Roger Marin, who used to play in Fred Eaglesmith’s band and who plays pedal steel on Eaglesmith’s latest CD “6 Volts,” is always trying something different on tour.
When he returns to the Slice, Sept. 16, he will be playing a duo show with Rachelle Risling on piano while he plays guitar and pedal steel guitar. Regular guitarist Mike Tuyp is taking some time off to deal with personal issues.
“ I really just dig doing a different show each time,” Marin said from Thunder Bay, four days into the tour with Risling.
“It’s been really good. It’s nice to be able to take my hands off the guitar. Before I felt I always had to be playing. But Rachelle lays down a really solid foundation for me and I can mess around with the pedal steel, and Mike gets to take some time off,” he said.
Risling met Marin at a northern Ontario folk festival and asked if she could sit in on stand-up bass, but learning she could play piano came as a surprise.
“We were doing a show in New York City and I told her I’d get her a bass, but the bass fell through but there was a piano there and she just started playing it. It was amazing. She is one of the best piano players I’d ever seen which is great because I had no idea she played piano,” he said. She sure can.
The Saskatchewan born musician moved to Toronto, but ended up in Sault Ste. Marie where she wound up teaching piano lessons.
“I’m a classical pianist,” she said adding stand-up bass is a recent skill as she just started fooling around with one because she was interested in learning more about bluegrass and country music.
“But I’ve been a fan of Roger’s for a long time. He‘s a great guy and a great songwriter,” she enthused.
She was familiar with his songs, but got his CDs and learned them all five days before the first gig together.
“It’s a pretty laid back show. I play some chordal progressions on the piano,” she understated adding she is enjoying playing with him and learning how to write songs.
“ The highlights of the tour are the most unexpected. I’m enjoying things like just sitting in the car and talking about songwriting, learning how it all works,” she said.
Marin is so impressed so far that he asked her to appear on his next CD, which he recorded last time he played Lethbridge a few months back at Lethbridge’s own Ghostwood Studios, originally envisioning a duo project with guitarist Mike Tuyp.
“She’s going to take a day and add some harmonies, piano and upright bass and vocals, then we can put the cap on it,” Marin enthused adding he is hoping to release it in February or March, about the same time he will be beginning a tour of Italy, Germany and holland.
The show at the Slice will start at approximately 9:30 p.m. There will be a $10 cover.
