Carmen Townsend @ Railway Club -- 01/11/11

Two years ago I saw The Tom Fun Orchestra live, and in the middle of the set, they had one of their members perform a few of her solo songs. I liked the songs, but never really heard anything from her since. Skip to now and Carmen Townsend has a new album, Waitin' and Seein', due out on the 25th of this month, and a CD release show at the Railway Club to go along with it.

It was an early, free show with Townsend playing a 45 minute set, with a couple members of the Tom Fun Orchestra as her backing band. I don't know if "power folk" is a genre, but it would be a pretty apt description of her sound. She completely rocked out for most of the set, with the blues driven songs giving a rich sound that seemed larger than the simple three piece on stage. Despite her powerful voice in the songs, Townsend started off not saying much between them, but seemed to get a bit more talkative, not overly so, as the set progressed -- though she admitted being a bit out of sorts due to both just having arrived back from Australia and hearing word she'll be opening for Heart across Canada. But despite that, she had a great energy while playing, and great chemistry with her band (which is not surprising).
Mid way through the set she switched to an acoustic guitar for a few mellower songs, showing off a good range, before driving right back into high gear for an incredibly explosive climax.

I don't know what it is about Nova Scotia, pumping out so many great musicians, but if they keep producing people like The Tom Fun Orchestra and Carmen Townsend, I will keep lining up to hear them.

Jess Hill @ The Railway Club -- 09/22/10

As I mentioned in my first Peak Performance Project Showcase post, Jess Hill's music has had an immediate effect on me. I'm pretty sure it's because I have a soft spot for alt-country women with powerful voices (see also: Neko Case, Carolyn Mark, Jenny Lewis, Kathleen Edwards, et al), but from the moment I heard her I had a new musical-crush.

Shiloh Lindsey was first up, though, and she was pretty good. An alt-country sound, but a little on the twangy  side for my taste. There also didn't really seem to be that much by way of diversity through the songs... They were still good, just not quite my taste, I guess.

Up next was Jess Hill, who started her set much the same way as the Showcase, with an a capella song which she launched into while the bar was still chatting. But her powerful voice effectively shut (most) everyone up (almost) immediately, before the band kicked in for "Orchard". She's got a great sense of songwriting and story telling, with a lot of her tunes having an edge, or even a darkness to them, and that just compliments her folk style and voice perfectly.
Mid way through, the two members took a break and she played a few songs alone, as well as a tale relating moths, and their being drawn to light, to love. It's awkward to relay, but made complete sense in context, and the way she told it. After a couple solo songs, the band came back, and she did another song that started off a capella, but then the band crashed back in for one of the more upbeat songs of the set. It was probably my favourite song of the show, and I am not quite sure the name of it (venturing a guess, I'd say "Digging A Hole"), and am eager to get a recorded version of it. She ended the set with "From Above", and even though guitarist James Lamb, who was at the Peak Showcase show, wasn't there -- he had to drop out of this show at the last minute -- it in no way detracted from the show. At least not that I could notice. (Though, it would have been cool to see him there, too)

I'm honestly not really too sure how Jess Hill will fare against the predominantly indie-pop-rock offerings of the Peak Performance Project, but from what I've seen so far, and in my humble opinion, she more than deserves to at least be in the top five.
And, hey, the two bands I was rooting for most last year ended up in the top three, so here's hoping!

Analog Bell Service (w/ Tariq) @ Railway Club -- 09/10/10

I'm not sure how it happened, but it seems like forever since I had been to a show at the Railway Club. It's probably one of the better live venues we have, but perhaps because of it's size, you have to catch bands at just the right point to be able to see them there. Last night featured two Vancouver bands who will be no doubt moving to bigger venues soon enough. Both also had the CBC Radio 3 connection, with members being hosts and/or behind the scenes work.

While he wasn't first up for the night (that went to Aunts & Uncles, who we missed), Tariq was the first act we caught. He was joined by Brasstronaut-bandmate Brennan Saul, Colin Cowan & Chris Kelly (of Analog Bell Service) and Jody Glenham as his backing band. I'm not sure why, but when I first heard Tariq's solo material, I was a bit surprised that it had more of a folky, almost alt-country sound to it. But it really works well for him. There was especially one song that struck me, as it did last time I saw him play, called "Front Row Seat" which is a love song by way of concert seating. Which sounds awkward, but turns out really well written. He was also joined, at one point, by Brasstronaut trumpeteer Bryan Davies for a song. I think I liked the first time I saw him a little better, at Little Mountain Gallery, because there seemed to be more banter/joking that time, and the "encore" with Tariq playing in the midst of the crowd... but that kind of thing is a bit more difficult at the Railway.

And hitting the stage around 1am was Analog Bell Service. This was my third time seeing them in about as many months, and probably the best of the three. The other two they were openers, so this time they had more time to stretch their legs. Their energy was through the roof, as usual, as they burst through their poppy art-rock sound. I guess that is how you would describe it, they have a hard sound to peg down. Aside from the songs from their self titled album, they played some brand new stuff and a few covers, as they seem to like to do; "Sunglasses at Night" and "I Can See Clearly Now", both of which they've done before. They also threw in a really cool cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition", their sound giving the song a really unique twist. They also teased covering The Pixies at one point, I think, but it wasn't to be. The set was wrapped up with "I Guess", which they went completely all out for, somehow managing to raise the intensity. So much so that Chris Kelly even seemed to break his guitar somehow. Because of that, it didn't seem like there was going to be more, but the crowd brought them back for a for-reals-encore, which saw them pull their friend (and bandmate, or former bandmate, I am not sure) Chris Leitch for vocals on the last song, "There She Goes".

Despite the fact that they went on so late (Tariq started at almost midnight, ABS just after 1am), it was still a damn good show, and I will definitely be seeing either of them next time I have the chance.

PS: I don't know who made the poster for the show, but I love the Python-ness of it.