Photo (c) Patrick Schmidt

After a stellar one-off opening set for The Sadies last week, Saskatoon’s favourite murder-balladin’, vocal-harmonizin’, country-croonin’ band of misfits The Deep Dark Woods are gearing up to release their latest full-length recording, The Place I Left Behind. It’s been a couple of years since The Woods released their excellent Winter Hours album and the CBC Songquest track “Charlie’s (Is Coming Down),” and this time around we see the boys try a new locale, new studio and new recording personnel.

“We went to Halifax to record this one at a great studio downtown called The Sonic Temple,” said Woods drummer Lucas Goetz, via email. “We recorded our CBC Songquest single… there with engineer Darren Van Niekirk.  We loved the surroundings, the studio and the sound that we got for “Charlie’s…” and decided to produce the record ourselves.  The result was a real representation of all of us shaping the sound together”

Those more familiar with The Deep Dark Woods know their love of traditional old-tyme music, which often makes its way on to their albums. With The Place, however, they decided to once again break the mould.

“All the songs on the album are original this time around,” said Goetz. “‘Back Alley Blues’ is actually written by our road manager/handler/pal ‘Uncle’ Evan. (Bassist) Chris (Mason) has a couple songs, including “West Side Street,” and Ryan (Boldt) wrote the rest. There are definitely some songs that are influenced by traditional music.”

The new album also marks the first time keyboardist extraordinaire Geoff Hilhorst has been part of the process from start to finish.

“We’ve had some keys parts on previous albums, but this time around Geoff has been a part of the arrangements from the start and it adds a whole new dynamic and depth,” said Goetz. “He fits in quite nicely and has been very involved with the arrangements.  He also has pushed us a little bit into new territories that we wouldn’t have thought of without his suggestion. He’s a real intuitive musician which is very effective in our band.”

The Place I Left Behind will feature a new stamp on the back, as The Woods have signed with one of the mover and shaker labels in the world of “indie” folk and country music, Toronto’s Six Shooter Records.

With the album slated for release in the fall, Woods fans will have to wait a little bit longer, though if you live near any of the following places, you might just hear some songs from the new record:

7-8 Canmore, AB – Canmore Hotel
7-9 Calgary, AB – The Palomino (Calgary Stampede)
7-14 Saskatoon, SK – Amigos Cantina
7-15-17 Yellowknife, NT – Folk on the Rocks
8-4-7 Edmonton, AB – Edmonton Folk Music Festival
8-12-14 Ear Falls, ON – Trout Forest Music Festival
8-20-21 Kelwood, MB – Harvest Sun Music Festival
8-27 Wood Mountain, SK – Wood Mountain Folk Festival

If you can’t make any of these summer dates, the Woods have generously made one of their songs, “West Side Street” available through Exclaim!’s website.

Deep Dark Woods – “West Side Street”

The Deep Dark Woods – West Side Street by killbeat music

Sled Island Day 1 – Thursday, June 23

Our first day at Sled Island was actually the second official day of festivities, with a full evening of great shows already come and gone. CFCR Music Director Arnold Van Lambalgen (AVL) and I were riding out to Calgary with most of the members of Saskatoon band Slow Down, Molasses, as well as folks from local music blog Ominocity.

Our scheduled departure time was oh-nine-hundred, so at the crack of 10:30, we were on our way out of town.

Upon arrival in Calgary, we dropped off Slow Down’s gear at The Gateway on SAIT campus, as they had a show to play that evening. Once we made it to the regal Palliser Hotel downtown, a small group of us immediately headed to The Palomino for their (in)famous pulled pork poutine, which probably could have satiated our hunger for the remainder of the weekend.

The first musical stop on our Sled Island tour was at the Royal Canadian Legion #1, a beautiful brick building on 7^th Avenue SE that is increasingly being surrounded by towering skyscrapers. The venue features two stages, one up and one down, so the music never really stops throughout the night. We were there for one reason: Crocodiles. The San Diego band is known for its raucous live show, and on this night, they certainly didn’t disappoint. They blistered through a set of songs from their two releases Summer of Hate and Sleep Forever, and even threw in a spirited cover of The Ramones’ “Beat on the Brat.” Dum Dum Girls frontwoman (and wife of Crocodiles frontman Brendan Welchez) Dee Dee Penny even got up for a quick vocal cameo.

Crocodiles

After Crocodiles, I was left with my first in a long line of difficult decisions to make. Do I go to The Ship and Anchor to check out Moon Duo, or do I head to The Distillery for Man Man, or even stay at The Legion for Dum Dum Girls?

I decided on Moon Duo, so we trekked over to The Ship via The Republik, where we stepped in to catch a couple tunes by Wild Nothing. Influenced heavily by the C86 compilation put out by NME records in 1986, Wild Nothing play blissful pop music that has gotten a lot of attention since the release of their excellent 2010 album Gemini. And with Blond Redhead as a headlining act that night, it was a perfect fit.

Wild Nothing

We next moved on to The Ship and Anchor to catch San Francisco two-piece Moon Duo, featuring Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips. The band put on a great set of crunchy, groovy psych-rock/pop. I couldn’t help but think they’d do well with an extra member or two to fill out the sound in a live environment, and I think I’m still regretting not seeing Man Man, but it was really enjoyable nonetheless.

Moon Duo

On the way back home, we stopped in back at the Republik to check out the end of Blonde Redhead’s set, but I was way to burnt out to fight my way through the crowd to get photos. Still, the music sounded great.

That’s it for my first day at Sled, stay tuned for more from myself and other CFCR contributors!

Jay Allen
CFCR Program Director

All photos (c) 2011 Jason Allen

With the dust still settling in Calgary, I’ve returned to Saskatoon after a wild weekend of amazingness at the Sled Island Music & Arts Festival with a head full of music and a belly full of pizza, pulled pork poutine and hot dogs. I’ve been keenly anticipating the festival pretty much all year, and as the bands were announced this spring, it just got harder and harder to wait.

If you’re not familiar, Sled Island is a musically diverse festival that invades the clubs, pubs, hot dog joints and dives of Calgary for a blistering four days of musical mayhem. And let’s not forget the main stage at Olympic Plaza in the heart of the city’s downtown, which this year played host to such acts as Of Montreal, The Buzzcocks, Sleep, Raveonettes, Chad VanGaalen and many more. With over 200 bands playing at dozens of venues, it was impossible to catch it all. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my dang cloning machine to work.

As you may have heard, this installment of Sled was particularly special for CFCR, as we brought a piece of our local music scene to Calgary, presenting a four-band explosion of Saskatoon rock and roll at Tubby Dog hot dog restaurant. The afternoon showcase featured Friends Electric, The Foggy Notions, Shooting Guns and Feral Children. The bitter sweet part about organizing this showcase is that it just scratches the surface of the depth and breadth of simply amazing music coming out of our prairie city. We would have loved to host a full-day SK party, but as it is, we were excited about the prospect of bringing a solid presence of Saskatoon/Saskatchewan music to this ever-expanding festival. The showcase was a resounding success, with a great turnout and fun for the bands and spectators alike. We’re already starting to plan next year’s showcase, and you can stay tuned to CFCR.ca to check out some more words and pictures of this year’s showcase very soon.

It was also great to see that some other excellent Saskatchewan-based bands were playing Sled this year outside of our showcase. Bands like Auld Beak, Shuyler Jansen, Library Voices and Slow Down, Molasses proved yet again the wide array of excellent music coming out of the province.

And with this explosion of music comes an influx of local media attending Sled Island, providing words, pictures and video to help bring the festival to you. Be sure to follow Sled coverage from Planet S Magazine, new local music blog Ominocity and of course your community radio station CFCR.

On top of covering our showcase, our crack team of reporters was in on cow town taking in the festivities, pencils sharpened, typing fingers limbered and cameras at the ready to bring the Sled Island experience home.

So check back often in the coming days for our coverage of the festival, from Kurt Vile to Crocodies, from The Dandy Warhols to our very own Feral Children. Enjoy!

*Update: Now that we’ve posted all our Sled Island coverage, please feel free to check the various articles written/photographed by me here, here and here as well as great coverage by CFCR hosts Brendan Flaherty, Dana Durell and Skot Hamilton.

Jay Allen
CFCR Program Director & Speed Walking Champion

Saskatoon’s own musical vagabond Jordan Kurtz (aka Fisticuffs) has been busy promoting his 2010 release The Wheat Weather as well as working on new material. Today, he released a new track for a buck on his bandcamp page entitled “Would You,” a tender song about leaving your hometown, something Kurtz has certainly done a few times himself.

“Would You” adds trumpet, keys, mellotron, omnichord and bells to the traditional singer-songwriter model, and according to Kurtz, Fisticuffs is moving into more of a band project, so be prepared to start referring to it as “them” instead of “him.”

That’s right, everyone. All your voting and support has pushed The Sheepdogs into the final round of Rolling Stone’s “Choose the Cover” contest! Saskatoon’s hardest working band has persevered through and rightfully earned their way to a coveted prime slot at the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee!

The final round of voting is now underway, so visit HERE to make sure we get them on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine! Word on the street is the cover will feature a special “behind the flag” edition…..

Also, if this wasn’t victory enough, the boys played a blistering 30 minute set this past weekend at the Bonaroo Festival. What? You weren’t there? Well, you can watch it HERE!

Be sure to celebrate our wonderful country (and the final round) with The Sheepdogs on Canada Day, July 1st, as part of Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival!

Leaning Trees Records, the love child of local music–lifer Kaley Evans, has arrived. The upstart Saskatoon-based label has yielded an excellent first impression, with two standout releases; a split cassette from Caves (Peter Grier)/Stephen Cooley, and a Feral Children two-track hand numbered 7” vinyl single. Evans officially created the label last year, but is now gaining steam as Spring fever has past, and the Summer heat is upon us. If this is any indication, we’ll be seeing a lot more superb music from the label in the near future.

As for the label’s creator, Evans is very much embedded into the local music scene, as he’s among the crowd at essentially every live show in Saskatoon. He has also brought his dry wit and musical prowess on-air here at CFCR, previously hosting the Monday edition of the RCMP program. Evans will be debuting a new show shortly, airing every Thursday from 10 – 11pm, so make sure you’re tuned to 90.5FM.

Keep tabs on the label at the official blog/website HERE. While you’re at it, feel free to hit up the Leaning Trees WEBSTORE. If online transactions scare you, head down to the Vinyl Diner on Broadway to snag the goods live and in person. We hear that Evans punches a time card there as well!

In related news, visit HERE for an in-depth interview with Ryan Davidson of Feral Children, conducted by our very own Jay Allen, CFCR’s Program Director and natural gift of gab!

Local twang collective The Browntones have just released their debut recording, eight songs of lovin’, leavin’, drinkin’ and dyin’ called Grit And Glory.

The driving force behind the band features former CFCR host Jody Cason and one of our newest board members, Craig Silliphant. Joining the pair on the recording are such local notables as Keef and Chris Laramee (Shooting Guns) and Alison Whelan (former member of Carbon Dating Service), as well as Jason Barker, Charis Bauer and Dave Scaddan.

Check out the G&G cover art as well as the track “Preserves,” for your pleasure, below:

The Browntones – “Preserves”

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You can also stream the album’s first track “Thirsty, Lonely, and Sore” and pick it up for a buck at the band’s bandcamp site. The Browntones will be planning an album release party sometime in the coming months, so stay tuned to CFCR.ca for more details!

Our friends over at Violent Kin Entertainment have opened up a great contest for aspiring video makers in the greater Saskatoon area! Especially for those 18yrs old and younger! And they have secured a dump truck of money and prizes for the winners, too! Hotdamn!

The band is set to release their new album People in the Fall. In anticipation, VK have cued up the refreshingly alive first single “Human Nature” for the contest, which you can download at the link below

Click HERE to find out all the details on how you and Jim from high school can collaborate on something productive this Summer! They should call it the “Keepin’ the kids off the streets” initiative…

The contest ends June 16th, so get crackin’!