Carmanah launches tour in Lake Country
Victoria-based Carmanah is like many indie bands struggling to find an audience outside the city limits. In steps Ryan Donn. “This is mostly a night of discovery,” Lake Country’s cultural development coordinator said in introducing Carmanah and opener Tiger Moon at Creekside Theatre in Lake Country on Thursday night. It was the first stop on Carmanah’s new tour.
“It’s always interesting trying to sell a show for a band that no one has heard of. Yet, imagine catching Sarah Mclachlan or Bryan Adams in an intimate venue back in the day. These shows offer that potential: discovering a new act before the masses,” he said in an earlier email.
“Part of our role at the Creekside Theatre is to provide a venue for emerging B.C. talent to be heard as they build their fan base. Carmanah is one of those bands.”
Although this musical group (carmanahband.ca) was founded six years ago, its debut album, Speak in Rhythms, was only released on Feb. 9. It took six weeks of recording a year ago to lay down the 11 tracks at Warehouse Studio in Vancouver and then, post-production took more time with the result that the release date was moved back several times.
“Some of you guys are taking a chance on us. We’re trying our best to make some new friends,” said lead vocalist Laura Mina Mitic in what became a running joke during a 90-minute performance.
In introducing the song, You Deserve More, she quipped: “Hopefully, this is not how you feel about us.”
The two sets, which consisted mainly of songs from Speak in Rhythms, illustrated the five-piece band’s versatility and the challenge of classifying its music as folk, easy listening, blues or even, as their New York producer Gus Van Go described it, as “West Coast soul.” Intricate harmonies and melodies were more reminiscent of vintage 60s tunes.
Interspersed were: “Our hippie-dippie song from the West Coast (Burn Slowly),” a fiddle instrumental that brought enthusiastic applause, Crying — the band’s take on the Roy Orbison classic, a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Going to California (Led Zeppelin IV, 1971) and Fleetwood Mac’s Gold Dust Woman (Rumours, 1977).
“We like to throw that (fiddle instrumental) in our set to confuse people,” Mitic said to laughter. However, her clear, high-pitched vocals - almost like an exotic bird - were in sharp contrast to the throaty Nicks.
On the other hand, Kelowna-based Tiger Moon (tigermoonmusic.com) is a West Canadian folk duo through and through. Dan Tait performs on acoustic guitar and harmonica while partner Kasey Graff loves her electric mandolin and foot tambourine. They draw their sound from traditional folk, Canadiana, country, soul and rock.
They too were discovered by Donn who brought them to Festivals Kelowna and Parks Alive concerts as buskers, then as stage performers. Both would be perfect for the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival in mid-August.
Donn has more up-and-coming acts up his sleeve with Australian Kim Churchill (kimchurchill.com) at 7:30 p.m. on March 10. Tickets are available online at: creeksidetheatre.com or by calling 250-766-9309.
The archetypal blond, blue-eyed surfer from New South Wales is a folk, rock and blues singer, songwriter and musician with a style that is explosive with intricate fingerpicking, percussive beats on the guitar body and two-handed tapping intertwined with a stomp box, harmonica melodies and soulful voice.
Although he plays stadiums in his home country, he is still relatively unknown in Canada, noted Donn.