FFWD Weekly
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Street Sounds
by Aubrey McInnisTwenty-three year-old Grant Kennedy says his blues rock project, El Chupacabra, is an enjoyable experience – except for the lyrics. Despite being an easygoing guy, he’s not into writing sappy love songs. Grant is into the "I’m pissed off here, I can’t believe this crap – and I don’t want you back anyways" lyrics where the guitar and the bass hold down the fort. Not that the lyrical content matters much to him.
"I really try to focus on the groove of the music (and) maybe less so on the lyrics... which might sound a little strange," he says. "Well, the thing is I’m a guitarist not a lyricist – all my lyrics are pretty lame."
"It is, I’ve said it all along, a joke," Grant confesses, "I’m a guitar player who’s actually singing because it’s convenient. But in a sense it really allows a blues-based band to, y’know, we can go off when we’re playing live and have a jam. You don’t have a singer up on stage picking his nose."
Know this, good reader, that Grant – a huge Led Zeppelin, Medeski Martin and Wood and Beastie Boys fan – is a wee bit hard on himself (but c’mon, you’re eating up this rare display of a frontman’s self-deprecating jokes as much as I am, right?). It’s his likable vocal delivery, solid guitar playing and the new, added flavour of harmonica tracks which make El Chupacabra songs work their way into your head where they kick around with the longevity of a bubble-gum pop song.
"We’re pretty much a live band. When we play live a lot of the show is improvised. Our songs are set, but we kind of go off into little tangents, we like to jam on stage basically. So the sound of the disc is pretty much the same, we recorded everything live – outside of the vocals – everybody was playing at once, which is something not a lot of bands do."
El Chupacabra’s CD release party for Double Drop Blues ("beer drinking music") takes place on April 1 at The Night Gallery. For more info about the band, check out their Web site http://members.xoom.com/elchupa.
One band that has merrily disregarded lyrics is contemporary jazz band, Terrain. Initially a funk cover band until their lead singer bailed out on them, Terrain are made up of guitarist Ralf Buschmeyer and percussionist Tyler Hornby, with Kristian Alexandrov on keyboards and Kodi Hutchinson on bass. The band is an accessible venture into a diverse soundscape of relaxing yet lively instrumentation.
"I just hope for community support – that they’re interested in original jazz," Ralf says. "It’s a market that’s untapped in Alberta. I think that we’re the only ones that put a modern spin on it and write our own material."
Freelance players who are often called upon for session work on short notice, Ralf and Tyler both graduated from music studies. Sacrificing what’s popular for what they love, you can watch Terrain on March 24 and 25 when they play the Beat Niq Cafe. Kristian will also be playing with the infinitely cool Jann Arden during her tour in support of Blood Red Cherry.
And Tyler should be home from the trip to SXSW in Austin,Texas, where he played with his other band, the hep Dino Martinis. The flashy, good-time party band has accepted a repeat invitation to play a fund-raiser for a school where the offspring of Tom Hanks, Goldie Hawn and Steven Spielberg are students. Watch this space for all their glitzy news upon their return from the show at the end of April.
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