DUO JUST TOO HAPPY TO SING THE BLUES
Red Dirt Skinners finding success as their sound continues to evolve
When English-born multi-instrumentalists Sarah and Rob Skinner first recorded as the duo Red Dirt Skinners back around 2011, they were making music in a bluesy vein, a carry-over from previous band associations. But it didn’t work.
“It just didn’t fit,” Sarah Skinner said. “We were too happy. We got married while we were working on our second album and went in a completely different direction.”
What better reason to shift directions — or countries, for that matter?
As new Canadians — based in rural southern Ontario for a year now — the duo sounds more content than ever, out with their sixth and latest release Under Utopian Skies. England’s loss is Canada’s gain.
While the Red Dirt Skinners draw from sources like David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Supertramp, and other admitted classic rock influences, they offer a hard-topigeonhole mix of folk, rock, country and jazz elements with a core of solid vocal harmonies, a sound filtered through their chemistry and expertise that’s bracing, fresh, and deserving of a wider audience.
There’s a cover of Comfortably Numb on the new album, but it’s different from Pink Floyd’s original, with a new time signature and a saxophone solo. Rob plays guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and percussion, and produced the album, while Sarah plays saxophones, harmonica, keys, and did the graphics.
Under Utopian Skies is more complex than they initially intended. They promised each other to keep working on it in their new home studio until last spring arrived. Winter was longer than expected, so the multi-tracked arrangements have surprising sonic depths for a duo.
Sarah feels each album has been part of a continuing spontaneous evolution since their early blues and country leanings.
The songs on 2012’s Home Sweet Home were written after they became victims of a weekend burglary. Their use of harmony vocals grew at the urging of a musical celebrity.
“One of the very first shows we did when we were being ignored in bars in England had Lisa Marie Presley in the audience. I had no idea who she was until later but she came up to us and told us, ‘You guys are great, but you should do more harmonies.’ We thought it was pretty good advice.”
Songwriters before they met, the Skinners are co-writers in a distinct fashion. She often starts songs before he sometimes stretches them into miniature epics.
Most of Under Utopian Skies takes off from recent experience: Here With You was about their itch to move, Hey Crawford is about a friendly tour guide, the title track alludes to their new happiness, and This House is the end point. One older song, An Isolated Episode Of Transient Global Amnesia, references the miniseries Breaking Bad.
How they got here is another story — a chance request to tour from fans in Stratford, Ont. left them curious, and a few days into their first Canadian tour in 2015 the couple had an epiphany.
“The response was unbelievable. It felt like home in a way we had never felt back in England,” Sarah said. “We started investigating, but we had to prove ourselves to immigration. Within a year they said yes.”
The Skinners grew up in rural locales of southeast England though they lived in London at times once their careers got going. Sarah got a clarinet at age six, while Rob was playing piano and guitar by age 10. They met when she was part of a blues band that was advertising for a bass player. After he joined up and they fell in love, it was just a matter of time before the four-piece dwindled to a duo.
Naturally the Skinners can only do so much live on stage, so the new songs sound different with just her soprano sax, his guitar and foot percussion, and their shared vocals.
“It’s still quite a full sound, even though it’s just the two of us.” Cory Danyluk and Duane Elias open when Red Dirt Skinners make their Edmonton debut at the New Moon Folk Club, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at St. Basil’s Cultural Centre, (10819-71 Ave.). Tickets cost $20 in advance from Tix On The Square or Blackbyrd Myoozik, $25 at the door.
CLASSICAL INDIAN MUSIC AND DANCE
Can dance expertise be a genetic disposition?
It’s in Shinjini Kulkarni’s blood. The Delhi-born dancer-actress is the latest of nine generations in her family to master the kathak style and the Lucknow school of North Indian classical dance.
As Kulkarni explains, the ancient kathak dance form takes off from a tradition of storytelling and tales of gods and goddesses in the ancient Hindu mythology known as the Vedas.
“It’s important to be in touch with your culture to understand where the dance comes from, so training involves learning a lot about the nuances of certain traditions and behavioural expressions.”
After getting lessons from her grandfather from age five, she was on stage at eight.
Now, four years into a professional career and touring the world, she makes her Canadian debut for Edmonton Raga Mala at the Amiskwaciy Theatre in the new Royal Alberta Museum Saturday.
For this tour, Kulkarni dances with her frequent collaborators, the father-and-son tabla percussion duo of Anindo Chatterjee and Anubrata Chatterjee, and Hardeep Chana on harmonium or box organ. At home in India the dancer and percussionists co-lead the collective known as LayaCurry.
Kathak is a contrast to most western dance styles, with an emphasis on expression in the arms, hands and face, a straight torso, and rhythmic steps with bells around the dancer’s feet. It plays an ancestral influence on Bollywood dance epics, but the tradition is keyed to improvisation, so much of the mid-section of the show features spontaneous interaction between the dancer and the musicians.
Kulkarni’s dancing talent has already won her roles in several movies and she’s developing her acting skills to match. Either way, her performance clips can be pretty mesmerizing.
Shinjini Kulkarni and musicians perform for the Edmonton Raga Mala Society at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the new downtown Royal Alberta Museum (9810-103A Ave.). Tickets cost $20 but are free for patron members. They’re discounted for students and seniors at the door.