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CREAKING TREE STRING QUARTET in BC & ON


StoneMtn

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This incredible string band has a crazy tour schedule!

http://www.creakingtree.com/CreakingTree.html

08.27.06 Toronto, ON Toronto Island Jamboree

08.13.06 Goderich, ON Celtic Roots Festival

08.12.06 Goderich, ON Celtic Roots Festival

08.11.06 Goderich, ON Celtic Roots Festival

08.06.06 Kaslo, BC Kaslo Jazz Etc. Fest

08.05.06 Kaslo, BC Kaslo Jazz Etc. Fest

08.04.06 Kaslo, BC Kaslo Jazz Etc. Fest

08.03.06 Nelson, BC Fluid Lounge

07.29.06 Hope, BC Hope Music Fest

07.28.06 Vancouver, BC Rime

07.27.06 Vancouver, BC Rime

07.26.06 Victoria, BC The Superior

07.24.06 Duncan, BC Garage Showroom

07.23.06 Duncan, BC Islands Folk Festival

07.22.06 Duncan, BC Islands Folk Festival

07.21.06 Salt Spring Island, BC Artspring Festival

07.20.06 Whistler, BC Millennium Place

07.16.06 Bella Coola, BC Discovery Coast Music Festival

07.15.06 Bella Coola, BC Discovery Coast Music Festival

07.14.06 Bella Coola, BC Discovery Coast Music Festival

07.12.06 Harrison Hot Springs, BCHarrison Festival of the Arts

07.09.06 Atlin, BC Atlin Arts and Music Festival

07.08.06 Atlin, BC Atlin Arts and Music Festival

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Hey Stone Mountain. Where abouts is the BC Islands Folk Festival taking place? Todd and I fly into Vancouver on the 21st, so we may be into catching some of that action.

By the way, he just sent another email off to Ty to try and set something up in terms of jammin once we're out there. Are you going to the Dead tribute night in Vancouver on the 5th?

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I really don't have any other details on the Islands Folk Fest, but I do know that it's on Vancouver Island in Duncan, which is a small community that I think is between Victoria and Nanaimo. (I've actually been there, and saw Neil Young play, but for some odd reason I have no recollection of exactly how I got there.)

I doubt I'll be in Vancouver for the GD tribute night. If I go, it'll be a last-minute decision, because my summer is really crazy for reasons I can't really go into.

That said, Edger, you are welcome to visit Whistler if you like; and as long as I'm in town when you come, you guys have crash-space if you need it.

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Thanks for the link StoneMtn. We may actually end up in Whistler at some point... keep you posted.

Tigger, I didn't know you were heading to the west. We're out there ourselves from the 21st to the 6th. If you're interested, it sounds like Todd is going to jam it out with Tyler (Fatties original keyboardist) at some blues jam. If you want more info let me know, and I'll dig it up for you (I'm not sure of the location off of the top of my head... somewhere on the mainland though)...

Cheers!

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Wood, wind and a wry sense of humour

Juno-nominees The Creaking Tree String Quartet unplug the power of acoustics at MY Place

Published Date: 2006-07-12 Time: 16:32:03

By Nicole Fitzgerald

Who: The Creaking Tree String Quartet

When: Thursday, July 20

Where: MY Millennium Place

Tickets: $17/$15

Forget the one note pumped to larger-than-life proportions on an electric guitar or special effects distorting the original sound provider beyond recognition, The Creaking Tree String Quartet is all about wood, wind and experimentation, bringing the power of acoustics Thursday, July 20 to MY Millennium Place.

"When we perform, people are often surprised how provocative and powerful acoustic instruments can be," said mandolinist Andrew Collins from the road.

The road dogs are traveling 20,000 kilometres from sea to sea during their Canada tour, before heading back to Toronto to record a new album with Nashville producer Bil VornDick whose past credits include Jerry Douglas, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan.

Collins says the genre dubbed new acoustic music is really taking root in Toronto.

"We’ve seen a whole new generation of all ages coming forward," he said. "Through us and others – we’ve all had lots of students in town – we are helping develop a bluegrass (acoustic) scene that didn’t exist 10 years ago in TO."

The Juno nominees are classically trained and therefore able to execute a variety of genres, swing, classical, Celtic, jazz and bluegrass, into one Creaking Tree sound. Because of the music’s complexity, listeners never know which way a violin or bass line may go.

"Our music is very technical, but we want people to enjoy it," Collins said. "We want to avoid producing music just for musicians. Great musicians can appreciate the technique that goes into what we are doing, but we want everyone to enjoy it."

Because all of the quartet’s music is instrumental, the group of Collins, violinist John Showman, guitarist Brad Keller and bassist Brian Kobayakawa, constantly experiment with new ways of drawing listeners into their melodies.

One of the most notable illustrations of this effort is exercised in the quartet’s track The Battle of Alveolar Ridge on Creaking Tree’s second album, Side Two. (The track along with others is available for download at www.creakingtree.com

The song begins with tranquil guitar and mandolin melodies then grows to a soundscape reminiscent of World War II, with the violin marching in the troupes, the bass foreshadowing the coming battle that breaks with a violin crying like an air-raid siren then bombs falling like D Day. Absolutely chilling. The music is abstract enough to let your imagination take hold while at the same time accessible enough to let your ears fold into it.

"We try to draw people in," Collins explained. "We use different sounds and try to do things we are not aware of having been done before. We like surprising people. We never tried to make sound effects before (like we did in The Battle). We are usually more abstract than that. Brian originally wrote part of the piece for a documentary on the Summit riots in Quebec. The documentary didn’t happen, but we adapted the piece to the string quartet."

Humour is always somewhere in the mix. The title of the song pokes fun at the non-singing troupe. The alveolar ridge is a ridge that goes down the roof of your mouth.

"Without humour, things would just get really heavy and boring," he said. "We laugh a lot."

The pick me up of rollicking tracks such as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels or the playfulness of Merlin’s Gate promise an evening of both the lively and sobering musical score.

Last year, the quartet won numerous accolades including the Pushing the Boundaries trophy at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, Instrumental Album of the Year for Side Two at the Indie Acoustic Project Awards and Instrumental Song of the Year for Old Crow at the International Acoustic Music Awards, as well as a nomination for Favourite Folk/Roots Artist at the Canadian Independent Music Awards. Side Two’s Dynamic Duo track was also a semi-finalist in the instrumental category for the International Songwriting Competition. And all this in one year.

"This is organic music, presented with a wry sense of humour and featuring some of the best up and coming musicians east of the Mississippi," raved one CBC critic. "The playing is just superb, these guys are fantastic."

Tickets for the instrumentalists are $17 for adults and $15 for students/seniors. Call MY Place for tickets at 604-935-8410.

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