On campus radio and hipsters

When I travel down to Vancouver from Kamloops, which is more often these days, thanks to a very special woman I've come to adore, the drive back from the coast is always an interesting one. I get thinking about how different the musical environment is in Vancouver as compared to Kamloops. And I get thinking how it affects my job in radio. I'm often struck by the enthusiasm that comes back into me as I drive back, how I've rediscovered my love for the career I've chose.

And, there's often an undercurrent of pessimism too, but not because I'm coming back to Kamloops from the “Big City”. Rather the opposite. I love Kamloops and the feel of the small city. I like Vancouver's hustle and energy, but it would overwhelm me if I lived there. I can take it in small doses, but a city the size of Kamloops is really where I want to be.

The best thing about music in Vancouver is, that if I want something, I can usually find it. Plus, just looking for what I want leads me to more finds that I didn't even know I wanted. More times than not, I've walked into a store not knowing what I'd find and walk out with 20 disks that I know I'd love. And the people there know their music. In Kamloops, I might be able to find a person or two that knows and is passionate about The Pixies, but in Vancouver, I can talk to the clerk about Bibio and he knows their work, listened to it and can tell me what they have in stock. That same clerk can often talk about The Ketamines, Merzbow and Dave Edmunds in the same conversation. That's a person after my own heart. But, that type of personality has the darker and more cynical edge of the hipster to it. Someone who knows everything and is eager to let you know that they know everything. Or they like what you're buying, but they have that album in a better condition, or on a more obscure imprint. That sort of thing.

This happens when I listen to campus radio in Vancouver too. Often, the presenters are informed, a bit rough around the edges and eager to share what they know, not due to the hipster urge (though that does exist in campus radio, big time), but for the betterment of their local scene. Some of the programming is good, some bad, but it's all trying to achieve the same thing. Then, when I look at my own work in radio, I get that strange push-pull. One, a desire to keep doing what I'm doing, pushing programming in new directions and teaching those who want to learn radio how to do what I do. And two, the sneaking suspicion that I'm not doing enough to push myself.

Let me explain a bit. I run an experimental music show. I think I do a pretty good job of it. Experimental music isn't a genre of music, but an approach to music. To make it challenging, to make music outside of the norm of what is considered music. Music that's atonal, arhythmic, noisy, abrasive, difficult. But, comparing my show to something that runs in Vancouver makes me wonder if I'm pushing my own show enough, pushing myself enough to really make the show something that's unique. I have a feeling if, somehow, I packed up my own show and put it on the air in Vancouver, I don't think it would fly because it doesn't push the envelope enough. I try to introduce my audience to things they wouldn't normally be exposed to, and push the idea of music as something that should be challenging. But sometimes I wonder if that's enough.

But then I think, well, why should I compare it to what's going on in Vancouver? There might be a half dozen people doing what I do in Vancouver (and maybe pushing the idea a bit farther than I am), but I'm the only one doing it here. And, let's face it, Kamloops isn't Vancouver. What flies here wouldn't necessarily fly there and vice-versa, and that can be a good thing. I might not be pushing the envelope to what they do in Vancouver, but it's plenty for here. Kamloops is nowhere near as urbane as Vancouver. Often, our station is playing stuff here that, to me, sounds pretty tame, but for a Kamloops audience, it sounds pretty revolutionary. But, any type of radio that exposes your listener to something new is a good thing.

I remember a friend of mine asking me once, back when I was doing my English degree, “You ever feel like you're faking it and everyone can tell?” It's a question that's stuck with me for some reason. It's the curse of the intelligent, of the aware, constantly second guessing ourselves. How do I know what I know and how do I know it? The constant verification of “Do I really know what I know?” and looking it up to make sure it's right. The second guessing to make sure you're good enough. That's where the expression “True wisdom comes from knowing you don't know anything” comes from. It's not about being better, or being perfect, but living with yourself, with your own abilities. Pushing yourself to be better, not to be in competition with others, but pushing yourself to be better.Am I being too philosophical? Who knows. I know that Vancouver tends to get a mix of feelings from coming back from there, and it drives me to try harder and be better, which is always good in my book.

Salmon Arm Roots and Blues 2013 Redux

Probably the thing I look forward to most in the summer, at least musically, is the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival. It's one of the best summer music festivals in BC, probably the best outside of Vancouver, and every festival is great in it's own way. Plus, it's a great opportunity to put on my floppy beach hat, roast under the sun for a whole day and watch live music.

Well, there wasn't much roasting this year. It was cloudy and cool most of the day. There was a storm brewing, but it never seemed to materialize despite a couple of rumble of thunder. By the time the main stage shows came around, the wind was whipping every thing around, and finally managed to ground the kites that had been flying over the festival grounds all day.

I usually only go on one day, making it a day trip. I got to the grounds around 11:30 and, after getting a program, I headed back to the blues stage to catch the last three songs from Hamilton's Steve Strongman. He was playing an acoustic set and showed off his very deft fingers with some quality finger picking. He also performed in a full suit, which always amazes me that musicians can perform in costume without dissolving into a pool of sweat. I heard he played an electric set later with Mighty Mo Rodgers that even had Rodgers' eyes wide with his playing.

I popped over to the Shade Stage to see the Balconies. I was a bit disappointed with their sound. Previous albums from them showed a competent and fun indy rock band, but they had sinced morphed into a radio-ready guitar rock band. The band were decked out in the usual hard rock fair. We had the guy playing guitar in the cowboy hat. And the female lead singer with the eagle feather in her hair and the too tight clothes. By the third song, she was whipping her hair around in a circle. They seemed to have become "Just Another Rock Band." Not my thing...

So, I packed up and went to the Barn Stage to see The Belle Game. They were more my style, a bit on the new wave side of indy rock. They had a full band up there with a synth deck and reverb on the vocals. They sounded a lot like Metric. They also did a pretty cool version of "Beast of Burden". Here's a live video I took.



I talked some shop with Richard Sevigny at the Voice of the Shuswap table (they just got on the air this year and are doing well, by all reports), then got some lunch. My next stop was back at the Blues Stage for Sakura S'Aida, who was in the middle of a very soulful blues set. I caught the rest of her set, which was very good, then went back to the Shade Stage for what was one of my highlights of the day.

Every festival, it seems, I find a diamond in the rough, a performer that I normally wouldn't have thought I'd enjoy, or one that puts in an amazing set. Last year, it was Hazmat Modine. The festival before that was The Kropotkins. This year it was Malcolm Holcombe. He's a blues/country/folk singer from the mountains of North Carolina. I was reading my program when Holcombe unassumingly sat down on stage and started playing, without even a tune up. The audience, including me, were unprepared for this, and slowly started coming back over the next couple of songs. Holcombe was just a voice and a guitar, unaccompanied by anyone. His music was stark, unassuming and honest, just a man and his guitar. His voice suggested someone who had drank heavily his whole life. His lyrics were raw and brutal. He twitched and swung his head around like someone coming out of detox. His stories in-between his songs (banter wasn't something he did a lot, he spoke with his music) were disjointed and had more than a few cuss words. He minced no words. He had some odd chord changes and picking, and he beat out the rhythm to this music with the heel of his hand on his beat-up guitar. I watched this man in rapture for 45 minutes straight, only sitting up in awe after he was finished.



I headed back to the Barn Stage to see Selah Sue, a folk pop singer in the style of Norah Jones, but with a reggae vibe to her work. Like Holcombe, it was just her voice and an acoustic guitar. Her set was very popular to the hipster types. Lots of beards and henna tattoos in the crowd!

I walked around the grounds til the main stage started up at 6 PM and caught a few of the local performers on the busking stages. I didn't catch the names of the acts, but I saw a full band with two singers, a mandolin and a guy playing a guitar and a bass drum at the same time, then a solo singer, then a duo, the last of which were very good and funny. After a quick dinner, it was time for the main stage.

The night kicked off with Bright Lights Social Hour from Austin, TX. They reminded me of Kings of Leon in sound and looked. They had a heavy blues guitar sound and all the members of the band sported the hippie look of long hair and beards. They added some Rush style electronics into the mix, sounding a bit more proggy than the Kings of Leon would, maybe more like the Black Angels. They did say something odd though, that they didn't have festivals like this back where they're from. I guess South By Southwest is something different?

The second act was one of the acts I had hoped to see this weekend. When I go the festival, I usually go without knowing who is going to play, preferring to graze the music rather than seeing what I know and like. Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside are a great band from Portland, OR. They sound like a 60s garage/soul band with a modern indy rock filter. They were raw, they were a bit foul for a family crowd and immensely entertaining. By the end, they had me thinking they could stand beside the 70s era Elvis Costello and the Attractions with little problem fitting in. From me, that's high praise. I took a quick look in the merch tent and found none of their albums. I'll be ordering their latest as soon as I can scrape together some money.

My last act of the night was Daniel Lanois, who hit the stage just as the sun set behind the mountains. After seeing a couple of songs, which were very nice roots rock with some reverb and noodling, I felt I had seen enough. Usually, by the time the sun sets, the bugs come out in droves, and the patrons start into the pot. No bugs this year thanks to the wind, but the smoke was beginning to give me a headache. I could tick off seeing another musical legend on my imaginary bucket list of music.

Thanks Salmon Arm, I'll be back next year!