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Local Guides
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HAMILTON MUSIC NOTES
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by
Ric Taylor
April 15 - 21, 2004 |
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VILE RICHARD
While the title of their latest release is steeped in irony,
Vile Richard have probably never been better off.
“The songs have a pretty melancholy feel to them, so I
thought it would be kind of funny to call it Lucky Me,”
smiles singer and guitarist Olaf Alders. “If there's a
theme that runs through the disc it’s that of failure, so I
thought it would make for a nice title [but] I don’t think
I’m that lucky.”
Gigging through Southern Ontario for the last four years,
Alders finally hooked up with Rice’s Andrew Vanhorn and
the two combined forces to work on each other’s projects.
The pair now return to Hamilton with the new album,
co–produced by Sony Music songwriter Ashton Price of
Morph Productions (Kazzer).
“A lot of times both bands had pretty much the same
members, so it only made sense to combine set lists”,
reasons Alders. “Neither of us treats this as a solo project
anymore. Andrew’s stuff is usually pretty upbeat and kind
of bizarre. My songs are slow and sad. An hour of my
songs can be a bit of a downer, so adding Andrew into the
mix keeps everyone guessing.”
With a ’90s college rock sound, Alders and company offer
a quirky blast from yesteryear that might please
folk/pop/rock fans of Matthew Sweet, Elliot Smith or
Grapes of Wrath. Alders admits fans have offered
interesting comparisons to Toad the Wet Sprocket and
“Barenaked Ladies when they’re not being funny.”
Rounding out the band with David Lynch and drummer
Franz Nangle, Vile
Richard are also releasing a new CD to national media
just in time for the NHL playoffs. With a two–song
sampling from Lucky Me, “Trafalmadoria” (redone from
its incarnation on the Hot Tub Amalgamation
Compilation), the CD includes their new single, “The
Hockey Song.”
“The song is about mullets, beer and Don Cherry, and it
might well be representative of the new Vile Richard,”
laughs Alders, who is excited about the band’s increasing
lighthearted attitude and their subsequent return to
Hamilton. “Andrew used to work at The Living Rock,
which is a centre for kids who spend a lot of time on the
street. They recently bought the Transit. We’ve actually
been in Hamilton pretty regularly over the last few years,
just playing shows for the kids at The Rock, so that’s
really what we’re doing this time.
“Normally they don’t allow people from outside the
program to come into the facility, but we’ve made other
arrangements this time. You have to abide by some rules,
like no alcohol, weapons or excessively bad language on
stage, but other than that it’s a pretty normal show. We
don’t bring a lot of weapons and stuff with our stage
show, so it doesn’t really cramp our style.”
Vile Richard plays Transit Union Hall this Thursday, April
15, (Tonight!) at 8pm with Jack Pedlar, and So Called
Ritual.
READERS’ CAFE
“There aren’t too many venues in a small town like
Dunnville that book acts like Luther Wright, Blackie & The
Rodeo Kings, and Jack DeKeyzer,” laughs Corktown
promoter Lou Molinaro referring to Dunnville’s Readers’
Café. “If there were more guys like [Readers’ promoter]
Mark Neveu, who had conviction about supporting live
music, then the whole music industry would be in a
better position.”
The Dunnville landmark had recently fallen on hard
times but with seemingly most of Southern Ontario
swelling to help the cause, Neveu, Molinaro and a host of
area performers are offering three upcoming fundraisers
to remedy the venue’s financial straits entitled Building:
The Future.
“Just about all of our musical friends have agreed to
participate in a series of fundraising concerts,” beams
Neveu. “The plan is to have three different types of shows
in three different locations—Dunnville, Hamilton and
Toronto. We’re pretty confident that these three concerts
will go a long way to making our goal a reality.”
“Mark Neveu called some of his closest contacts and
asked them about taking part in the evening,” explains
Molinaro about his participation. “When I received the
line–up, I looked at all the names and thought how cool
they would look on a poster!”
“We’re taking a look back to our humble beginnings at
the old Readers’ Café,” muses Neveu on the Café’s strong
Hamilton connection. “So [we’re] featuring some of the
finest singer/songwriters from the surrounding Hamilton
area that we have presented over the years.”
The Readers’ Café in–house fundraiser happens Friday
April 16 starting at 8pm with Tom Wilson, Mike
Trebilcock, Rob Lamothe, Tiny Bill Cody, Linda Duemo,
and Les Cooper. Tickets are $20 and are on sale now. The
Hamilton Readers’ Café fundraiser will take place on
Wednesday April 21 at the Corktown Tavern with Fathead,
David Rotundo, Harrison Kennedy, Sharon Musgrave, Lori
Yates, Lisa Winn and Alfie Smith and tickets are available
for $10.00.
MARK DAUM
While we haven’t heard from Mark Daum in a while (his
The Light of Day CD released in 2000), the guitarist has
kept busy. He brings a fellow guitar picker Shawn Trotter,
the Piantar and a new CD out to play this weekend.
Meeting at a local fundraiser a few years ago, Daum and
Trotter found each others kindred spirits. The two
multi-instrumentalists both taught and loved guitar and
both were looking at expanding the horizons of the guitar,
world locally.
Last year, Trotter founded the Southern Ontario
Fingerstyle Guitar Association (SOFGA) which meets every
second Monday at the Pheasant Plucker featuring guest
players like Bob Evans, and Wendell Ferguson.
“Shawn is one of the most versatile guitar players you
could meet,”smiles Daum. “Shawn’s original acoustic
guitar stylings are what he calls ‘New Fingerstyle’ guitar
music, which essentially makes use of all of his many
influences and technical approaches, from Celtic to jazz,
pop and funk to name a few.”
Since his last CD Daum’s invented a hybrid guitar
crossed with a keyboard he calls the Piantar. He’s also
been writing music for a band project called The
Ambacoustic Jazz (featuring Mark McIntyre on bass, Jeff
Luciani on drums) and for a solo outing entitled The
Elements of Chance showcasing his latest muse—what
Daum calls Wakan (The Jacques Cousteau of Acoustic
guitar).
“About six months ago I decided to start performing this
radically improvised music,” explains Daum. “I believe
this one–of–a–kind solo guitar album is the first album to
use this type of radical improvising, which involves
improvising in a new, random alternate tuning that is
made up before each song.”
Bent on boundary breaking, Daum’s Piantar was only a
manifestation of his seemingly endless desire to
musically explore. This weekend with Trotter, the two
guitarists will see just how far originality can go with
their varying guitar acrobatics.
“The only reason I built the Piantar in the first place was
because I began hearing things in my head that I hadn’t
heard anywhere else—the idea was to make an
instrumental tool that would allow me to get more out of
my head than I had the day before,” reasons Daum. “But
the main thrust of the concert will be guitar music. The
great thing about this gig is that they don’t happen very
often, and that it’s being presented in a concert setting.
There aren’t many specialists in this area, and because
the music itself has quite a bit of nuance and dynamic
range it’s always something special.”
In Concert—Two of Canada’s Premier Fingerstyle
Guitarists‚ with Shawn Trotter and Mark Daum presented
by ‘room8artists’ happens this Saturday April 17 at the
Old Town Hall Theatre in Ancaster, at 7:30pm. Tickets are
$12 in advance and $15 at the door.
“I truly believe I’m making a difference,” explains Earth
Day promoter Brian Carson. “I think that’s why I’m so
passionate about my job.”
EARTH DAY
With his Kick It Down Promotions company, Carson has
led the local Earth Day Hamilton—Hamilton Eco–Action
Network celebrations with an interesting mix of education
and music. Earth Day, a United Nations designated day
representing the world’s most popular environmental
awareness program, has grown into the two–week period
surrounding April 22nd and locally it’s never been
stronger.
“I come from a musical and environmentally conscious
family,” offers Carson. “Since a young age I’ve been aware
of the environmental problems that most take for
granted. I’m a true believer that education is the key.”
With a near capacity showing at the Convention Centre
for Bad Religion and Warsawpack last year, Carson and
company are further increasing the event’s profile.
“Bad Religion has been a direct influence on me to move
forward in life and develop a sense of responsibility
towards the world I live in,” explains Carson. “It was a
huge success for Earth Day, the Hamilton music scene
and it really helped get the point across and raise the
profile of the organization.”
This year’s celebrations spread over a variety of venues,
including the destined sell–out of Bela Fleck and the
Flecktones, to ten special–curriculum workshops and
dozens of exhibitors and two concerts of local artists. The
event’s also found a special keynote speaker in
environmental activist, Elizabeth May on April 27 at The
Hamilton Convention Centre and two concerts of local
artists lending a hand.
Rose Garland was started a number of years ago by
guitarist Dave Kennedy and drummer Aaron MacGregor
to celebrate the music of The Grateful Dead. With the
more recent additions of Dave Matthews on guitar and
Y108’s midday announcer Chuck Evans on bass, the band
has grown dramatically and are proud to showcase their
talents at the ecological event.
“Every time we play a song, it comes out a little bit
different... we’re able to create as we play,” muses Evans
on the development of Rose Garland. “We’re getting to a
point in our playing where we can hold a conversation
with our instruments. Kennedy will play a lick, Matthews
will answer it, I’ll voice a different opinion, and Aaron will
put the period on the end of the sentence.”
As a member of the media, a fan of the Dead and an
apparent environmentalist, the event seems to embody all
of Evans’ loves.
“Until we discover another habitable planet, this is the
only one that we’ve got,” quips Evans. “Earth Day should
be every day. We need that constant reminder to take care
of what gives us life in the first place. A line from the
Dead song “Throwing Stones” sums it up best for me:
‘We can leave this place an empty stone, or a shining ball
of blue that we can call our own.’”
“It’s really great to see so many amazing musicians and
songwriters come forward and offer their talent in
support of this cause,” beams Carson. “It really reinforces
why I do what I do.”
As well as the Eco–Festival, the Shore Line Planting
event, and Bela Fleck & The Flecktones at 77, Rose
Garland, Diesel Dog, and Mark Wilson & The Way It Is,
play at Pepper Jack Café Saturday April 17 and on Earth
Day itself (April 22) Harrison Kennedy, Bob Wiseman, Lisa
Winn, Hunter Eves, Lindsay Blanch, and Andrea Lake play
Pepper Jack Café. Interested in getting involved in Earth
Day or environmental projects? Check out
www.earthdayhamilton.ca.
CJ SLEEZ
Dying of old age, CJ Sleez once said, was her greatest
fear in life, but now she’s got a new perspective.
With the release of her full–length debut Rock Action in
2001, Sleez offered her fans a concrete memento of the
notorious sleez rock and stage antics she regularly
brought to the clubs. It was meant to take her to the next
level after nearly a decade of persistent gigging. But
despite a feature in the Spanish version of Playboy and
plans to invade New York and Los Angeles, there were
bad signs aplenty. She even missed her hometown CD
release party altogether. The last three years only offered
more speculation that Sleez was riding with her heroes
on a road to ruin, but CJ now exclaims she’s back but still
sleezier than ever.
“After an almost two–year hiatus, I’m finally ready to win
back Hamilton’s hearts and I feel more determined than
ever,” she smiles, with an almost demure allure about
her. Sleez embodied the punk glam lifestyle of her
predecessors, replete with seemingly all the sex, drugs,
tattoos and rock and roll that life had to offer. But it all
came to an end. Luckily for fans, this is not an obituary.
“I had reached the inevitable point where scoring smack
became my first priority,” confides Sleez. “The band was
falling apart almost as fast as I was. One member went to
live in New York, another left to pursue his solo career
and the last just got on my nerves.
“I’m coming back to set the record straight, literally,”
she appeals. “I can now boast a full ten months’ freedom
from the deadly drug. I’m not claiming to be completely
sober, nor am I against the occasional use of social drugs
like alcohol and weed. That would make me a hypocrite.
What I do oppose is allowing a drug to run my life.”
“I didn’t play for months and that became worse than
anything,” she adds. “Finally I had to make the choice
between my music and my addiction. I moved back to
Hamilton and enrolled in a writing program at McMaster
University. This enabled me to focus my frustrations into
new lyrics and other creative writing. Before long I was
ready to throw myself back into my music.”
Sleez regrouped with long time boyfriend Stacey Straye
on lead guitar (recently going through his own
transformation leaving Robin Black And The Intergalactic
Rock Stars) and rebuilt a new band with bassist Robbie
Risk and Chris Rites [ex–Cheerleader]. Re–invigorated
creatively, musically and physically, Sleez has come
home again.
“I’m so happy our first show is in my hometown and I
hope everyone will come out to show their support and to
have a great time,” smiles Sleez. “I’ve got an awesome
line up now and the band sounds better than ever. With a
full set of new songs and two years of restlessness I know
our first show back will not be one to miss!”
CJ Sleez plays this Friday April 16 at The Corktown
Tavern with The Lorrainas and The No No’s. Cover is $7. V
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