the John Henrys/ the Spades Ottawa Friday

[snarfmaster C]

anybody?

i'm lookin forward

the spades cd release too - been waitin a while on this one.

good things come...

and in case any of the guys check in here, consider this my request for a loved on look. the song.

[phorbesie]

IN! this show has been forever in coming.

[bradm]

I'm planning on being there.

Aloha,

Brad

[YearsAlongTheSea]

I'm jealous....

[traveler]

In.

[AD]

The Spades shoot straight from the Hip

Fateema Sayani, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Thursday, March 15, 2007

James McKenty and his band, The Spades, boast a sound that is East Coast country-rock, in that Matt Mays kind of way. It's a handy reference point when talking about the Peterborough band's sound.

Still, if there's any name-dropping to be done, it's best to mention The Tragically Hip. Those Canadian icons gave McKenty and The Spades a boost. The Tragically Hip invited the band to open two festival shows, and Hip bassist Gord Sinclair produced both their 2004 debut Burning on Fumes and their new disc, Let It Grow, to be released in Ottawa this weekend.

As a solo artist, McKenty released an alt-country album called Restless Soul in 2002, before fleshing out his sound with drummer Thomas "Winchester" Street and bassist Josh "Chachi" Robichaud, who are The Spades.

The band's new album leaves twang behind in favour of crunchy guitar rock with a hint of roots. The bar-band beginnings are still there: glorious, pint-hoisting choruses abound. But a frenzied energy saves this from being just college rock; a touch of soul gives it sincerity.

McKenty says Let It Grow is a mix of the band's styles. "We were trying to meld together the acoustic feel of my first solo CD with the straight-ahead rock of the first Spades CD."

It's a sound that's made fans out of Travis Good of the Sadies (with whom the band has a side project called The Rising Sons), Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo -- and NHLer Kirk Muller.

Muller was an early convert. He was there when the band played its first show in Kingston to a crowd of four people that also included McKenty's parents and another luminary, The Hip's Sinclair. Sinclair's presence was a thrill for McKenty, who learned to play guitar by listening to the band's Road Apples album. He's put that early strumming and keen ear to good use. When he isn't touring, McKenty works as a recording engineer. His credits include albums by The Silver Hearts and child blues prodigy Jimmy Bowskill. And his solo career is still burgeoning. In January, McKenty opened for Blue Rodeo in Mount Forest, Ont.

McKenty's Spades are a band you'll want to catch on the way up; it seems they're shooting straight from the Hip. James McKenty and The Spades host a CD release party at Maverick's, 221 Rideau St., at 9 p.m. tomorrow with The John Henrys. $8.

[lara]

Unfortunately I wont be there. Dave's playing Collingwood and so I'll be home with babe. I was hoping though...

[Freak By Night]

see y'all there!

[snarfmaster C]

wooooohooooo it's friday night!