Ottawa Valley based singer songwriter Brock Zeman considers himself to be proudly eccentric.
“I’m probably the only singer-songwriter who has two songs about zombies,” he said from his home in the Ottawa Valley. He is getting ready for a quick couple of shows including one with Tim Hus at the Geomatic Attic, April 5.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it. Because he, (Tim Hus) is the real deal. And it’s nice to see something different. He’s singing about Canada and taking on the whole Stompin’ Tom Connors thing,” he said.
Zeman is also doing something different by playing this solo show. Zeman‘s music is heavily rooted in country and sounds like a cross between Cross Canadian Ragweed and Steve Earle.
“It’s going to be eccentric. There’s no bass player. I usually tour with a guitarist and a drummer and it’s always really high energy. But I have a pile of songs I can do solo,” he said.
“I write about whatever comes to my brain at the time. You can write about girls, and the road and bars, but it’s been done. I just try to write about a slice of life, the more unlikely someone else is going to write about it, the more likely I am,” he said.
He has worked with Hus before, booking him shows in the Ottawa Valley area. So as soon as the chance arose to play with him “in his neck of the woods,” he jumped at it and booked a couple of his own shows.
“He’ll come and stay at various shacks I have and I’ve booked him shows out here,” he said.
He just released his ninth album “Me Than You.”
“It’s been really good. It has some really good reviews. People like it better than the other ones which is all you can hope for — to make each one better than the last,” he continued.
He recorded part of the CD in a studio in Ottawa and then started building his own studio where he finished it.
“ I wasn’t getting into the city much because I live in the boondocks, so the so the songs are old,” he observed.
“A lot of them are experimental. The songs are a lot more fuller. I wanted to take the singer-songwriter thing and add something to it and sometimes that requires synthesizers,” he said, adding they won’t be coming on the road with him.
“ I can picture all the banjo players in the audience reading this and saying, oh, no, I’m not going to this. But some things stay in the studio and don”t come on the road,” he laughed.
He was surprised he came up with songs about zombies.
“I have ‘ the Greasy Skillet Boys’ about a band of the living dead. I guess I was watching too many zombie movies. I can’t even take myself seriously anymore,” Zeman chuckled.
Zeman also runs his own record company, Mud Records, which is home to five musicians including Nashville songwriter Tom House.
“ I opened for him four years ago in Nashville and got all of his records. They absolutely blew my mind,” he said noting recently, House was having difficulty with his new record, so Zeman invited him up north to record in his studio and helped him book a tour while he was here.
“The record should almost be done by the time I get back,” he enthused.
He is also working with Quebec musician Andre Bluteau.
“ He’s a Quebec musician but his album is in English,” he said.
“That’s what I do, If I get their records and they blow me away, I’ll help them get it out there,” he said.
Brock Zeman and Tim Hus play the Geomatic Attic at 8 p.m., April 5. Tickets are $27.50
— By Richard Amery, L.A Beat Editor
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