A lot has happened with Vancouver band Spoon River since they last played Lethbridge in 2011.
They recorded a new album and a half in Montreal and Vancouver and in the process added several new members and in the process moved towards a more Rolling S
tones rock and roll sound, moving away from their country roots.
They will be returning to the Slice, May 16 with Buckman Coe.
The only remaining original members are front man Tavis Triance and his wife Rachel Horst, who plays keyboards and sings plus bassist Chris Young.
“ We were living on an Indian reserve in Bella Bella because we found it inspirational and then moved to Montreal and recorded an album there with studio musicians with Jace Lasek who is an old friend of mine from Montreal, then moved back to Vancouver and found we didn’t have a touring band,” he said.
They recorded in Montreal’s Breakglass Studio owned by Lasek who is best known as part of of the indie rock band the Besnard Lakes.
“ We recorded another half an album in Vancouver. So the next one will really be a pan-Canadian album,” he continued adding they will combine songs from both sessions for the July release.
They picked up guitarist Kris Welch formerly of the band No Horses as well as keyboardist Anya Colussi who also used to play in the band No Horses as well as drummer Gabriel Cohen.
“He’s an old, old friend of mine. We played in my very first band together and I always wanted to play music with him,” he continued adding Cohen is responsible for the band’s more rock and roll sound.
“ He’s definitely a rock and roll drummer. But it’s become a real family affair because Anya and Kris are adoptive brother and sister. Rachel is my wife and Anya is also partners with the bass player. We’re like Fleetwood Mac,” he laughed adding their music is definitely not Fleetwood Mac or ABBA, which also featured married couples.
“It’s more Rolling Stones and less countrified. There is more of a boogie rock sound and there are three part harmonies,” he described.
“ It just felt right. My wife is happy because she loves to belt it out and she gets to bang on everything like egg shakers and a tambourine and maracas. There is lots of southern harmonies and soul and gospel,” he said.
“It will be a rock and roll show. There is lots of melody and they are all songs you can groove too,” he enthused.
“ It’s going to be a lot of fun. It will be a good show. We’ve got two pretty girls who sing,” he said.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
