>>PREVIEW
THE BUTTLESS CHAPS
Thursday, March 2
Palomino
Being vegetarian is not always the easiest thing when you’re a touring band, and while not a strict herbivore, Dave Gowans of The Buttless Chaps prefers the veggie lifestyle.
"You know, there’s only so many grilled cheese sandwiches a person can eat before they start failing," he says.
While I associate road trips with all sorts of fast-food goodies, I expect that a constant lack of quality and a surplus of salt gets old fast for any group making their way across the country. Include the time factor, and that list of both the safe and sketchy places to eat becomes even more important.
"We had this idea for a long time of making a placemat that would have a map of Canada and, in each city, there would be a corresponding chart indicating which places to visit," he says. "We were going to have it downloadable off our website so that bands could just print it out. ‘The Buttless Placemat’ — it is still in the works."
While The Buttless Chap’s haven’t been further east than Montreal in the last few years, they see a fair amount of Canada during their touring schedule. While they may not be in each city long enough to notice the shifting details of a city’s geography, patterns of expansion present themselves.
"The one thing I’ve noticed is the continual development that happens along the highway and the way the smaller towns seem to get bigger and the infringing of big-box businesses everywhere. That’s a depressing thing to see."
Yet another reason that the placemat idea sounds so cool – not only are they sharing their experiences, but also encouraging support of independent businesses. That type of support is natural for an indie band that relies on the buttress of friends and fans of the music, particularly while on tour.
In addition to having fun visiting folks in each city, the opportunity of collaboration often presents itself. The Chaps enjoy inviting their tourmates to share the stage and kick out the jams – which is exactly what happened during their tour with the Rheostatics. It worked so well that Tim Vesely and Martin Tielli both contributed to The Buttless Chaps’s latest release, Where Night Holds Light.
"It’s just really nice to hear what other people can add to your music, especially in a recorded environment when there’s the chance to elaborate on songs and see what they can do," he says. "I think it’s always a natural progression. It’s fun when it happens. It’s never really a forced thing."
Where Night Holds Light is a beautiful effort that has a soft intensity and continually evolves as you discover all 10 flourishing songs. The vocal harmonies are striking and the guitar tones seem to melt with the percussion among the pop, country and folk sounds that are always nearby.
"We really wanted to capture the feel of the band, our live energy on the record, and also try to make the songs have a little more space in them and breathe a little more.
"Once I get into the studio, I really think about what that whole album is going to sound like. When you start listening to all of the playbacks, it starts making sense of what songs will fit and what ones won’t."
Gowans, who enjoys more of a whole-album concept as opposed to just releasing a group of songs that might not be connected in style or flow, says the band had more songs to choose from and that each member is pleased with the result – just as their followers will be.
And in coming to Calgary the Chaps look forward to playing these songs for their fans, touching base with friends, eating at The Coup and doing a bit of shopping. Gowans, whose day job is at a record store in Vancouver, has a spot in mind.
"It’d be nice to go to Recordland. I have a little bit of a list." |
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