Ottawa blues rock trio MonkeyJunk don’t mind monkeying around a little when they play the blues, as they play an array of traditional blues, blues rock and more experimental, often soulful 
blues.
The Juno award winning and multiple Maple Blues Award winning trio including baritone guitarist/ vocalist harp player Steve Marriner and band mates, guitarist Tony D and drummer Matt Sobb return to Lethbridge this week for a pair of shows for the Geomatic Attic, April 14 at The Mocha Cabana and April 15 at the Italian Canadian Club with Vancouver rockabilly trio Cousin Harley.
Both are fundraisers for the University of Lethbridge Global Drums Ensemble.
“I don’t know a lot about Global Drums, but Mike Spencer and the Geomatic Attic have always been good to us and I trust Mike implicitly. He spearheaded the whole thing,” said MonkeyJunk baritone guitarist/ vocalist/ harmonica player Steve Marriner, taking a break from putting the finishing touches on the band’s fourth CD with band mates, guitarist Tony D and drummer Matt Sobb.
He said the band always looks forward to playing Alberta, where the trio have always had a warm welcome.
“Alberta is the strongest market we play. Our Edmonton/ St. Albert show is already sold out and it’s a 500 plus theatre, Calgary is always good and Mike Spencer and the Geomatic Attic has always been great to us in Lethbridge,” he enthused.
“We’ll probably play a few of the new songs. Just to whet your appetite for more MonkeyJunk,” he said.
This tour will last three weeks until it ends in White Rock, B.C, after which the band will return home to Ottawa and finish their CD for a couple weeks, then fly out to the east coast for a tour of the Maritimes including Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
“We’ll probably have a busier festival season next year with the new CD out,” he said.
“It’s almost done. If we weren’t going on tour, we’d have it finished. But there’s more opportunities for publicity if we release it in the Fall,” he said adding releasing a CD right before festival season, means it can get lost among numerous other releases being released so bands can play the festival circuit.
He noted a highlight of recording this CD was welcoming a couple of special guests- Canadian bluesman David Wilcox and Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson.
“ I’ve been a fan of David Wilcox since I was a kid,” he said adding they got him to play on their cover of David Wilcox’s “ Hot Hot Papa.”
“ Having him on the track is really, really special to us,” he said.
“ And Gordie doesn’t even play guitar on his track “Love Attack.” He plays organ on it. It is a more reggae influenced track so he was perfect for it considering what he is doing with Big Sugar,” he continued.
He said MonkeyJunk wanted to keep the tracks as simple as possible, so they only had the two guests on the CD.
“ When people come to see us, they want to hear the music like it is on stage, so we wanted to be able to reproduce it live,” he continued.
He is surprised by how quickly time has flown by since forming the band seven years ago.
“We just celebrated seven years together as a band. And this will be our fourth album. It’s gone by so fast,” he said.
They also have a steady schedule of summer schedules booked including the Ottawa Blues Festival, the Wild Mountain Music Festival in Hinton, Alberta and the North Country Fair.
“We’re always touring during the Ottawa Blues Festival, but it is nice to play our home town. And the North Country Fair festival is the most fun festival we play. The last time we played it was around midnight and they have tweeners.
Everybody was shouting ‘More MonkeyJunk and this poor guy is just trying to play his acoustic set,” he related adding they hope to play South Country Fair next year.
The first show is a dinner show with Vancouver rockabilly trio Cousin Harley at the Mocha Cabana, April 14. Doors open at 5 p.m., the show begins at 7 p.m.. Tickets are $82.50. And the April 15 show at the German Canadian Club. The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets for that show are $42.50 and also features Cousin Harley.
