Calgary born, Vancouver based folk duo Chicken-Like Birds have enjoyed borrowing the skills of a rotating cast of roommates they have been living with since moving to Vancouver a year or so.
They visit Lethbridge at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, May 21.
The duo, including upright bassist Jasmin Frederickson and Ari Lantela, have just released their new CD “ On the Dusty Trail,” which they were giving away for a limited time only.
“ It didn’t cost us a lot and we had a lot of help doing it. So it is a gift to our fans,” Frederickson said.
They have been settling in Vancouver over the past year.
“ I was working an office job for 14 years, so we thought we would give this a try,” said guitarist Ari Lantela, who is excited to see his aunt who has moved to Lethbridge from Calgary.
The Cd was partially inspired by the move.
“A lot of it is about travelling and looking for adventure” Lantela said.
“We wanted a change, so we moved out here about a year ago last April. It’s very nice,” Frederickson said.
“ Rent is a lot higher, so we’ve been sharing a basement suite with a rotating cast of roommates,” she said, adding they include tree planters and musicians.
“ We could probably do a tour and a CD with just our ex room mates. So it’s been fun,” she chuckled adding one of the more unusual gigs they have planned is a tree planting camp in northern B.C where one of their ex room mates will be working.
“ They work really hard up there, so we wanted to go up and entertain them,” Ari Lantela said.
They are looking forward to several little festivals booked for the summer.
“ We’re playing Desert Daze in Spences Bridge, B.C. and Frog Fest in Rocky Mountain house,” he said.
Frederickson is excited to play the Fire and Water festival in Lac Du Bonnet in northern Manitoba this summer.
“What I’d really like to do is tour Ireland. Vancouver has a big Irish population who really like us even though we aren’t an Irish band,” Frederickson said.
The duo took their name from a bird book.
“ We needed a band name so I suggested it as a joke,” she said.
“ Bu I really liked it. It just resonated with us,” Lantela added.
They just released a new video for “ Priorities” which features Frederickson playing basketball in a flowing red dress in front of a beautiful mountain backdrop.
“That is just a block from our house. And he’s a lot better at basketball than I am,” Frederickson said.
“ When I was growing up, that’s what I wanted to do— play basketball,” Lantela continued.
“ We got one of our room mates to do it for us,” he added.
They are excited to play Lethbridge for the first time.
“We’ll play a few new numbers and music from the CD,” Lantela said.
The Lethbridge show will be right in the middle with another Vancouver duo called No Mothers.
“ They both play violas,” Lantela said.
“ So they’ll play a set and they’ll play a set and then we’ll play a big set together,” he said. Chicken-Like Birds and No Mothers play the Owl Acoustic Lounge, may 21 at 9 p.m. Admission is by donation.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
