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Peter Elkas & Christine Bougie Get Dirty at the In the Soil Festival
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by
Jordy Yack
April 21 - 27, 2011 |
Spring is usually a dreary time for planting seeds, preparing gardens and beginning the first step in cultivating for a season’s growth. But for In the Soil, Niagara’s perennial arts festival its annual harvest is here and there is plenty to raise the spirits. This year’s Top Soil event features some of Canada’s most proficient and well–regarded musicians – Peter Elkas and Christine Bougie – in a special singer songwriter’s showcase.
Bougie may not be a household name, but she should be. She is an in–demand session musician and master of the lapsteel. She has played on a number of Canadian albums including Amy Millan’s Masters of the Burial and Roxanne Potvin’s No Love for the Poisonous. She’s also crafted three vividly imaginative instrumental albums, Hammy’s Secret Life (2007), This is Awesome (with Dafydd Hughes) and her most recent Aloha Supreme (2010). Aloha Supreme puts all sorts of jazzy spins on the lapsteel, an instrument usually reserved for folk, country and blues sounds. It’s supremely captivating and brilliantly tells a story without sharing a single word.
Bougie resided in St. Catharines for 18 years before heading to Toronto to study music at Humber College. She recalls he first few gigs downtown at The Club. “Do you remember The Club? It was near where the Leonard Hotel was, a basement club,” recalls Bougie. “It was the only music venue I knew of that had bands every night and they had open mics on Sunday. I would hang around and play with whoever needed a guitar player to accompany them. That was when I was 14.
“I also played in my high school jazz quartet. We’d play gigs, like weird hotel conferences and things like that. Actually, Jakub Zapotoczny used to play in the same group. I also played with Sam Turton quite a bit – I knew his son Jesse and I started playing with his dad. We had a weekly at Beantrees – that was when I was 16 or 17.” [Ed’s note: Both Zapotoczny and Turton are also playing In the Soil]
Peter Elkas will also have his chance to shine onstage at the Sean O’ Sullivan Theatre. Elkas has just released his third full–length album, Repeat Offender. Elkas is noted for many musical offerings and depending on who you ask, he may be remembered from his 10+ years in the Montreal band the Local Rabbits, or more recently as a player in Joel Plaskett’s Emergency.
Elkas first earned his musical chops by playing harmonica and singing for the Local Rabbits. At 15, the Rabbits’ guitarist and vocalist Ben Gunning taught Elkas a couple guitar chords and his hunger for music went from there. “It’s funny when you’re at that age you have – well I did anyway – a great hunger for music. Like even much more so than I have now. I would constantly be learning songs and maybe there was a novelty to it. That hunger you have when you’re young is something that you take for granted I think,” muses Elkas. “We just kept at it, I think there was a mutual delusion within the band where we thought we were a pretty incredible group – whereas I’m sure we were not. That propelled us forever.
“I can remember playing at the Jailhouse Rock in Montreal probably once a month. We always had a gig there, I remember getting great gigs, like opening for Archers of Loaf, just because we were persistent as a group. And then somehow through a much longer and more boring story we ended up making friends with Sloan and recorded a 7” single for murderecords.”
The Local Rabbits went on to record three full length albums, the everything–including–the–kitchen sink, You Can’t Touch This (1995), the jazzy Basic Concept (1998) and the experimental, and fully–realized This is it Here we Go (2001). This summer marks the 20th anniversary of the band’s first gig. And as Elkas so fondly remembers, “We really loved playing shows and touring, so we did it at any cost. I don’t think the band ever made a cent, in fact, I know that for a fact.”
Elkas began his foray as a solo musician in 2001 and over the years has recorded, worked with or played alongside Don Kerr (Rheostatics), Ron Sexsmith, Joel Plaskett and Sam Roberts. His latest, Repeat Offender is a timeless and classic record loaded with soulful guitar licks, crooner–inspired vocals, a heady nod to ‘50s blues and just a taste of AM radio rock. “I kind of felt the songs dictated their own presentation. So like ‘Cool Thing to Do’ – it’s pretty much inspired by Sam Cooke, like a ‘50s–soul vibe and we were going to bring some saxophones into it because it’s kind of begging for it. Then, as soon as you do this you put a stamp on it that says ‘50s.”
Bougie’s jump to a career musician happened soon after she learned to play lapsteel in 2005. She’s been able to balance her career as both a session musician and an original composer. “To make a living I play with all these different people and I enjoy it and like the variety. I can’t really see how I can make a living just playing my music at this point yet. I’m slowly building it up and growing it slowly. So maybe in a few years, I can do that more full time, my own thing,” explains Bougie. “Right now, it’s partly out of me that I need to spread myself around and play with different people. I play lapsteel, guitar and drums in different bands – all that keeps me afloat. I spend the early part of the days working on my own stuff and then I switch brains and work on everybody else’s music later. It’s hard to balance but I have it worked out right now.”
For Elkas on the other hand, balancing jobs can be a little ruff. In the daytime he’s a dogwalker – nine of his canine clients can be seen on the cover of Repeat Offender.
It’s quite dear to him and really helps keep his musicmaking special. “It allows me to play my tunes and just play with Plaskett and I don’t really have to take any other gigs if I don’t have to. If they come along – then fantastic, if they don’t, I’m not worried about it. Music stays precious instead of like mandatory.
“You know how a lot of bands end up having their first album be their best? It’s probably because they wrote those tunes working crummy day jobs and they were incredibly hungry to be successful in music. Then later on, these bands have these records that are about the industry and you can’t get anymore unrelatable and boring than that kind of shit. Like Springsteen – he’s kind of an anomaly, mind you – but he’s always been able to write for the working dude, like your average Joe, even though he’s never really had to be one, but he’s able to tap into that voice. I think the only other way to do it is to participate in the real world, and really observe and take it in and be a part of it and then you can really sing and talk about it in your songs.”
Top Soil: A Singer Songwriter’s Harvest is going to be a really special night celebrating the harvest of the singer–songwriter. Tickets are $20 and $5 for high school students. V
TOP SOIL:
A SINGER–SONGWRITER’S HARVEST
featuring: Peter Elkas, Mark Lalama, Christine Bougie and Howler.
Thursday, April 28 , 7:30 pm.
@ Brock’s Centre for the Arts.
As part of the In the Soil Festival.
500 Glenridge Ave, St. Catharines.
peterelkas.com
christinebougie.com
inthesoil.on.ca
tix: (905) 688–5550 x3257
In the Soil: Niagara's Homegrown Arts Festival looks to begin its third year with a bang. The festival prides itself as being the region's only multi-disciplinary arts festival and is juried by local professionals. The festival kicks-off Wednesday, April 27 at the Courthouse Theatre in downtown St. Catharines and continues through until Sunday, May 1 with a rock and roll brunch at the corner of James and St. Paul Street. In the Soil's Top Soil event takes atop the Niagara Escarpment and features music from Grimsby's Howler, Fenwick's Mark Lalama, Christine Bougie and the Peter Elkas Band.
Howler are a young baroque/pop/folk duo comprised of Brittany Brooks and Nick Arseneau. They formed in 2010 and have already captivated the hearts of many across the region and across the internet. Howler have had two songs captured by southernsouls.ca and if you haven't seen the video yet, I urge you to watch, watch and repeat.
Niagara native Mark Lalama will play from his first solo project, Home. Following an impressive list of credits as a performer, producer, composer, Lalama has worked with everyone from Tony Bennett, Jon Bon Jovi and Cyndi Lauper to Nelly Furtado, Bryan Adams and Kelly Clarkson.
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