From busking in front of venues to playing at one of Canada’s largest music festivals, Vancouver’s The River and the Road will roll into Jasper on May 24.
Fresh off the release of their second full-length album, Headlights, the band has only been together for three years and already has a show scheduled at the Squamish Valley Music Festival, in Vancouver, in August.
“It’s definitely a bucket list festival for us,” said John Hayes, the bass guitarist, while preparing for a show in Ottawa.
“Year after year we see the Squamish line up come out. We see how the city and whole lower mainland get really excited about the festival so it’s definitely a great step up for us.”
But before the band gets there, they have a smattering of shows across Western Canada, including in Jasper at the Royal Canadian Legion.
“We love Jasper,” said Hayes. “From playing the Olive, Stephanie and Darryl, the two owners, really helped us get our feet off the ground in town and it will be really cool to play the Legion, a more music-centred venue.”
Described as folk-rock, the band’s new album provides listeners with a range of music.
“There are lots of very acoustic songs,” said Hayes. “We still play the banjo and acoustic guitar, and there’s a lot of vocal harmonies, which is all very much in the folk tradition.
“On the flip side, there’s also a lot more full band sound, like electric guitars.”
In their short history together, the band has grown from a busking duo to a touring quartet.
In the early days of The River and the Road, singer and guitarist, Andrew Phelan and singer and banjo player Keenan Lawlor, were more adversaries than friends. The two regularly quarrelled and fought for the audience’s attention when they played at an East Vancouver open mic.
After several months of this, the duo decided to put their differences aside and collaborated together to record their debut EP album.
In the spring of 2012, the band expanded with the addition of drummer Cole George and bassist Hayes.
The two of them joined the band just as the first album was released.
In the winter of 2013, the boys took their music overseas to Australia and have since completed two cross-Canada tours.
“The new album has been a massive journey of developing our sound as a band instead of as a couple of separate singer-songwriters,” said Hayes.
“So what you really hear on the album is a much fuller sound.”
Opening the show May 24 is Toronto’s Whitney Rose, who recently released her critically acclaimed album Heartbreaker of the Year.
Tickets are $10 and doors open at 8 p.m.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
