Ottawa based blues trio MonkeyJunk have hit on a connection that works.
They won five more Maple Blues awards, bringing up their total to 20 and have another Juno nomination for their most recent CD “All Frequencies.”
They won a Juno in 2012 for best blues album and they are just getting started.
They come to the Lethbridge College Barn to play a show for the Geomatic Attic, Feb. 26.
That all feels pretty good. We’ve all been playing for so long in other bands for a lot of years, but there is something about this band that just sounds good,” said Monkey Junk frontman Steve Marriner who is vocalist/ baritone guitarist and harp player. Drummer Matt Sobb and Guitarist/ vocalist/ slide guitarist Tony D complete the bassless band.
“ We have so much fun playing together. But there is something different about this. It is one of those mysteries, we don’t really want to figure out,” he said.
“ We played the Edmonton blues festival last year and the album wasn’t out yet, but our manager said we should have some. And we sold 400 copies of it at the festival,” he enthused.
Not having a bass in the band is not just a gimmick, though it helps MonkeyJunk stand out from the crowd.
“That’s not going to change,” Marriner said.
“ It does work and it makes us different. I’m a bass payer. I love the bass,” he said.
“But it makes us different and that’s important these days,” he said adding it is a challenge to make songs work without bass.
He used to multi-task on keyboards as well, though that has also changed.
“It’s a lot of gear to carry around. And I found I was only playing keyboards on two songs. And legitimately, I’m not that good on them. If I was a keyboard whiz, it would be different,” he said.
“ I’m a harp player, that’s actually my first instrument, so we’re trying to figure out more ways to feature more harmonica. That’s my first instrument,” he said.
They begin their latest tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Feb. 14 with six Alberta dates and a few in Saskatchewan.
They always enjoy playing Alberta.
“We actually have a bigger following in Alberta than we do here in Ottawa,” he observed adding some of the shows have sold out already— theatres holding over 500 people.
They are pleased with the response to the new CD “All Frequencies.”
“ It is a little different. It’s more original. We spent more time crafting the songs. On the last CD we had a self imposed filter. We were deciding whether the songs were bluesy enough. This time we didn’t have a filter,” he said.
“ This time we just made songs as good as possible and didn’t worry if they fit into a box,” he continued adding fans have responded well to it.
“It’s a good sounding record. And response has been overall fairly positive, not just from critics — there have been some lukewarm reviews, but from the people,” he said adding some of the comparisons have been surprising. His voice has been compared to Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers.
“ He has an amazing voice and everybody knows Bad Company. It is an interesting comparison that is appreciated,” he continued.
“ But the most important thing is that people got where we were coming from. They knew we were coming from a different angle,” he said.
The next CD will be different again.
“We recorded three new songs which took a couple of days. That’s what we’ll do this time. Usually we stockpile songs. This time we‘ll write three songs and record them right away, he said.
Another exciting happening in MonkeyJunk’s world happens in March when they will get to open for Cheap Trick for a few of their concerts including at Massey Hall in Toronto and at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
“We’ve played every room in the Massey Hall Arts Centre, so we finally get to play the big room,” he enthused, adding their publicist’s contact with Cheap Trick lead to these prestigious gigs.
“ He wrote up something on us and they heard our CDs and they actually asked for us, so we got call asking how we would feel about opening for them,” he said adding the answer was an immediate yes.
They are also planning a European tour including Poland, The Czech Republic and possibly Sweden.
MonkeyJunk with special guests, Paul Kype and Texas Flood play the Lethbridge College Barn, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door.
