FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved
| Music by Mary-Lynn McEwen Woebegone Check out the fact that within mere months of their conception, they were transported with their sparkling new songs from the dingy confines of a downtown Toronto basement to the space, light, and freshly soft air of Whistler. Or ponder the idea that even while driving across the country to their bookings they are able to stop and pick up gigs on the spot with only a fraction of their musicians in tow, and you’ll understand why Woebegone are aptly named. With their reggae, ska and soul sound braided together in optimistic strands on their debut CD, Where’s the Club?, plus a ready-made following of leftover fans of the member’s previous band, One, it does indeed seem that woe is nowhere to be found for this core of minstrels who, in true minstrel fashion, are joined by different players depending on where in the country they happen to be gigging – which it seems is everywhere and often. Lead singer Beau Dixon admits that touring the great white north can be a trial, but he claims it’s part of the process that makes his band the artists that they have become. "As the years go by there’s less and less bands making it on the road," he says. "There’s a lot of bands that can’t handle the sweat and the mileage for the amount of money that they’re given. We have been fortunate because we had a good history with a lot of the venues because of One, we’ve been doing it for so long that we know how to cut some corners while doing it right, instead of learning as we go along which ends up disastrous. "It’s not a lucrative lifestyle but it’s the way we choose to live. We get by and we don’t struggle." But despite wishing for a little more silver to line his mates’ pockets, Dixon, who graduated from roadie to bassist to singer in One, has few illusions about the state of live music in Canada. "It’s the ’90s; people have so many choices for entertainment these days. Live music is a thing of the past as far as the source of weekend entertainment. Bar owners choose to go with DJs because the overhead is less, and the results are 10 times as positive as taking a chance on a band that hasn’t pulled into town. "Personally, I think it’s a big drag, but it’s a sign of the times. The kids these days are lazy – it’s harder to get them out of the house and into the clubs, going back to that traditional clinking of the pints and getting on the dancefloor and just releasing all of your woes." But Dixon sees Woebegone as a remedy to that kind of apathy. His band knows what their goal is with every gig they play. "Our design is to get people dancing and put a smile on their face and have them break out in a sweat and shit," he says. "What keeps us going is the family unit, the vibe, we love playing our tunes.... In the end, all that matters is, are we having a good time?" But Woebegone know their good time shouldn’t come at the expense of the audience. They tailor their work to avoid alienating their listeners. "Though we have a versatile sound and that’s what makes us unique, we try to stay focused with the one specific sort of rooted groove which is reggae. I mean there are elements of funk, soul, pop, ska, and really, inevitably, it’s pop, because we don’t want to threaten the audience and we don’t want to have them strain to understand where we’re coming from. "We want them to leave the bar with that melody stuck in their head, have them humming it when they go to bed. Because we’re all such talented musicians and we all have so much to say on a musical level, there always has to be this primary focus to not lose the audience." |
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