Insurance broker by day and rock star by night, Jimmy Rutherford and his band, Small Town Regular, will trade in their ties for guitars during the Jasper Folk Music Festival in September.
For the Edmonton-based band, selected for the festival during the annual Battle Royale at the Jasper Legion, this will be its first music festival since forming last September.
“I think we’re all pretty excited to spend a weekend back in Jasper and get to hear some music and chill out in the beautiful scenery,” said Rutherford.
Described as folk rock, the band expects to release its first EP in September just in time for the festival.
Rutherford describes his music as “softly rock-out,” which just about nails it when listening to the acoustic riffs of Yellow Lines or I’ll Still Wait, both of which are available online.
Using his experiences growing up on a farm in the prairies, Rutherford’s down to earth demeanour is evident when talking to him about his music.
“I like when you just see a regular guy playing some real music that’s good and has meaning,” he said.
One of his biggest influences is John Samson, lead singer for the Weakerthans.
“I find his ability to write about the prairies unbelievable. The way he can describe a feeling in a matter of 10 words, I probably couldn’t do in a whole book.”
He said he is also a big fan of Jim Cuddy from Blue Rodeo and the Water Liars out of Mississippi.
Small Town Regular first formed by accident after Rutherford was asked to perform as a guest artist during an open jam night in Edmonton.
“The two guys who hosted it, we played together and it sounded really good and I just asked if they would be interested in doing a couple of shows,” said Rutherford.
Only two of the four members in the band travelled to Jasper for the Battle Royale, but all four members are expected to play in September.
The other members include Devin Phillip on lead guitar, Harry Gregg on bass and Geoff O’Brien on drums. Both Gregg and O’Brien earn a living as professional musicians and are paid to play in the band.
Rutherford said the band’s name is a spin off of another band he played in.
“I actually grew up in a really small town in Saskatchewan and I played in a rock ‘n’ roll band in Edmonton called Big City Supreme and jokingly when I started doing my solo stuff my friends said it would be funny if I called my solo stuff
Small Town Regular because it’s the opposite.”
Not only is the name opposite, the music is also completely different and has clearly caught the attention of music fans in Jasper.
Check out Small Town Regular at the Jasper Folk Music Festival this September.
Paul Clarke
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