to come by and partly because I’m thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to save enough money to take a trip to Hawaii in a few months. But friends, let me tell you: if I was rolling in dough I’d be heading on up to Saskatoon Thursday to see one of the niftiest little bands out of Montreal you may not have heard of.

United Steelworkers Of Montreal (heretofore referred to as USWOM because that’s a lot to type out every time and I’m pretty lazy) are heading out on tour. They’ve actually been at it a week already and this here post is mostly just to let you know they’re coming our way. Well, that and the fact that they are most definitely worth seeing in your local little sweaty club.

The six-piece group fancies themselves a more urban kind of alt-country, which (in my head at least) conjures up an image of a rap group with banjos. That’s pretty far off the mark, listening to the group’s 2009 record Three On The Tree (released on the pretty-much flawless Weewerk Records label, issuers of albums by everyone from Two Minute Miracles to the Barmitzvah Brothers to Elliott Brood to the Burning Hell and more). The instrumentation is fairly traditional country, let alone alt-country; there are no warmed-over electric power chords here, just quickly-strummed and -plucked acoustic guitars, upright bass, and banjos. Percussion is even sparing, as was the fashion in the old days when you just couldn’t spare a goat hide to stretch over your home-made drums.

Well, that’s getting a bit silly. What I’m saying is this band is terrifically gifted. The record spans everything from hard-edged outlaw country and bluegrass tunes about shooting down one lousy good-for-nothing man or another to tender standards-era folk crooning on “Little Girl” to hellacious, harmonica-drenched near-rockabilly on impassioned closer “Jesus, We Sweat.” USWOM also boast at least three singers trading lead vocals on songs, each with their own dynamic range and style. It really helps the flow of the album to have that kind of variety.

Okay! So admittedly this is a very cursory little “review” but I need to get it done so I can tell you guys about the tour dates! USWOM are playing Winnipeg and Saskatoon this week! Those are practically in your backyard! Go see them! Apparently dancing is all but inevitable at their gigs.

 

 Untied Steel Workers of Montreal - For Love and Your Mother's Sake [3:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 United Steel Workers of Montreal - Jesus, We Sweat [3:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You can learn the words by getting USWOM albums direct from their website. Learn the words BEFORE they hit your town!

Feb. 15: Winnipeg, MB @ Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club
Feb. 17: Saskatoon, SK @ Lydia’s
Feb. 18: Calgary, AB @ Ironwood
Feb. 19: Coleman, AB @ Blackbird Coffee House
Feb. 20: Nelson, BC @ Royal On Baker
Feb. 22: Vancouver, BC @ Railway Club
Feb. 23: Revelstoke, BC @ Big Eddy Pub
Feb. 24: Golden, BC @ Rockwater Bar
Feb. 25: Canmore, AB @ The Drake
Feb. 26: Lethbridge, AB @ The Slice
Mar. 03: Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Mar. 04: Kitchener, ON @ The Boathouse
Mar. 05: Hamilton, ON @ This Ain’t Hollywood

Pat entries alt country, banjo music, bluegrass, Canadian content, country, live music, rockabilly, United Steel Workers of Montreal

7. Drag the River - You Can’t Live This Way
There’s probably no other band I’ve discovered in the last three years that has made as enormous impact on me as Drag the River has. Having already been a big fan of most of the member’s previous bands, it was a short leap to make. The story of this band is astounding; they broke up for the second time before this album came out, but it proved to be such an incredible group of songs that caught on so quickly they came back and started touring again to support it. The division between the group’s two primary songwriters is clearer than its ever been compared to their previous releases. Where they previously evened each other out, now they’re following their own tangents: one focuses almost entirely on quiet, sombre back-porch acoustic strummers while the other’s tendency towards weird rock/country hybrids takes over. Despite it’s more scattered nature, the songs are still incredible and I’d take either of these fellows over most bands any day of the week. Luckily, they’ve got four or five releases and some vinyl reissues planned for this year (many of them in February) so it seems they aren’t going anywhere.

8. the Lucksmiths - First Frost
Casual, acoustic-based pop songs from Down Under. After discovering this album a few months ago, I’ve since delved deep into their back catalogue, all the way to their first tape. It’s a bit astounding to me how one band can be so consistently good and still be completely unknown outside their native country, but I guess it happens. There really wasn’t a better album released this year to listen to while walking through a small town on a bright afternoon or sitting next to the window on a rainy day writing in your feelings journal.

9. Old Man Leudecke - Proof Of Love
Even when I thought this album was good, I didn’t realize how good it really was. I enjoyed a half dozen tracks immensely, but after his early set at the Folk Fest in Regina during the summer, seeing his awkward, hesitant charm in person, and realizing how much people I wouldn’t have expected to like him were enjoying his songs the rest really opened itself up to me. Effortless, friendly roots music that isn’t afraid to show its heart.

 

 Drag the River - Tobacco Fields: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 the Lucksmiths - Good Light [2:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Old Man Luedecke - Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier [2:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You Can’t Live This Way is on iTunes and hard copies are put out by Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective.
First Frost might be a bit harder. I mean, iTunes is easy enough. Physical releases may be available through Matinee Records, but we’ll have to see about that.
Proof of Love dominates iTunes and Black Hen Music has his physical releases.

Pat entries banjo music, Drag The River, First Frost, indie pop, Old Man Luedecke, pop, Proof Of Love, roots, the Lucksmiths, You Can't Live This Way

This weekend was the 39th annual Regina Folk Festival. Like most of the big folk festivals in major Canadian cities, “folk” is a very loose term, as most of the headliners wouldn’t typically be lumped into that genre. Still, it’s a relatively small, very well-organized and well-attended festival that is continually drawing “bigger” acts every year, thanks I’m sure to a brilliant artistic director.

Finances restricted myself, my lady Jenny, her sister and her little boy to one day’s worth of paid attendance. We chose Friday, which saw main stage acts including: Final Fantasy, the Weakerthans, and closer Broken Social Scene.

Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett is a bit of an anomaly at the best of times and I think live performance reinforces that. It takes a lot of guts to put on the show that he does; a single, small man occupying a large stage with nothing but a violin, two microphones, and a couple of keyboards constructing intricate songs out of numerous (recorded live) loops and live playing and singing. Not easy to pull off, as evidenced by a couple of occasions where his foot-tapping got a bit out of control and accidentally stopped entire songs in the middle of a verse or chorus, only to have them awkwardly re-started again. He’s a consummate professional, though, and aside from those odd missteps the performances were flawless and filled with heart.

The Weakerthans offered little that wasn’t seen a few months ago in their latest touring performance here. Granted, for the constantly-growing crowd that’s all they needed to do. They’ve played the festival numerous times and they seemed to genuinely enjoy their set.

After fetching a few blankets from home (the perks of attending a festival two blocks from your apartment) and standing in an interminably long line at the beer gardens, we settled into a nice spot for Broken Social Scene. While much of their set was spent drinking beer and enjoying each others company without having to worry about the boy (he’d fallen asleep between sets), I was still very impressed with the show the Scenesters put on. Only seven or eight band members made the trip, and perhaps the neatest aspect of their performance was their willingness to open up the stage. Members of local acts and other performers with lower profiles at the festival were brought on to fill in missing components (female vocals, horn section, etc), to a very nice effect. They played an energetic set with a fairly representative mixture of their work, promising to come back soon to do a real show.

My personal highlight, however, came the next day when we didn’t actually have passes to the main stage events. We took Solan to play in the park after breakfast and were in an ideal position to take in a set by Old Man Luedecke. As I mentioned in a previous post, Luedecke is a very lively, spirited songwriter who pens very real, touching, and relatable songs about things like napping and breakfast. He expressed some mild concern at the beginning of the set (when only about five or six people including us were watching) about being relegated to the Children’s Stage, saying he wasn’t sure if that meant he was supposed to play kids songs. Thankfully he stuck to original material, beautiful songs about kissing at the airport and a woeful character named Monsanto Jones whose parents brought the ire of the GMF grain giant just by naming him. Between songs he proved just as entertaining, relating stories and inspiration in a very loose, comical fashion. Ironically, despite his reticence, I’d find it hard to imagine he’d perform anywhere else; banjo music is apparently the perfect soundtrack to the innocent twirling, running, and frog-jumping that mark the dancing of toddlers and infants. By the end of the set, his crowd had grown to probably about 100, each of them grinning and singing along when prompted.

The free performances on three stages throughout the park (centrally located in “lovely” downtown Regina) are a brilliant idea. National bands just gaining renown (Woodpigeon) and local acts doing the same on a smaller scale (Library Voices, Rah Rah) got a showcase that ensured maximum possible attendance, due to their freeness. It’s a great idea that really speaks to the character of the festival itself. All in all, a great couple of days.

 

 Old Man Luedecke - At The Airport [2:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Library Voices - the Lonely Projectionist [4:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Broken Social Scene - Major Label Debut (fast) [3:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Final Fantasy - This Modern Love (live, Bloc Party cover) [4:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Old Man Luedecke: Zunior and physical albums
Broken Social Scene: Zunior and physical albums
Library Voices: physical albums are available through Young Soul Records, but good luck finding them.
Final Fantasy: Zunior and physical albums
the Weakerthans: iTunes and physical albums

Pat entries banjo music, Broken Social Scene, Canadian content, festivals, Final Fantasy, indie rock, live music, local music, Old Man Luedecke, pop rock, rock, the Weakerthans

Back around the year 2000, I was reviewing CDs for the University of Regina’s Carillon student newspaper and loving it. In my time a disc came across my desk by a fellow named Steve Dawson, a virtuostic guitar player, producer, and the man behind Black Hen Records. Since then I’ve yet to come across another Black Hen artist, let alone one that matched the fun spirit and playful romp of his disc Bug Parade until now.

I found Old Man Luedecke on the chart I base most of the show off when his latest, Proof of Love, was released. As is my self-imposed mandate, I checked him out and fell in love with his voice, banjo, and compositional style. He’s a songwriter out of the old-school, a classic case. One of those artists that just has a quality outlook on life and a passion for his craftsmanship and performance.

Oh, and by the way: banjo doesn’t always mean country.

I eventually learned that Black Hen patriarch Dawson not only put the Nova Scotian “banjo scenester’s” record out, but also produced it. Small world.

 

 Old Man Luedecke - Proof of Love [2:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Old Man Luedecke - the Drawing Near [3:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Proof of Love and debut Hinterland can be purchased via the InterTubes:
Black Hen Music: Mail order is for champions!
iTunes: Roots music, digitally.

Pat entries banjo music, Black Hen Records, Canadian content, Old Man Luedecke