Fernie based stoke-folk band Shred Kelly is stoked to present their fourth album “Archipelago ” at a special CD release party at the Owl Acoustic lounge, Tuesday, Feb. 20.
The band including McBride, Tim Newton, banjo, ukulele player and guitarist, bassist Jordan Vlasschaert and guitarist Ty West plus touring drummer Eddie Arnett, have released videos for the first two singles, the title track back in October and “Don’t Ever Look Back,” which was released Feb. 9.
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The new album is about our relationships,” observed lead singer/ keyboardist Sage McBride, from her home in Fernie, where she is watching the weather alternate between snow and rain.
She is excited about the new videos for the first two singles.
“We used Calgary company “Light Factory” for ‘Archipelago’ the and ‘Don’t Ever Look Back.’ They were really influenced by the play ‘Heterophopia.’ The ‘Don’t Ever Look Back’ video is about people’s relationship to the song, happy situations, sad situations, stressful situations while they’re listening to it,” she said.
While some of the song titles might suggest the new album is all about space, McBride said it isn’t.
“It’s about relationships. Jupiter 9 was on the keyboard we used on it and we got so used to calling it Jupiter, we didn’t bother changing the name,” she said.
“Nova is one of the more space themed songs, though it is also about relationships. But then Tim (Newton, banjo player/lead singer) is a real space geek, he goes to sleep watching a space documentary every night, so it’s not surprising some of that element sneaks into his songwriting,” McBride laughed.
Musically, the new CD is more upbeat and dance influenced.
“ We’re very much influenced by what we’re listening to at the time. And we love playing live and playing music you can dance to so that is definitely fuels what we play,” she said.
They recorded the CD with producer Howard Redekopp who has worked with Mother Mother and Tegan and Sara.
“We had 20 songs to pull from. And we definitely had more contribution for everyone. Everyone had to pass a song before we’d use it. Howard was great. He’d come up with a lyric or a hook that we hadn’t even thought of,” she enthused.
They started working on the CD back in November 2016 and putting the final touches on it in Fall 2017.
“Our guitarist Ty shot the cover photo while we were driving through Ontario. We wanted a picture of an archipelago and that was the last one. He shot it through the window of the van. He asked if we should stop and we said no, we didn’t even think we’d use it. But it turned out great and he did some editing on it,” she continued.
“We were actually playing in the Northwest Territories in the middle of the winter and got invited to an afterparty on a house boat. We had to carry sticks walking over the ice just in case it broke, and you could use the stick to stop from going under. Tim and Ty started fiddling with their instruments and we recorded it. You can even hear the conversations at the party. We though it might make a great intro to the album, but instead it worked as a great outro,” she said.
The band started playing together in Fernie in 2009.
“But we really started taking it seriously in 2012,” she said, adding the band members still hold down day jobs.
“We can actually make a living just by playing music , but that’s only if we tour non stop. But personal relationships fall apart if we do that. Luckily we have day jobs that are really understanding when we tour,” she said, noting They will be touring to Ottawa and back to Victoria, then going to Europe for a few months before coming back in time for festival season.
“ We’re very excited to come back to Lethbridge. We have a lot of friends there,” she said, adding they plan on playing as much of the new album as they can.
“We’ll see how much time we have. We’ve been really rehearsing a lot . And we’ll be playing a lot of older songs because there some of them, like “I Hate Work,” which we can’t get away with not playing. So we’re pretty stoked to get back to Lethbridge.
Shred Kelly are playing a special ticketed show at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 9 p.m.
Tickets are $20.
