What: Carmanah with the Barefoot Thieves and Sam Weber
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7)
Where: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (680 Courtney St.)
Tickets: $15 at Ditch Records, ANIAN Surfboards and brownpapertickets.com; $17 at the door
For some bands, the prospect of heading into a three-week, three-province run with a few intangibles still in play would be a concern.
Loose ends don’t appear to faze Carmanah, which got its start three years ago in impromptu fashion. The Victoria roots rockers begin their first in-depth tour as a band on Friday with a performance at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, one which will see them play songs from their new album, with new members and a revamped mindset.
“We’ve matured a lot as musicians,” said singer and fiddler Laura Mina Mitic, who co-founded the group with singer-guitarist Pat Ferguson when she was just 20. “That’s what I like about the new record. It shows how much we’ve changed since we first formed. We’re excited to show that off.”
Carmanah’s full-length debut, Out of the Woodwork, is their first effort with new members Cody Alan Gregory (bass) and Steve Biggs (drums), who joined at separate times over the past year. Both had been in the Carmanah circle for some time, so their addition to the lineup caused barely a ripple in terms of band dynamics, Mitic said.
That helps, especially heading into a 20-date tour that also stops in Tofino on Saturday, Saltspring Island on Sunday and Campbell River on May 21. “It has been very gratifying to have people stand beside us and believe in what we’re doing,” she said.
“Those days when you're frustrated with being a musician — because it’s not always easy — it’s really heartwarming.”
Mitic and Ferguson formed the group after meeting at the Tall Tree Music Festival. Though Mitic had considerable experience on the violin at that point, having started on the instrument at age nine, neither she nor Ferguson were playing in a professional capacity at that point.
In some ways, that helped Carmanah come into being in the most natural way possible, she said.
“Our two groups of friends happened to camp beside each other, so as soon as the jams began we met.”
The two acquaintances were invited on stage the next day by performer Kuba Oms, who overheard them jamming and asked them to appear during his Tall Tree set that night.
The on-stage chemistry was such that Carmanah was essentially formed right then and there, Mitic said. “The next year we were asked to play Tall Tree, and we’re playing it again this year, which will be really cool.”
Included in their upcoming tour is eight shows as part of The Jellyfish Project, an environmental awareness campaign that uses musicians to educate high school students about ocean sciences. Carmanah has played high schools before.
The group performed at Claremont Secondary three weeks ago at the Off the Grid Festival — an event powered with solar and people power — and have appeared at Easter Seals Camp Shawnigan.
Concerts of that nature are a big part of the fun for Mitic, who is overjoyed when the environmental conversation is brought into area schools.
The music of Carmanah only helps matters in terms of keeping kids interested in the issue. That the band’s music has also changed as a result is a bonus, she said.
“We get to play a set of our music and then discuss with them what is going on the oceans today and what kids can do to get involved. Because of that, some of our lyrics have started to be a bit more in-depth and includes our beliefs and things we are practising as well.
“For us, that is what it’s about.”