“You’d better believe we’re looking forward to coming back. This time we’re playing with Shaela Miller,” enthused guitarist/vocalist Shane Ghostkeeper, who along with drummer Sarah Houle, multi-instrumentalist Jay Crocker and bassist Scott Munro make up the core of the band.
Their second, self-titled CD, which was released in January, has received rave reviews from across the country and has been getting airplay on CBC Radio 3.
“People are excited about it and it is getting lots of publicity,” Ghostkeeper said adding the band is already hard at work on their third CD, which he expects will be ready for release next year. Making a CD takes time as Ghostkeeper likes to challenge themselves by creating tough guitar parts.
“It’s a matter of challenging ourselves. That’s pretty much our mandate, to never play something we’ve played before,” Ghostkeeper said adding he and Sarah Houle come up with their own musical parts work together to bring them together as songs.
“We definitely spend a lot of time on it,” he said adding he draws a lot of musical inspiration from growing up in Northern Alberta in High Level.
“This is the basis of the band — the Metis experience. My lyrics are how I speak, singing/speaking. It’s very representative of the dialect. It’s some thing I will always represent and explore. I must be homesick or something,” Ghostkeeper laughed.
“ Sarah and I both grew up in the north and listened to a lot of traditional music. We need to challenge ourselves and look forward, that’s what Sarah and I are about. Our whole educational experience is growing up in the north,” he said adding they have found a niche in the Calgary music scene.
“We get good turnouts in Calgary. We get people looking for a good time who come to our shows, because they know that’s what we do. And we really appreciate that support,” Ghostkeeper said.
“We”ll be playing a couple of the new songs. We’re looking forward to playing Lethbridge again and having a party with Shaela Miller,” he said.
— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
