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London, Ont. hard-rock band the Joys are excited about getting back on the road again after a busy summer touring, writing and recording a new studio CD.
“We’ve also just finished a new live CD. It really showcases us a lot,” said Sarah Smith, the whiskey-and-leather piped lead singer of the Joys.
“It’s basically just a combination of our last two CDs, which is four or five years of songs. To hear the new music, you’re going to have to see us on tour,” said Smith, adding the Joys’ tour hits the Slice, Oct. 21.
“I’m a little nervous,” she continued, adding the new music is a nice mix of the punk pop sound they began with and the darker, more serious themes of their most recent CD, “Unfold.”
“I had a pink mohawk back then, but the latest CD is more mature and serious because we had some deaths in the family,” Smith added.
After the tour, the band will return to Winnipeg to finish work on the new CD at the studio of producer Dale Penner, who has worked with Nickelback, Matthew Good and Econoline Crush.
“He has a beautiful place on the Red River. We like working with him. It’s a beautiful place to make music,” she said.
“It’s just really nice to be playing for a bit. To be honest, I really enjoy the west coast. It’s beautiful. It really is God’s country and the people are so hospitable. They pop out of the woodwork to offer help and cook meals for us. And I’m excited about people hearing the new songs, ” she said.
“It’s pop mixed with old-school rock and roll. There’s a little bit of a Killers influence and Janis Joplin. It’s a real mixture of the good stuff you want to hear on the radio. Not cheesy pop. It’s just good to listen to,” she said. Bluessmyth is not your traditional blues Despite the name Bluessmyth, the Calgary power trio doesn’t consider themselves to be a blues band; they have more in common with blues-based jam bands like Govt. Mule, Blues Traveller and the Spin Doctors.
“We’re getting played on a jazz station in Toronto and we’re not jazz. Then we’re getting played on a rock station at the university. I like how it’s not genre specific,” said guitarist/vocalist Chris Yaholkoski, who is bringing his high-octane trio to the Slice, Oct. 22.
“We’re not pinning ourselves down. We’re in no way a traditional blues band though we have elements of blues in our music,” Yaholkoski continued. His brother Jason plays bass and they added new drummer Celene Yohmas about a year ago after their former drummer decided to concentrate on raising his family.
They released their third CD, “Sola Gratia,” in April with producer Mark Berry, who has worked with everyone from the Headstones to Duran Duran, over two weeks at the Beach studio in Calgary.
“He’s a great engineer. It turned out really great. People are excited about it,” he continued.
“We had already been playing the songs every chance we got. All we had to do was record them. That’s how we usually work.”
This CD is a little heavier but there are crisper songs which are definitely more radio friendly, he added. The last CD was a bit of a concept album, which had three separate stories of related songs. Their set will be 80 per cent originals with a few crowd favourites thrown in for balance.
Another great blues show this week is Winnipeg acoustic blues god Big Dave McLean who will be playing the Slice with Doc MacLean and Lethbridge’s own Papa King, Oct. 24.
And if you like funk and disco and dancing, don’t miss Hippodrome, Oct. 23 at the Slice.
And if you want to rock and roll and be in a video to boot, The JPS Trio will be shooting their Oct. 24 show for a video for a song to be determined. The show starts at 9 p.m. sharp. Admission is $10. So go there and get ready to party.
There are also a plethora of open mics this week including ones at the Slice and the 1010 on Tuesday, at Henotic on Wednesday and the Wolf’s Den on Friday. Rocktoberfest
This week there were a couple of exceptional shows. Rocktoberfest started off with approximately 40 people having a blast to several bands at Henotic, Oct. 14. I only caught parts of a couple acts.
Local blues duo the Smoke Stack Jacks had the GCBC Lounge hopping at Henotic with frenetic blues-influenced rock which had an enthusiastic audience bouncing. They will be back with the Pack AD, Amelia Earhart (who also had an excellent Rocktoberfest set, Oct. 16) and Austria, Nov. 10.
After that a unique Vancouver trio called Fox Opera performed some wild jazz-influenced original music featuring some intricate bass lines and some weird guitar sounds which appealed to the audience.
I also caught a couple songs from a new musical collective called Skull Train to Hell Town, which included members of the Creationists and the New Danger Kids, who, dressed in gold lamée tights and disco-era polyester, had an array of computerized sounds powering strong dance and R and B-influenced music.
But the big show I wanted to see was at the Slice where a handful (maybe 30) people took in three impressive bands, the Delinquints, the Popes and the Mahones.
There were wrought-iron railings bolted around the stage to protect the stage and band members for what is usually an energetically and enthusiastically moshing crowd which usually shows up for Mahones shows in Lethbridge.
The Delinquints were pure unadulterated Sex Pistols-style punk with guitar solos and a lot of energy. They played tight and warmed up the crowd for the Popes. The Irish Celtic punk pioneers turned the Slice into a Celtic kitchen party with some furious fiddle playing, magnificent mandolin and punk energy with reckless abandon.
Singer Paul (Mad Dog) McGuinness was in his element jumping around the stage like a man half his age, balancing on the railings and bouncing off amps. He invited all 30 crowd members on stage with him to sing the popular Pogues song “Dirty Old Town” and dragged Delinquints drummer Julien “Whitefro” LeFevre on stage for a couple freestyle raps. McGuinness was every bit a real and honest punk gentleman who put on an excellent show.
In between sets, Ray Gange spun old-school punk and rockabilly records to keep the crowd moving.
The Mahones, trimmed down to accordion, bass, drums and Finny McConnell on guitar and vocals, jumped right into an energetic set, and though the lyrics were often drowned out by the band. They played one of my favourites, “One Last Shot” as well as other popular Mahones tracks like “County Down” and “The Queen and Tequila.” “Drunken Lazy Bastard” was a fitting end to a fantastic show.
Back at Henotic, Oct. 16, Rocktoberfest featured some wild punk bands. Namely Calgary’s The Ex-Boyfriends who were completely insane with reckless abandon, Iggy and Stooges-style but if the Who’s Roger Daltrey was singing. The singer Djewel Davidson was a sight as he prowled around the stage, his pants slipping down, prowled though the crowd and rolled down Henotic’s spiral staircase, all the while backed by an eardrum-blistering punk sound full of big riffs, screeching solos and heaps of energy. The vocals were cut off for the band’s last song, which was probably their coolest thanks to some big riffs. Drummer Dean Martin finished the set by doing his best Keith Moon impression and knocking over his kit.
You Say Party We Say Die were also impressive with a more of an early ’80s Vancouver new-wave sound featuring a lot of keyboards and some pretty melodies which had the crowd dancing in front of the stage. It was a little too much keyboards for me but they put on a solid set which had the 70-some strong crowd entertained.
I wanted to hear former Painting Daisies frontwoman Rachelle Van Zanten playing for a practically full house at the Slice. She played some tasty slide guitar licks, mostly just using her fingers to pick some sweet notes on her her battered Strat. She was backed by a killer band which featured some impressive bass playing. Her voice was a mix of the Breeders and Sue Foley.
Oct. 17 was an other busy one as I hit five gigs. I started by catching Karen Romanchuk at the Mocha Cabana who was in the middle of a blues-influenced set which branched out into a Neil Young song, then a couple of her country flavoured originals followed by some Lucinda Williams.
After that, I took in Dean Selena at the Wooden Kilt which had a decent-sized crowd. Fronted by Richard Doerkesen and backed by Dan Enns and Daniel Puurveen they were in the middle of a decent version of Neil Young’s “Ohio” then branched out into some of Doerksen’s originals from his CD “The Deep” then finished their set with a Bob Dylan song, which showed how much Doerksen sounds and even looks like Dylan’s son Jakob.
Those in the mood for soem energetic jazz/funk music were at the Slice for a return visit by Calgary’s Mocking Shadows.
The mohawked bassist Jory Kinjo brought out the funk and rapped as his band mates kept the energy high with some crack horns and some wild keyboards complete with a rotating Leslie-style cabinet for the unique whooshing sound.
At Henotic, Rocktoberfest rocked to a close beginning with a solid set by local trio Chief Mountain who did an excellent job. Another local trio, the Moby Dicks, stole the crowd’s hearts and dance moves not to mention the Ramones’ three-chord punk template and weird sense of humour.
I was very impressed with Toronto punks DCT who offered up an aural bludgeoning and another flamboyant/crazed lead singer who rolled and writhed all over the floor among the crowd, bellowing his head off. A couple of their highlights were “White Gloves” and “Termination List.”
They played as tight as can be and brought punk back to its Black Flag/Ramones roots.
One more highlight was a new “supergroup” out of Calgary called the Dream Dates who played a solid set of inspired punk with a few keyboard sounds thrown in for variety.
Another cool band I enjoyed at Rocktoberfest were the Sub Linguals from Calgary who tore off a few ears, kicked some butt and took some names with organ screeching-powered garage punk. The band members writhed among the crowd surrounding the GCBC stage.
That was just a fraction of the cool music happening this weekend. Rocktoberfest had a strong contingent of local bands playing as well.
I checked out part of the Lee Harvey Osmond show at the Geomatic Attic on Sunday but was only able to catch opening act Jon Amor.
The Devizes, U.K. singer songwriter (which is located outside of Stonehenge) played a brief set of acoustic blues/pop folk which the crowd really enjoyed, especially the whimsical “Stitch in Your Party Dress” about “predatory females” which had the crowd howling. He also had some innovative use of delay loops to repeat rhythms to play over which included a recreation of the Allman Brothers’ “Jessica.”
What’s coming up
Oct. 21
Slice — the Joys
Henotic — open mic with Schuyler Jensen
University Theatre — Hay Fever
Oct. 22
Slice — Bluesmyth
Ric’s Grill — Ben Brown
Henotic — Matinee with Wooden Telegraph
Shark Club — Mahoney
University Theatre — Hay Fever
Oct. 23
Slice — Oktoberfest with Hippodrome
Henotic — Latin Dance party $5, CKXU Night
Mocha Cabana — Dale Ketcheson
Wolf’s Den — open mic
Enmax Centre — Brooks and Dunn
HBs Lounge — Phil Wayne
University Theatre — Hay Fever
University Ballroom — U of L Headbangers society fundraisder with Reverend Kill, Jesus and the Superfriends, Pathogen, Gurugh
Oct. 24
Slice — Doc MacLean and Big Dave McLean with Papa King $10
Henotic — JPS trio $10 Erin Ross (GCBC LOunge $5 including beverage)
Mocha Cabana — Dale Ketcheson 7-10
1010 — Who’s Yer Daddy
University Theatre — Hay Fever
Oct. 25
Henotic — B-Lines, Nu Sensae, The Grown Ups Stamina Mantix and the Moby Dicks
Oct. 26
Slice — The Waxbills
Wooden Kilt Karaoke
Oct. 27
Slice — open mic
1010 — open mic with Greg Gomola
Oct. 28
Henotic — OK Cobra and the Leathers cover $6 Open mic
Slice — Hey Ocean
If you have a show coming up and want to let people know about the where and whens of it, then let me know by emailing me at
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at least a week before the event. My deadline is Sundays.
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