Locomotive Ghost build on blended influences

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Calgary based indie-folk band Locomotive Ghost is coming back to Lethbridge to play the Owl Acoustic Lounge, July 16.
Frontman and bassist Ben Nixon is excited about it.


“I spent six months living in Lethbridge Locomotive Ghost return to Lethbridge this week. Photo by Demetri Giannivolunteering with the Katimavik program, ” he enthused. The band also includes Mike Buckley playing guitar and piano and vocals and Courtney Osness is on drums.


 They are coming back to the Owl as part of a quick tour of Alberta in support of their second CD “ Close Your Eyes and Listen” with Edmonton’s Collective West.


“We‘re playing a couple shows with Collective West,” he enthused.


“ They’re a folk rock band, but very much a modern folk band,” he described adding they are like Locomotive Ghost that way.


“All of us are all different ages, so we listen to different music. But there are some things we can agree on — Bob Dylan, the Band, Paul Simon and bands like Mumford and Sons,” he said.


“ We’re looking forward to put on a good show  for an audience to listen to or get up and dance if they feel like it,” he said.
 As sound engineer for the band and for his day job, he is also excited about their new CD.


“There is a lot of space on it, a lot of different textures, and a lot of different instruments like keyboards and a glockenspiel,” he said adding the band tries to replicate the CD as best they can  when playing live, though it can be challenging.


They are working on a series of seven inch records based on the seasons.
“They’re seasonal related. We’ll get the first one out early next year,” he said.


   They have been playing  the B side of the first   one — “ The Death of Science.”


 They spend a lot of time adding different textures and layers of woodwinds, strings and brass to their music which is a few steps beyond their roots as a garage rock band. As a sound engineer, Ben Nixon has enjoyed working on the band’s new CD.
“It’s really been a neat opportunity to use the studio as a canvas,” he said.

The tour includes a show with Fish and Bird in Calgary, who first inspired him to play music.
“Fish and Bird are the reason I started playing music. They were definitely the jumping off point,” he said. They are really excited about playing with them.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 July 2012 09:11 )