Tag Archives: Julie Doiron
Daniel, Fred & Julie, and Baby Eagle at The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
15/04/2010
Last Thursday I went and saw Daniel, Fred & Julie play at the Horseshoe, the perfect venue to hear them play their gentle folk songs. Last fall when I first caught wind of this project, I immediately knew I’d love the record. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the music these three people make, so to have them team up for a record had me pulling out my wallet faster than you can say “Sackville.” Truthfully, it made sense for them to join forces: Julie played in Fred’s old band “Shotgun & Jaybird,” and when that band broke up, ex-member Shotgun Jimmie recruited Daniel’s band Attack in Black to be his backing band. Attack in Black’s album Years featured guest vocals from Julie Doiron, who in turn covered two of Fred’s songs on her last album.
Are you with me still? If so, please enjoy their song “Runner” from their self-titled debut record, out now on You’ve Changed Records.
Opening the show was Baby Eagle. What’s there to say about little ol’ Baby Eagle, other than it’s the project of the Constantines’ Steve Lambke, and that he’s great? I guess the first peep I ever heard from him was the last track on the third Cons album (Tournament of Hearts), a ditty called “Windy Road.” It had Steve singing, but instead of the usual scrappy punk song we got a pleasant acoustic number. It was an album highlight for me, so I was happy when he started playing solo shows later that year. Two quick albums in 2006 and 2007 followed by a split with Attack in Black late last year brings us to today. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from him soon – his setlist was all new songs, and it looks like he’s going electric.
Julie Doiron, and Will Kidman at The Cobourg, Toronto
09/01/2010
Gather ’round children, it’s storytime! Back when I was 19 years old, at the height of my salad days, I was going to a few shows a week. This was long before I made the big move to Toronto; I was still living with my parents in Oshawa. We had this great venue in town called the Velvet Elvis, which was really the only place around where you could see interesting bands from Oshawa and abroad. It’s where I met a lot of my friends and saw some great bands for the first time (Evening Hymns, The Rural Alberta Advantage, and Ohbijou to name a few). When I found out that Julie Doiron was coming to town I definitely knew that it was a big deal, though I wasn’t too familiar with her music at the time.
Arriving at the Velvet Elvis that night I can still clearly remember the scene. I showed up for the show way too early, so that it was pretty much just me, the staff, and the bands. The Elvis was a small room; I don’t think the place was supposed to hold more than 40 people (though it often held much much more). So there I was, awkwardly clutching my camera, probably leaning against the bar trying my hardest not to look like a complete nerd. Soon the room filled with friends and strangers, far past capacity. Julie played a very casual set, playing songs off her new album, taking requests, and even throwing in some choice covers. There was even a memorable moment where an inebriated man asked if he could sing a duet with Julie, which she handled like a pro, humouring the guy until he wandered upstairs to pass out on the couch. I really enjoyed Julie’s set, and even got to speak with her briefly after the show.
The scene at the Cobourg a few weeks back was like a mirror image of that night at the Velvet Elvis. Once again I found myself in a very small room overflowing with people, while Julie played a nice selection of new songs, requests, and covers. Once again, I was way to early for the show, however instead of mumbling a few words to Julie after her set like I did the first time I saw her, when I arrived she invited me over to chat. Understand, after seeing her in Oshawa, I quickly became a huge fan, buying all her albums and seeing her every chance I could; I even got the opportunity to interview her on several occasions, so it’s gotten to the point where we’ll always have a friendly chat. Concerning the show, thankfully there wasn’t a drunk man demanding a duet, but Julie did surprise a member of the audience by requesting help on one song. The audience member happened to be Gentleman Reg, and the song happened to be one of Julie’s most well known tunes “Will You Still Love Me in December.” I’m really glad I was filming when this happened because it was definitely one of the highlights of the night, and it probably won’t ever happen again, so enjoy!
Opening for her was Will Kidman, who usually plays in the Constantines but on this night was playing solo. I’ve seen Will play a lot over the years, which is strange since it doesn’t happen that often. I guess I’m just always at the right place at the right time. He hasn’t had an album out since 2006’s Quiet Waters, but with the amount of new songs he was playing hopefully we’ll be getting a new one soon. I think this song is called “Crime Dog.”
Rick White and Julie Doiron at The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
26/03/2010
Here’s a video of an impromptu performance of Nei Young’s song “Look Out for My Love” done by Rick White and Julie Doiron at the Horsehoe Tavern back in March. There are some missing lyrics in the chorus sure, but it’s still a damn fine cover. Julie’s voice is really beautiful here…
I was out last night at a bar and a few people complimented me on the Eric’s Trip t-shirt that I was wearing. It’s always nice to meet people who like Eric’s Trip. They’re my favourite band to come out of the early 90′s East-Coast Canada music scene, but it definitely took me a while to get into them. When I was young, my oldest brother had a few Sloan albums that we would listen to on family roadtrips. When I started getting more into music in high school, I remembered liking Sloan so I bought a few of their albums on CD. I saw them live in 2004, and I can easily say they were one of my favourite bands back then. I still enjoy their 90′s output, plus a few tracks from their more recent albums.
In 2006, I saw Julie Doiron play at the Velvet Elvis in Oshawa (previously discussed in this post). At that point I really didn’t listen to her, but I immediately became a fan after that show. I learned more about her story, and discovered she was in Eric’s Trip. I think I remember seeing the music video for ‘Stove’ when I was a kid, but I really hadn’t bothered to listen to them until that point. I ended up buying a used copy of Forever Again at Deja-Vu Discs on King Street in Oshawa one day after class sort of on a whim. I guess I should mention that I’d already gotten into a few other East-Coast bands throughout High School like The Super Friendz and Thrush Hermit. Anyway, ever since I started listening to Eric’s Trip, I’ve been slowly collecting other music from that era. As you can see from the above photo, my collection is still pretty small, but I think I’ve got a few gems in there. A lot of it is on CD since I really didn’t buy records until recently. It’s pretty rare to see much stuff from that period in stores around here, but I think I’ve been lucky. Most of my collection was found by scouring used stores in Oshawa and Toronto, but I’ve had to get harder to find records off the internet. Amazingly, I don’t have any overlap in my collection, though I really want to get all the Eric’s Trip albums on vinyl. I saw a copy of Love Tara about a month ago on eBay but I didn’t have much cash that week so I let it pass, and now I really regret not getting it. It was a sealed copy from a record store in Kingston and it only went for $60, which isn’t too bad. I’ve never seen it anywhere else before. I’ve seen Forever Again once or twice, so I’m hoping I can get a copy soon. None of the Sloan CDs are hard to find. I have two Moon Socket CDs, I’m not sure how rare those are. Same goes for the Jale and Hardship Post CDs.
I’m pretty happy with what I have right now, but there is so much out there I still need to get. Eric’s Trip alone have about ten more EPs I need to get. Fun fact: Out of the 28 releases I have, 11 came out on Sup Pop and 9 came out on Murderecords.
You’ve Changed Records
One hot summer in 2004, I took the 30-minute stroll from my house in Oshawa to Star Records downtown. I had to return ‘White Light, White Heat’ because the record was warped. Mike, the owner, said he could give me store credit. I looked behind the counter and spotted the Constantines‘ second album ‘Shine a Light’ amongst the bootlegged concerts and dusty DVDs. I’d seen them play a few weeks before in Toronto, and had been listening to the same few songs (Blind Luck, Seven AM, Long Distance Four, Arizona… maybe one or two others) on New Music Canada for months, so it was time I bought one of their albums. From the opening blast of National Hum to the closing stomps of Sub-Domestic, my teenage brain was blown.
A few years later now, late 2006, I head to the Velvet Elvis to see Julie Doiron play. At this point I’m not really a fan, I’ve only heard a few songs, but I knew she was one of the bigger acts to play our town so I went. Also playing was some band called Shotgun and Jaybird. No clue who they are really. I’d played one or two songs on my radio show to promote the concert, but didn’t know their story. Opening up the show was Will from the Constantines solo, so that gave me another reason to go. Anyway, Shotgun and Jaybird went on and I fell in love with them. It’s true. It was one of the sweetest sets of music I’d ever seen. Their whole approach to playing was so charming. The way the different band members interacted, how they spoke to the audience, the way they played their songs, all so fantastic. They had two CDs for sale that night – an EP and their new full-length album. I bought them both and still listen to them regularly, they never get tired. The band split up a few months after I saw them, and it was sad at first, but they’ve all gone on to make great music in other capacities. Plus, they left me with one great show and a perfect little discography.
I’m not sure when I first met Steve Lambke. I think I met him with my friend Mitch at Lee’s Palace seeing the Cons when Mitch got him to sign his show poster. However, the first time I really spoke to Steve was when he played solo in Oshawa at this old bar, Catch 22. Not many people were there, so I took it as an opportunity to go speak to him. Steve plays in the Constantines, so naturally I wanted to have a few words with him. He was very friendly to me, and when he played he even dedicated one of his songs (Windy Road) to me! It was a great feeling to know that guitar player in my favourite band is a nice person.
That night Shotgun and Jaybird played the Elvis, I was able to chat with all of them for a while. One of the band members, Jimmie (aka. Shotgun Jimmie) told me about how he was originally from the Durham Region but now lived out east in a town called Sackville in New Brunswick. I may have mentioned how I’d been to Sackville once before, when I was a young kid. Anyway, Jimmie and I kept in touch on the internet, and I learned more about his town of Sackville and about the music festival him and the other folks in Shotgun and Jaybird had just started the previous August called SappyFest. A year or so later when Jimmie was releasing his solo album, he went so far as to hand deliver me a copy in Oshawa! What a great guy!
Last Spring I was in my last semester of College. It had taken me three years but I’d finally made a good friend in my program named Dale. I think the only reason we started talking was because I noticed he was listening to the Weakerthans one day. Nevertheless, we quickly became friends and started sharing music. One of the first bands Dale got me into was a band I’d heard of but had never listened to called Attack in Black. He let me have their album ‘Marriage’ and I enjoyed it enough on my first listen, but I couldn’t fully connect with it at that point. It wasn’t until a few weeks later when I went to go see the Constantines that their music really made a connection. You see, Attack in Black opened up that show and I was front and center (I had to have a good spot for the Cons). I was still on the fence about them at that point, but seeing them play made me a fan. I thought their songs sounded way better live than on the record, and they were really great performers too. Since then I’ve gotten their second album ‘The Curve of the Earth’ which has become one of my favourite albums.
Everything came together this past August. I finally made it out to Sackville for SappyFest. I camped out in a tent on Jimmie’s farm. The night I arrived there, there was a big campfire. That’s when I realized Steve was also staying there, as were the guys in Attack in Black, so I got to meet them. That whole week was amazing, and it made me appreciate all these individuals so much more. I feel lucky to know all of them, as they all make music that really means a lot to me.
I started writing this post simply to tell everyone about the new record label they’re starting called You’ve Changed Records. They’re releasing Jimmie’s new album ‘Still Jimmie’ on March 10th, and an Attack in Black/Baby Eagle (Steve’s solo project) 12″ on April 14th. I’m so goddamn excited. Go to their website and listen to Mind Crumb.