London to get a dose of Toronto's Elliott Brood
Elliott Brood's concerts are
like “an old revival meeting or an
exorcism to us” says guitarist,
bass pedaler, vocalist and
banjo/ukulele player Casey
Laforet. Playing a genre of music
they've dubbed “death country,”
the Brood, a three-piece group
from Windsor (and now Toronto)
have stirred up quite a sensation
for their unique brand of upbeat,
yet ominous folk music.
“The themes are dark, but the tempos are often a lot of fun. We really just want our live shows to be memorable, and we have a lot of fun playing, which can be contagious to audiences,” said Laforet.
Surely they'll have audiences moving at Call the Office on April 15, as they play songs new and old, like those from 2008's acclaimed Mountain Meadows, shortlisted for the Polaris Prize.
The album itself has been described as a cinematic folk masterpiece, loosely based on the Mountain Meadows massacre, where a wagon train of emigrants was slaughtered at the hands of Mormon militia and local native Americans in Mountain Meadows, Utah. But rather than focus on the factual aspects of the event, Elliott Brood chose to focus on the 17 surviving children, and postulated on what their lives might have been like afterwards.
“I think we like to start in fact and then allow our minds to wander. It's a lot more fun to imagine the could haves and the what ifs,” said Laforet. “I don't think we ever really tell the whole story of a specific event. Those stories are great jumping points to create whatever you want.”
Now, the Brood are working on a slew of new material, and although it may not be so thematic in nature, they still hope to “road test” it as much as possible before entering the studio.
“We like to make sure [the songs] work live before they end up being recorded,” said Laforet. “We like to work them out in a live situation and then arrange them properly when it comes time to record.”
They didn't have that luxury earlier this year, however, when Elliott Brood contributed the soundtrack for independent film Grown Up Movie Star, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
“It was a different process to write to specific imagery. We had some of the songs written already, but we specifically wrote a few for the film. It was a lot of fun to try to write to moving pictures. It was a pretty great experience seeing it all come together on the big screen.”
And as seasoned storytellers, Elliott Brood have taken their unique brand of folk to both fact and fiction. But as part of a wider group of roots-rock Canadians (in the same vein as Neil Young or The Band), there's also an interesting connection Canada has to Americana, evident to Laforet.
“I think [that connection] has a lot to do [with how] we were educated a lot about American history, and I don't think it works the other way around. I think there are Canadian artists that can tell those kinds of stories from a distant perspective.”
So come and let Elliott Brood share some of those stories, as they play April 15 at Call the Office. Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door.
“The themes are dark, but the tempos are often a lot of fun. We really just want our live shows to be memorable, and we have a lot of fun playing, which can be contagious to audiences,” said Laforet.
Surely they'll have audiences moving at Call the Office on April 15, as they play songs new and old, like those from 2008's acclaimed Mountain Meadows, shortlisted for the Polaris Prize.
The album itself has been described as a cinematic folk masterpiece, loosely based on the Mountain Meadows massacre, where a wagon train of emigrants was slaughtered at the hands of Mormon militia and local native Americans in Mountain Meadows, Utah. But rather than focus on the factual aspects of the event, Elliott Brood chose to focus on the 17 surviving children, and postulated on what their lives might have been like afterwards.
“I think we like to start in fact and then allow our minds to wander. It's a lot more fun to imagine the could haves and the what ifs,” said Laforet. “I don't think we ever really tell the whole story of a specific event. Those stories are great jumping points to create whatever you want.”
Now, the Brood are working on a slew of new material, and although it may not be so thematic in nature, they still hope to “road test” it as much as possible before entering the studio.
“We like to make sure [the songs] work live before they end up being recorded,” said Laforet. “We like to work them out in a live situation and then arrange them properly when it comes time to record.”
They didn't have that luxury earlier this year, however, when Elliott Brood contributed the soundtrack for independent film Grown Up Movie Star, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
“It was a different process to write to specific imagery. We had some of the songs written already, but we specifically wrote a few for the film. It was a lot of fun to try to write to moving pictures. It was a pretty great experience seeing it all come together on the big screen.”
And as seasoned storytellers, Elliott Brood have taken their unique brand of folk to both fact and fiction. But as part of a wider group of roots-rock Canadians (in the same vein as Neil Young or The Band), there's also an interesting connection Canada has to Americana, evident to Laforet.
“I think [that connection] has a lot to do [with how] we were educated a lot about American history, and I don't think it works the other way around. I think there are Canadian artists that can tell those kinds of stories from a distant perspective.”
So come and let Elliott Brood share some of those stories, as they play April 15 at Call the Office. Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door.
