Berner, Stewart team up for mini-tour
Geoff Berner is bringing his rock accordion to Prince George for a rare concert appearance.
Berner will be joined by Prince George progressive rocker Jeremy Stewart for a potent one-two stage punch. The impromptu duo will do a number of dates in the north, a mini-tour, and their last night is a ripper finale at The Prince George Legion.
Stewart described his incoming musical friend as a “klezmer punk bon vivant” and his own sound as “grunge folk rock” that together was aimed at making “irreverent wit and entertaining chaos.”
Berner is a Vancouver subculture power-hitter, with his multi-instrumental talents and his writing skills. Local fans from the 1990s might remember him as the frontman of punk band Terror Of Tiny Town that stopped in on Prince George back then. He wrote the small book How to Be An Accordion Player in 2006, and in 2013 came his first novel Festival Man. He also produces a steady stream of EPs, collaboration and novelty recordings, full-length albums and concept projects.
Berner calls his work “strategies against despair,” and Stewart said his intention in this duo was to “amplify this side of his music as well – literally, performing solo electric guitar.”
Berner’s latest work has taken him far afield, right into eastern Europe for source material. His overarching genre is klezmer music. He mixes that with punk, political satire, and Balkan dance rhythms.
“He writes sharp, literate songs that make you want to weep, laugh, grind your teeth or kick out a window – often all at the same time,” said Stewart.
As for the local half of this mixture, Stewart is the founder of the Casse-Tête Festival of Experimental Music. He is the founder of Dreamland School of the Arts. He is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arts administrator, magazine publisher and awardwinning poet.
Berner called him this city’s “legendary unknown raconteur, troubadour, meandering poet of the half-forgotten dream, the allnight noise hootenanny, protestant saint of our surreal preposterousness, and of the sad afternoon of leaning your head against the rainy window glass. He can light an electric guitar on fire with his bare hands.”
Berner and Stewart perform in Prince George at The Legion (1116 Sixth Ave.) on Saturday. Tickets are $10 at the door.