Tariq Hussain saw a documentary about Andrew Bird a couple of years ago, so he’s excited Brasstronaut, the Vancouver-based band Hussain plays lap steel and electric guitar in, will play a workshop with Bird this weekend at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.
“I’m super excited,” Hussain said. “And just the whole vibe of it is so much fun because you get to be around all your friends.”
It’s Brasstronaut’s first gig at Folk Fest, although the band has been making music for seven years. Pianist and vocalist Edo Van Breemen and trumpeter Bryan Davies played around town as a duo, added Brennan Saul on drums and John Walsh on bass. Then for a show at the Biltmore in 2009, they asked Hussain and Sam Davidson, who plays clarinet and electronic wind synthesizer, to join them.
“We did that one [gig] and I think everyone was like, ‘Hey that’s pretty cool. Maybe you should keep going in that direction,’” Hussain said. “Over the years it’s really become more and more of a collaboration. It’s been a nice evolution.”
Linda Tanaka, artistic director of Folk Fest, is a big fan. “I’ve been listening to their music for a while but the more I listen to it the more I feel it’s so fresh and unique,” said “Just the instrumentation, the nice melodies, the jazz influence in there. It’s refreshing. I just like their textured and layered sounds.”
With Van Breemen currently based in New York City and Saul in Winnipeg, band members have been emailing tracks for the sextet’s forthcoming third album back and forth.
Hussain says the new songs advance Brasstronaut’s flavour with more of a dance beat. The band will bust out three new songs at its four appearances on Folk Fest stages throughout the weekend, including a Saturday evening slot.
Brasstronaut’s first release, Mount Chimaera, was long-listed for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize and “Hearts Trompet” from that album garnered a 2010 SOCAN Echo Songwriting Prize. The band’s 2012 follow-up, Mean Sun, includes dreamy, lush, orchestral pop songs. Brasstronaut has toured North America and Europe and received acclaim from music critics at the BBC, the U.K.’s Independent newspaper and the Toronto Star.
As for other acts performing at this year’s Folk Fest, Hussain says he’s looking forward to seeing his friends Corbin Murdoch and Jenny Ritter. Hussain once opened up for Alejandro Escovedo in Calgary and wants to see what the singer/songwriter is up to now. Also on his list are Mokoomba, the Zimbabwean band Brasstronaut will share a workshop stage with, as well as Born Ruffians, Great Lake Swimmers and Jay Malinowski and the Deadcoast.
More than 60 artists will perform at the 37th annual festival, including folk goddess Joan Baez for the first time.
Ferron and First Nations grandmothers dressed in woven cedar bark robes will welcome festivalgoers at 4:30 p.m. Friday after the traditional Musqueam greeting.
Tanaka says the festival will include more art than in previous years, with Loco Moto Arts projecting images onto Jericho Beach Park’s trees, and more interactive activities for kids. Tanaka noted children aged 12 and under enter free of charge when accompanied by an adult.
She also emphasized that the festival features a special viewing platform for people with disabilities at the main stage and caregivers for people with disabilities also get in free.
The Vancouver Folk Music Festival runs July 18 to 20 at Jericho Beach Park. For more information, see thefestival.bc.ca.
crossi@vancourier.com
