The majority of local bands fight tooth and nail for an audience. That can often be tough going, but that’s the way it should be. When a group finally finds its footing, it will have acquired the tools — stage show, studio chops, media skills, etc. — with which it can move forward effectively.
Jon and Roy paid their dues long ago. Nowadays, they go from strength to strength, seemingly without a care in the world. To be fair, the folk-rockers have not achieved success by accident, or without a long-term plan. The hard-working Victoria group, which comprises drummer Roy Vizer, singer-guitarist Jon Middleton, and bassist Louis Sadava, is nothing if not persistent in its attempt to find success without compromise.
Jon and Roy (and Sadava, the official third member who makes the group a trio) will perform two shows on Vancouver Island next week, beginning with an anticipated (read: sure to sell out) date at Sugar nightclub on Friday. Another surefire sell-out at the Waverly in Cumberland is set for Saturday, a nice two-pronged homecoming for the boys after a successful run of Ontario shows in February.
New material is coming from Jon and Roy, who recorded their as-yet-unreleased album in January at Vancouver’s Greenhouse Studios. Finishing touches are underway in Victoria, so there’s a possibility new material will be debuted next week.
Tickets for Jon and Roy’s Friday night set at Sugar Nightclub (858 Yates St.) are $20 at Ditch Records, Lyle’s Place and ticketfly.com.
Opening acts on Friday are Frankie and Sam Weber. Doors are at 9 p.m.
Cut from the same cloth as other Minneapolis songwriting greats such as Paul Westerberg of the Replacements and Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, rootsy favourite Mason Jennings adds to the long list of prolific performers from the Midwest.
Jennings has released more than a dozen albums since 1997, and each collection deals with topics deeply human in nature. Jennings, 39, will perform April 19 at the Upstairs Cabaret (15 Bastion Sq.) in support of 2013’s well-reviewed Always Been, another album about love and loss. Tickets are $20 at Lyle’s Place and ticketzone.com. Don’t miss this show.
A fundraiser to benefit a First Nations art installation at the under-construction Oak Bay High School is set for the Oaks Restaurant and Tea Room on March 28.
Master Carver Butch Dick and his son, Clarence, have been commissioned to create the Sno’uyutth Welcome Pole that will be erected in October at the entrance of the Oak Bay school. The fundraiser, headlined by jazz singer Joe Coughlin and his quartet, is designed to help bring the dream to life.
Tickets for the event, which will also feature First Nations singers, dancers, drummers and poets, are available for $20 through the Oaks Restaurant and Tea Room (2250 Oak Bay Ave.) or by phone at 250-590-3155.
Toronto duo Zeds Dead have developed a hearty fanbase across Canada, which is the polite way of saying don’t sleep on getting tickets for their April 9 performance at Distrikt Nightclub. You’ll be left out in the cold, otherwise.
The duo’s EP from last year, Somewhere Else, broke Zed’s Dead to a wider audience and led to appearances at some of the biggest festivals in the world, including the Electric Daisy Carnival.
Opening acts Generic and Grossbuster will support the April 9 show. Tickets are $30 at thisisblueprint.com, Lyle’s Place and the Strathcona Hotel (919 Douglas St.).
Local performers Danton Jay and Heather Lynn have less than a week to go on a campaign to fund their new album, the studio sessions for which begin April 1 in Victoria with producer Joby Baker.
The couple is hoping to raise $7,000 of the $12,000 needed to record and release the album, Decades After Paris. To date, they have raised almost $4,000 through 67 backers. The campaign closes Saturday (March 14).
Jay and Lynn were inspired to write their “climate outreach album” after trekking to New York in September for the People’s Climate March and UN Climate Summit.
The campaign can be found at kickstarter.com by searching Decades After Paris.
Artists wanting to play this summer’s Tall Tree Music Festival will have an opportunity to do so thanks to a promotion through the festival’s website, talltreemusic.com. But be quick: the contest closes Wednesday.
A panel of music industry professionals will review all applicants before naming 20 bands and 20 electronic artists. The semi-final acts will be voted on by the Tall Tree community on Facebook. The five bands and five electronic artists with the most votes will move on to the final round, to be judged by a Tall Tree panel. One band and one electronic artist will be on the roster when the Tall Tree lineup is announced March 28.
The festival is set for June 26-28 in Port Renfrew.
One of the best and most revered bands ever to come out of Victoria (even though some members now live in Vancouver) will return home for an April 17 performance at the Copper Owl.
Frog Eyes — the indie rock nom du plume of singer-songwriter Carey Mercer — will be joined at the show by opening act Hello, Blue Roses, which features Vancouver visual artist Sydney Hermant and Destroyer’s Dan Bejar (also of the New Pornographers.)
Tickets are $15 through eventbrite.ca. If by some miracle they are still available, tickets will be $20 at the door.
The Copper Owl is at 1900 Douglas St., above Paul’s Motor Inn.
Due to high demand, a second Mike Edel/Towers and Trees concert is scheduled for April 10 at the Roxy Theatre (2657 Quadra St.) The original April 11 date is now officially sold out.
Tickets for Edel’s April 10 album release concert are on sale now for $17 at Lyle’s Place and ticketfly.com.
