NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION
“Think local.” It used to be only the motto of shutins or the obese and lazy, merely a way of justifying that thrice-daily breakfast/ lunch/dinner scooter putt to the corner of the block for 7-Eleven egg hamlet/ taquitos/boneless pork rib sandwich (with pumpaction nacho faux cheese, of course).
Now, though, apparently it’s some filthy hippy term to do with being “socially conscious” or fighting “The Man” or actually “caring” about those who live, work, breathe and eat boneless pork rib sandwiches in your town or city.
It’s why many people enter a new year, such as this one, resolving to only “support” businesses that aren’t multinational corporations but rather homegrown entities that understand, appreciate and cater specifically to the consumers they live among and serve. That includes the likes of: farmers (and daughters) markets offering Alberta-grown meats, (real) cheeses and produce (pie, pie is a fruit); restaurants such as Charcut and Model Milk that specialize in regional dishes and the food that goes on them; craft microbreweries such as Village, Brew Brothers and Wild Rose, who, we can gather from only their designation and no first-hand knowledge to draw upon, make beers and tiny, crochet owls; and even a small Calgary company called People Food, which provides those local restaurants, shops and other individuals with, presumably, area-made gluten-free Soylent Green.
More and more Calgarians are making it their No. 1 2013 resolution to shop, eat and drink local.
Why not listen local? Why not acquire a taste for tasty tunes produced by those who walk among us?
There’s no better time. This year, well, not even a week old, it’s already off to an incredible start with gritty ’n’ slick city roots rockers Cowpuncher ringing in the calendar flip with the New Year’s Eve launch of their snappy two-song, 7-inch vinyl.
Earlier this week, hip-hop artist Transit dropped his excellent new disc Stale, which he’ll celebrate with a show tonight at MacEwan Ballroom.
And also tonight, is a nice surprise from Samantha Savage Smith who will perform most, if not all, of the songs from possibly the most-anticipated release of 2013, her sophomore followup to 2011’s mesmerizing year-definer Tough Cookie.
“It’s not out yet, but it will be a nice sneak preview,” Smith says of the album and the Republik show while sitting in a booth of Local (ha!) 510. “It will be an easy way for my Calgary audience to hear the songs before everyone else does. I haven’t even heard them yet, in their recordings.”
The new album, though, is one that, when released sometime in the spring, will showcase an artist who has grown as an artist and a performer over the past couple of years.
When she started out, Smith, 25, admits she was a little green, and says the material on Tough Cookie was “the young me.” It was also very much a product of the studio, with a band that was assembled around her by producer Lorrie Matheson, who’s also helming the followup with final sessions slated for the end of the month.
This time out she says she went in a little more sure of herself and the material, and how she wanted it to sound.
“When I made the last one I didn’t have a band, I was very much a solo artist — I sat at home, wrote my songs on an acoustic guitar and then it was working them in the studio. Whereas this one I’ve had the past year to work out the songs in my basement with my band, who I live with,” she says referring to mates Henry Hsieh and Chris Dadge.
“We’ve recorded demos ... and worked out the songs before we recorded the album. It’s been cool because with the songs I have a much heavier involvement in how they’re turning out as opposed to being on the fly and in the studio.”
That’s all, again, a byproduct of the time spent becoming a more fleshed-out artist, gaining the experience that comes with performing almost non-stop for the year-and-a-half prior to hitting the studio to record the songs.
Smith has even, she thinks, become a much better musician as a result of all of those shows and even having become a member of her roommates’ other longtime local project, Lab Coast, and believes those skills — coupled with that confidence and an invigorated ambition — have pushed the new material to the next level.
“I’ve put more pressure on myself to write songs that are completely different and, not to sound like I’m bragging or anything, but because I’ve been playing so much and I have more experience at it ... my understanding of songwriting has expanded and the songs, I would say, are quite different.”
When pressed on the new direction (aside: a good minute is spent giggling over the result of blurring those two words together) she says there’s still a “s-t-mix of influences” in each song, encompassing the blues, jazz, folk, pop and rock elements that showed up on Tough Cookie, but she’s at a loss to really define it.
“The sound of the songs is what’s different. I guess you could say it’s far more ...” She pauses. “Well, I don’t want to say it’s more rock, because it’s kind of rock. But. I don’t know what to say.
“Just come to the show, decide for yourself.”
Which could, if things go as they should, be the first of only a few opportunities for her local fans to catch Smith.
Because while she started off as merely a Calgary concern — with Tough Cookie initially released independently with distribution really only being inside the city limits — Smith soon grew into someone of national interest. Toronto showcases led to national distribution through influential boutique label Arts & Crafts (home to Feist, Broken Social Scene, to name but two) which led to opportunities such as appearing on Canada AM.
The new album will likely only take her further, something that’s not only a hope but now a goal.
“I think I’ve said before that I didn’t even expect (Tough Cookie) to be on shelves outside of Calgary — maybe Edmonton. But everything that followed it, the Arts & Crafts distribution and having a little more of a national presence ... for me I think I have good momentum and whatever happens now it will only get better,” she says.
“Now, well, I want to look into touring Europe and I want to look into touring the States. Now it’s time to broaden the horizons.”
In other words: Think local. You’ll be surprised where it can take you.