Blackberry Wood tours a lot and often with different line ups as they will have when they return to the Slice, Nov. 14.
They were a hit at the South Country Fair this summer and will be bringing back the core of that lineup back to Lethbridge the single named Shannon on stand up bass, Carlos on saxophone and new banjo player and accordion player Noosa who will be backing frontman/ guitarist Kris Wood for their concert of circus inspired madness.
“I’m touring and working in new members, the same as usual,” quipped Kris Wood.
“ I tour a lot and some people aren’t able to tour,” he continued.
“ So I consider them to be an investment,” he said.
“ This time drums will be played by the contraption — a giant marching drum with electronics, a theramin and a bullhorn,” he said adding they met the newest member Noosa in Dawson City over the summer.
“We usually play a place called the Midnight Sun, but it was closed so the Pit Pub took the booking and Noosa was there. So after the show we went to a fire pit party and we talking about how we wanted a banjo player. And Noosa said she played She also plays accordion and both of them are really new to her. She’s actually a really good piano player. So she started sending us Youtube videos of her playing our songs and even made the move down to Vancouver to play with us,” he said adding she has been playing with them since the last half of summer.
“This one has a couple songs influenced by old 1930s jazz,” he said adding there are a lot of horns in the new music. He noted all of the songs have been thoroughly road tested and due to their ever changing line-up, have been arranged for the road so Carlos can play most of the horn lines on saxophone.
Crowd favourites, the “Star Wars Cantina Theme” and their cover of Tom Waits’ “ I Don’t Want to Grow Up” won’t be on the new CD.
“ We’ll put them on the list for the next one. We tried not to do too many covers on this CD,” he said.
“But I finally got a version of ‘Sand In My Boots’ that I really like. I’ve recorded it three times but I was never happy with it and the audience loves it. I want to get like 30 to 40 people in the studio at once to sing the vocals,” he said.
He noted the new music will be a slight departure from “Strong Man vs The Russian Bears.”
“ The last one we wanted to capture the live show and I think we did a pretty good job of it. It was the sort of album you’d put on before you go out. On this one I want it to be the type of album that you put on when you’re driving or put on while you’re doing things around the house,” he said adding he hopes to complete it by January or February.
There is a $10 cover for the Nov. 14 show at the Slice, which begins at 9 p.m.
