Mud Bay hit creative peak 40 years later
Vancouver band has new live album and enough new material to record another one this year
Four decades of making music is a milestone few bands reach. With the exception of the Rolling Stones and a smattering of others, groups just don’t last that long, typically because the members can’t stand the sight of each other anymore.
So how has Mud Bay (formerly the Mud Bay Blues Band) kept on keeping on since 1978? It must be more than just being what their website describes as “the band that won’t go away.”
“As a founding original member way back then, I did my first road work and tours with the Mud Bay Blues Band before leaving to play with a bunch of other bands (The Modernettes v.2, Hunting Party, Herald Nix, others),” said guitarist/ singer R.T. Carpenter.
“Then I rejoined in 2000 following the tragic fatality car accident of my old buddy and founding member guitarist Jimmy Lougheed. Seventeen years later, I’m still getting ribbed for being the new guy, but this really is a kind of brotherhood.” Why the name change? “We decided to go with Mud Bay for our last album as what we do is such a mix that the blues band had become confusing,” Carpenter said.
Besides Carpenter, the five-piece roots rock act includes namesake Mud Bay Slim (harmonica/vocals), Murphy Farrell (drums), Mark Branscombe (guitar/vocals) and Dennis Ingvaldson (bass/vocals).
The quintet just released a new album, Live at Lorenzo’s, recorded at Lorenzo’s Cafe in Enderby, one of the few remaining old-school roadhouses in B.C.
The 10-tune set showcases material contributed by three of the band’s four songwriters, as well as some classics from Bobby Troup and Howlin’ Wolf.
The official release party for the album is March 11 at the Fairview Pub.
“We all cut our teeth on the same kind of music and developed into the roots rock band we are today along the way, because we never professed to be blues aficionados,” Carpenter said.
“At the start, we were aiming for something influenced by British blues rock, particularly The Yardbirds, as well as Chicago blues. All of our friends were punk rockers, so there was always a certain amount of cross-fertilization going on, too, and we always had edge.”
It always set Mud Bay apart from the more conventional blues outfits, and the members are aware they get looked at with some raised eyebrows by the traditional blues scene. Following the road less travelled suits them just fine, as evidenced by the 2016 album Colebrook Road, which received solid reviews and more airplay in more continents than anything the band had done before.
It inspired the group to record the live album to capture the energy that has saw them boogie through the decades. They also wanted to pay homage to the type of venue that has supported Mud Bay’s music.
“All the good old roadhouses are vanishing, and we wanted to preserve one of our favourites,” Carpenter said.
“Places with that vibe where, when the dishes are taken away people want to hit the dance floor, are classic. We’ve played Lorenzo’s dozens of times, and always talked about doing a live show, shooting video, and we finally did.”
Naturally, the session captured on the record went down with as many hitches as could be. Carpenter laughs loudly when recalling the two-night stand.
“Murphy’s law came into effect on the first night, with everything that could go wrong going wrong. Our engineer Jesse had technical issues that required him to do some on-thespot hardware fixing and, about five songs in, I suddenly noticed that my throat felt really bad. I was sick as a dog by the end of the gig.”
Saturday night was packed to the rafters with a crowd that wanted to tear it up. So Mud Bay did what it does, and gave the people what they wanted.
“Oh, it was one of those Buckley’s and Jack Daniels cures for me that night,” Carpenter said. “And by the time we hit Dead End Town, my voice was shot. The funny thing is, the raspy tone fits the song perfectly and it sounds pretty good on the album.”
The band seems to be enjoying some sort of creative peak, as all the songwriters in the band are writing a lot. All the members contribute material and there is a big backlog of songs.
Forty years on, Mud Bay is looking at releasing more than one album this year in honour of this anniversary.
“We’re trying to gear up to go back into the studio again this year because it would be a lost opportunity, wouldn’t it?” Carpenter said.
“But recording takes a lot of time, it’s expensive, and we need to get that all figured out. We’re not in our teens anymore like we were when we started, and you have to take that into account, too.”
Keep up with the latest news from this B.C. musical institution at mudbayblues.com.