Edmonton’s the Vibram Souls, a seven-piece rock and blues cover act, is the unofficial house band of the Grant MacEwan Mountain Club. The club celebrates its 40th anniversary on the same weekend the Banff-Jasper relay takes place, so it makes sense that the Souls are playing The Stand Easy on Saturday, June 2. Lead vocalist Kara Little spoke on behalf of Bob Stenhouse, Les Wallace, Dave Milling, John Binns, Kelly Sloan and Barry Michael with the Fitzhugh’s Craig Gilbert earlier this week.
Fitzhugh: What is coming?
Kara Little: It should be a party. That weekend happened to be the relay weekend. It’s a bonus that it works out that way. We would have come anyway. All the members of my band are members of the Grant MacEwan Mountain Club. That’s where we met.
Fitz: How long has the band been together?
Kara: About four years. We were at one of our club events sitting around the campfire with a bunch of guitars. We just did that at every event. We thought, wouldn’t it be nice to practice a little and get some songbooks together so people could join us? Then we thought, six guitars are a lot. Maybe some of us could play other things. Maybe people like me who aren’t very good at guitar could just not.
Fitz: And then?
Kara: We rented a cafe and held a fundraiser for an inner city charity that gave outdoor equipment to kids, which was a cause close our hearts. So I think we have a band.
Fitz: What do you play?
Kara: I would say classic rock cover is best way to describe it, but we cover 50-60 years of music. Vance Joy is the newest. Everything is singable and danceable. It might not be something you’ve heard for awhile, but it’ll be something you know.
Fitz: How long have you been involved in music?
Kara: I’m probably the most experienced performer having been in bands before, and I’ve done musical theatre for 20 years. A lot of the other members had only sung around the fire or in the shower before. Bob, the other singer and I, take on the interactive aspect of the bands and the rest can sit back and play. We do do a lot of harmonic things a lot of other bands don’t have. I’ve been playing instruments since I was five years old. Piano, then oboe in band, then guitar, now saxophone to play on these particular songs.
Fitz: What is the significance of the mountain club’s anniversary to you?
Kara: Two of us are past presidents. Most of us have been really involved for 15-20 plus years both on the executive and leading trips. They’re human-powered pursuits in the mountains. We’re not professional guides. It’s all volunteer-run, the socials and the trips. Especially in the last 10 years, when people who have been able to find out about us online more easily. People who move here and have never seen the mountains. We do a little bit of cycling but mostly foot-powered stuff. Skills workshops, too. A great place to meet people with similar interests.
Fitz: Any advice?
Kara: Wear comfortable shoes, because you’re going to be on the dancefloor all night. We have a following in Edmonton who ask when the next show is and are upset it’s not sooner because they want to dance all night. We only do about four shows a year publicly because there’s seven people in the band.
