CRUNCH TIME FOR LOCAL MUSICIANS

Shawn Tavenier is one Ottawa musician who’s feeling the deadline pressure in the countdown to the Junos.

The singer-songwriterguitarist and his band, Silver Creek, have been busy learning 30 new songs to prepare for their gig as the house band for Outlaws and Gunslingers, the annual JunoFest showcase presented by the Toronto-based label, Six Shooter Records.

Silver Creek is backing a who’s-who of the Canadian music scene, including Jim Cuddy, Whitehorse, Barney Bentall, Crystal Shawanda, Devin Cuddy, Joey Landreth, Lisa Leblanc, Kelly Prescott, William Prince and more.

The shindig takes place at St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts on Friday, March 31.

“I’m right in the middle of six hours of going over tunes,” Tavenier said, taking a break from an eight-minute Barney Bentall track. “Right now it’s hard to see through anything except the giant haze of work we have to accomplish.”

He’s flattered that Silver Creek, his roots-rock band of more than a decade, was tapped for the gig, and sees it as a vote of confidence for the Ottawa music community.

“I don’t like to say it’s validating because I’ve always been really proud of the Ottawa music scene, and proud of our place in it, but it feels nice,” he said. “It gives you the warm fuzzies.”

Tavenier is also encouraged by recent developments in the Ottawa community, including the return of a music-focused print newspaper, Ottawa Beat, the creation of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition and the evolution of the Megaphono showcase/ conference, which aims to connect the local scene with the greater music industry.

He’s also been impressed by the Shot in the Dark video sessions, which capture a one-song live performance by a variety of Ottawa-area artists, who pay a fee for the service.

More than a dozen videos by different acts have been released by producer/organizer Dean Watson and his team. The cross-section of talent ranges from the supercharged soul-funk-hiphop extravaganza, Blakdenim, to solo, acoustic singer-songwriters such as Merideth Brown.

“Every city has great musicians, but what we’re starting to see are more advocates,” Tavenier observed.

“If there’s something to support, you start to see a support system. I’ve always felt like there has been a scene, but it feels like it’s a little bit more than a slow boil now. It feels like something’s happening.” Kim Moss agrees. The company she co-owns with partner Albert Porter, KAMP Operations, looks after security and organizes volunteers for various festivals and events in Ottawa. They’re helping out with JunoFest again this year, a job that requires staff at multiple venues.

Although it’s busy, there’s no sense of panic.

“This isn’t the only festival we do with multiple venues,” she said. “It’s a bit larger scale but I’m used to dealing with multiple venues.”

When the couple launched the business, there was usually a quiet stretch in the winter. This year, that’s not the case.

“Every year we get less and less slow times as we pick up different festivals,” she said.

“We used to have a good break somewhere between October and March. But now with Megaphono in February and Beau’s doing St. Paddy’s Day in March, it just flows through.

“The downtime is really getting less.”