Author Archives: kelownalivemusic

Stonecrow flies into Fed – Saturday Night

by Deanne Deschatelets for Castanet.net

Somewhere between the raw hooks of The Foo Fighters, the urgency of Tool, and the epic/exotic tastes of Led Zeppelin, exists Stonecrow from Kelowna. Stonecrow is the stunning blend of captivating front man Tyler Smith’s soaring poetic vocals and bass line mixed with the band’s gritty, rock-solid rhythm section provided by John Ephrom and Chris Madill, and all backed with the unforgettable and heart-thundering drum beat of Rob Mulvihill. All band members come from a variety of musical influences and use that disparity to filter in the music that finds a common emotional grounding. “When we create our music it depends song to song what that process is. I write all the lyrics. I will write a song from start to finish mostly because I like to feel an emotional attachment to them,” says Smith. “Other times I will bring in a song and show the guys the parts, and what I was thinking. The band will then take it in a different direction which works. Sometimes we will have a particular riff and we will all sit together and jam and find something that works. At the end of the day you can go through hundreds of ideas and only five will work. Either way it is always important for us to connect with a song.” A band born out of a passion to create music that doesn’t hide behind a mask. With music that is genuine and ardently raw which helps this group stand out from the pack and appeal to a diverse audience. Heavy enough for the metal fans but diverse enough to appeal to all has placed themselves solidly in the Okanagan music scene.

Stonecrow is a rock band with a love for music and a hunger to excel at what they do. This hunger has helped them to achieve a third place finish at the 2006 Rock ‘n Ride battle of the bands at the OK Corral which saw local band competing for a spot to open for Colin James at the Bluff. They also received a nomination for the 2006 Okanagan Music Awards. “We didn’t even know we were nominated for about a month. I don’t think they had our contact information to let us know. When we did find out it was a shock. It was something we were not expecting at all,” says Smith. The last few months have seen Stonecrow absent from the local scene. They have spent that time building on their music and experimenting with their songs. Preparing for the upcoming summer season when they will have a full line up of new songs. “The last two months we took a breather and now we are back in the song writing mode and are getting stuff ready for our new album. Currently we just have out five song demo which we did in 2006. We want to do a full length album this time.”

There are a lot of talented musicians in the Okanagan, as with most local bands, finding venues to showcase their work is difficult. With only a select few that are really supportive and passionate about the local music scene. “Most venues in the Okanagan will usually only hire cover bands. To some extent it makes sense because you don’t want to trust a band to fill your venue unless you know what they are about. But it is a catch-22 because you have to prove yourself to get those shows but you can’t prove that unless you get shows,” says Smith. One of these venues, The Grateful Fed, will play host to Stonecrow Saturday night.

The show starts at 9 p.m. but get down early as the place fills up quickly. Closing Iris will also be playing and there is a $5 cover charge.

Link: Stonecrow MySpace SiteLink: The Grateful Fed MySpace Site

Julie Doiron @ Doc Willoughbys w/ The Superfantastics

endearing recording artist from Sackville, NB

Julie Doiron
Returns to Western Canada!
Monday, April 07 – Kelowna, BC @ Doc Willoughbys w/ The Superfantastics

“Her relentless pursuit of the kernel of truth and the glimmer of hope has found its apex of expression on her fourth solo album, the bloody marvelous Woke Myself Up. A pasteboard of reflections on her most intractable pairings and partings—relationships to friends, kin and her artistic self are on equal footing to the comings and goings of lovers—Woke Myself Up is Doiron’s accomplished, hard-earned Blonde on Blonde.” Mary Christa O’Keefe, Vue Magazine (Edmonton)

Watch The Swan Pond Video From The Polaris Prize Nominated Album “Woke Myself Up” @ http://endearing.com/video/swan_pond_sm.mov

Watch the two previously released videos from “Woke Myself Up”

No More @ http://endearing.com/video/nomore512.mov / Me And My Friend @ http://endearing.com/video/meandmyfriend.mov

MP3 for “No More” and More Info @ http://www.killbeatmusic.com/juliedoiron.html

Helcion at the Habitat – March 20th

Heavy metal in the Okanagan
by Deanne Deschatelets

Heavy metal and hard rock are usually a man’s game, but women have made their own mark with power, grace, beauty and pure guts.

Helcion, from the Okanagan area, is a four-piece heavy-melodic band dedicated to providing a fresh original perspective to the modern genre of female-fronted symphonic/heavy metal. They have a blend of melody and heaviness that captures one’s attention, making you want to get up and move.

Formed in late 2004, founders Jessica Toorenburgh on bass and vocals and Corey Ferguson on drums, joined forces with guitarist Richard Madsen. They began developing a brand of heavy music that brought together their broad musical interests and influences.

Early 2008 saw the addition of Leanne Baillie on vocals, capturing the vocal harmonies from the recordings and has fully brought them a sound that’s uniquely their own.

Toorenburgh is an outstanding female singer. As soon as this petite girl takes the stage, the blend of her powerful voice, hypnotic eyes and flowing sex appeal, matched with the band’s solid metal riffs and tight rhythm, quickly grabs the attention and makes for an uncompromising metal sound. To watch and listen makes for a show you will certainly want to continue to see over and over again.

And while some would expect that a metal band with a female lead might alienate metal purists, Helcion appeals to a greater range of fans. They are not a band you secretly like if you are a guy. They are liked by both men and women and have fans from all genres, even death metal.
Named Metal Group of the Year at the 2007 Okanagan Music Awards, they also garnered nominations for Producer of the Year, and Engineer of the Year with their new album, HELCION II. This win comes as no surprise since the band has been playing consistently throughout the Okanagan and the Interior of BC, expanding their audience and developing a large and very loyal following along the way.

Helcion, will play host to two unique evenings of heavy music in the Okanagan. Thursday night at the Habitat with special guests Hezzakya from Vancouver and, new up and coming Kelowna band, Bloodloss. Then on Friday night at Voodoo’s in Penticton with Hezzakya joining them again. Both are all ages shows with tickets available at the door.