There is always something new to do for Winnipeg folk punk Greg Rekus who has a happy new year planned beginning with his “To Hawaii and Back” tour capped off by his first visit to Hawaii at the end of January
But en route to Honolulu, he returns to the Owl Acoustic Lounge on Jan. 12 as he is playing his way out to the islands.
“It’s going gr
eat actually. I’ve packed my swim trunks,” said Rekus, who has been planning the Hawaiian tour for a solid year.
“I’ve never done this before, but when I was last in Los Angeles, we met a guy, Harry, who talked about playing Hawaii. And my partner, Lyndsay, who always travels with me, perked up. Plus it‘s -60 in Winnipeg at this time of year. So that was the other reason,” he said that lead to him making some Hawaiian contacts with promoters and other bands to set up two bar shows at the end of January in Honolulu, Jan. 30 and 31.
“The first one will be acoustic, with just me without my stomp box. The other will be full on electric. We also wanted to do a house show because that would be pretty interesting,” he said adding he gets to spend five days in Hawaii surrounding his shows.
He noted years of experience touring as an indie musician taught him the value of planning overseas tours carefully by touring until you get to the cheapest city to fly out from.
“So I’m touring to Los Angeles first. Because it is really expensive to fly to Hawaii from Winnipeg. I toured Europe the same way. It is really cheap to fly to Paris from Montreal. So once you get there, all you have to do is get back to Paris,” he observed.
While he doesn’t really have a following in Hawaii, he is pumped up about it.
“It is really hard to get there so I think people appreciate that I am going there. and since they announced my dates, people are checking out my stuff and are pretty pumped up about it,” he said.
He is excited about playing some new places this year.
“Tours can seem the same when you play the same places over and over again,” he observed adding he is excited to spread his wings in Hawaii and hopefully Australia in the new year.
He is still touring on his 2014 CD “Punkcoustic,” and plans to take it to Australia thanks to signing with Australian record label / radio station “ Punk Rock Radio Records.
”I did a podcast with them and talked with Dan Barker. They’ll sell the record on their website and give away free copies to radio stations who will play it,” he said adding he has been touring hard in 2014 pushing the New CD and will expand his horizons in the new year hopefully incorporating a tour of Australia next Fall.
“ Some people are writing machines who can write a 100 songs. I’m not. I like to spend a lot of time on songs I’ll write 15 or 20 for an album. But Punkcoustic is very good album. I still really like “Punkoustic”. It’s still a very relevant record. I won’t start to think seriously about a new record until the end of next year and maybe 2016,” he said.
He is planning on playing much of “Punkcoustic,” plus he has learned a Descendants cover “ Hope” as well as the Ramones “ I Want to Be Sedated” to go along with his cover of “ Tom Waits’ “ I Don’t Want to Grow Up,” which the Ramones also covered.
“ Mine sounds more like the Tom Waits version,” he said.
He is excited about returning to the Owl Acoustic lounge.
“ I must have played it 12 times and I always look forward to it. Steve Foord, the owner, is solid.
They moved the stage to the centre which says it is all about the music when it used to be music in the corner and Steve has added some new vegan dishes to the menu and me and my partner Lyndsay are both vegan, so we’re pumped about that,” he said.
“ I know it’s a Monday night and it is not a party night, but I hope people will come out because it is going to be a good time,” he said.
The show begins at 9 p.m., Jan. 12. There is no cover.
