The second annual Jasper Folk Music Festival kicks of Friday, Sept. 12 at Centennial Park. Tickets are still available at Coco's Cafe, Nutters, Tekarra Color Lab and the Jasper Legion, as well as at the Old Grind and Wild Orchid Liquor Store in Hinton and Three Ranges Brewing Company in Valemount.
They can also be purchased online at www.jasperfolkmusicfestival.ca.
Friday night headliner: SHRED KELLY
There鈥檚 nothing quite like gunshots firing overhead during a late night pee break on the side of a desolate highway鈥攅specially when those shots are coming from an unknown location and could be heading in any possible direction.
But, such is the life of a travelling band. If it鈥檚 not gunshots, it鈥檚 an albino moose greeting you from the side of the road.
At least that鈥檚 the case for Shred Kelly.
The 鈥渟toke folk鈥� band from Fernie, B.C. has shared all kinds of adventures in its five years on the road, whether playing for sandwiches and beer or the big bucks at some of the country鈥檚 most popular festivals.
Back in 2009, when the musicians found each other at an open jam night, it wasn鈥檛 long before they had grand plans for a cross-country tour鈥攄espite having no name recognition or musical cred outside of their quaint mountain town.
鈥淚t was probably a bit naive of us to do as our first tour,鈥� said the band鈥檚 lead vocalist and pianist, Sage McBride. 鈥淎fter that we learned to tour a little bit more intelligently鈥攁nd not to take on the entire country as a band that no one knows.鈥�
That tour, although not the most intelligent decision of the band鈥檚 career, did leave the members with some nuggets of wisdom, though, as well as a name for their hard-to-define genre.
鈥淲e were trying to come up with a name, because every time we showed up to a bar for the first time and no one had heard of us, they鈥檇 be like, 鈥榳hat kind of music do you play,鈥� and if we said folk, people would be kind of disappointed because they would be like, 鈥榯hat was much heavier than folk,鈥� if we said rock they would be like, 鈥榖ut, there鈥檚 a folk element.鈥�
鈥淪o we were having a difficult time describing our sound and our friend was like, 鈥榠t鈥檚 stoke folk, it鈥檚 folk music that gets you really stoked.鈥欌��
And that鈥檚 the genre that鈥檚 stuck, taking the band through its first two albums: Goodbye July and In the Hills.
Its third full length album is set to be released in early 2015. McBride said it鈥檚 full of the stoke folk tunes the band is known for, but there鈥檚 an electronic twist.
鈥淭here鈥檚 more synth on the album, but there鈥檚 still our high energy banjo rock鈥攖hat鈥檚 pretty prevalent.鈥�
Shred Kelly will bring its foot-stomping, clawhammer banjo riffs to Jasper this weekend, when it headlines the Jasper Folk Music Festival Friday night, taking the stage at 9:30 p.m.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
[accordion title="Saturday night headliner: BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR"]
Maybe you鈥檝e heard the music of the Bright Light Social Hour before, and maybe you鈥檝e struggled to piece together some kind of meaning in the lyrics that run under those upbeat, psychedelic rock riffs.
But if you take the band鈥檚 keyboardist, Jack O鈥橞rien, at his word, you鈥檒l probably never make sense of any of it. You see, a lot of those lyrics start out as complete gibberish. Some of them get refined from complete gibberish to slightly less gibberish-y prose, but not all of them.
In an interview Sept. 5 O鈥橞rien explained that, when writing songs, a common technique the band uses is to sing nonsense over the licks they lay down in their practice sessions.
鈥淚f it sounds good, and it feels like there鈥檚 good emotion in that鈥攅ven though there鈥檚 not any words being sung鈥擨鈥檒l take that and just try to transcribe words to it based on how it already sounds,鈥� he explained.
Other times, O鈥橞rien (a Spanish major who studied for a year in Madrid) will write something in Spanish and leave it for a while, before coming back and translating it to English. The result is often 鈥渧ery strange and interesting,鈥� leading him to places he would never have gone if he wrote strictly in his native language.
Processes like these mean that the Bright Light Social Hour鈥檚 lyrics often end up ambiguous and slightly nonsensical, a fact O鈥橞rien seems pleased with.
鈥淸These processes] just take things to an unexpected place, and that can really open up a lot of doors,鈥� he explained.
And in a lot of ways forging into new and slightly bizarre territory is the band鈥檚 M.O. They began as a hardcore experimental rock group (featuring screaming and odd time signatures), before reorganizing their lineup and writing 鈥渟ome really soft kind of post-rock stuff.鈥�
Then there was a swing into a more classic-rock-inspired kick, before they settled into the sound most prominently featured on their upcoming album, which O鈥橞rien said is a much more psychedelic and dance infused rock.
And how have their fans reacted to the band鈥檚 constantly changing identity?
鈥淚f they don鈥檛 like it, they don鈥檛 tell us,鈥� O鈥橞rien said.
Proof that they are doing something right came for the guys in 2011, when their debut album won a rare sweep of six awards at the SXSW 2011 Austin Music Awards, including Band of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year.
O鈥橞rien said that with all the talent in Austin, the band had no expectations of winning anything, so they were thrilled at the outcome, especially since venues and promoters finally started answering the band鈥檚 emails.
Since then, Bright Light Social Hour has burst out of Austin, and this summer it has been on a festival blitz, playing several festivals in Western Canada, including the Jasper Folk Music Festival later this week, where they will headline Saturday night.
Trevor Nichols
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[accordion title="The line-up"]
Friday night
5:30 HUNDRED MILES ACROSS
6:30 JENIE THAI
7:30 SAM SPADES
8:30 WILLHORSE
9:30 SHRED KELLY
Saturday
12 noon GUI BENOIT & MOCCASIN BLACK
1:00 THE ROCKIES
2:00 RAY ELLIOT BAND
3:00 DARKLARK
4:00 RANDAL SCOTT BAND
5:00 BREAK
5:30 THE PICK BROTHERS BAND
6:30 SWEET ALIBI
7:30 TIM VAUGHN
8:30 ROYAL STREETS
9:30 BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR
For bios of all the bands, check out the 51暗网's .
[accordion title="Getting around"]
