May 31, 2007
Maritimers' music alive and well abroad Local musicians are scoring well over the sea and far away
By Zac Kurylyk
After centuries of exporting coal, lumber and other goods around the world, the East Coast now has a new product going overseas - its music.
The region's music scene has been on an upswing in recent years, with events such as the East Coast Music Awards bringing it into the national and international spotlight. Festivals such as the Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Nova Scotia are also attracting international organizers and bringing local musicians onto the scene in Europe.
Brent Mason is one of these musicians. Mason's a stalwart in New Brunswick's music scene, but he's also had the opportunity to play abroad, bringing his music to England on three different tours. He started his first overseas tour by the seat of his pants - instead of going through an agent, he lined up the shows himself over the Internet, and did well for himself.
"I just thought I want to go to the U.K. and play some music," he says. "I managed to put together about 18 days in a row for the first trip over."
The different audience gave him a chance to rethink his performances, and showcase his best work, he says.
"It changed how I felt about what I was doing rather than just going and playing. I felt like a visitor in that sense," Mason says. "They know their music, and I think I learned a lot about what works and what doesn't work and how to adjust to new situations...I wouldn't say they were a more critical audience, but you also want to do a good job. You feel a sense of pride and responsibility to take it up a notch." The audience response in the U.K. was the same in some ways as over here, says Mason - some people liked his music, some didn't. However, there weren't any experiences that scared him away.
"Over there the people that got it, enjoyed it, they really did," he says. "I had some really good gigs, I had some not-so-good gigs, but the good ones were great."
Mason said the fact that he was from Canada, bringing something the audience wasn't used to, helped him sell even more CDs than he does at shows here.
"I sold quite a few because I was different," he says.
His tours overseas didn't exactly make his local fan base balloon. However, Mason's trip did have an impact on his fans over here as well, as they recognized him as someone who was serious about performing.
"They see that you're not messing around I guess," he says.
Joel Leblanc, lead guitarist and vocalist for New Brunswick acoustic trio Hot Toddy, says playing in Europe created opportunities for his group - when they came back, people paid more attention to them.
Hot Toddy has played at festivals as far away as Switzerland and Austria, and had a great time. Leblanc's overseas experiences were quite similar to Mason's. Leblanc says that while he found the historic European culture a change from his Canadian experience, it was the difference in music audiences that really kept him on his toes.
"On the musical side of things, most of the audiences that we played for are quite well educated musically, they're big music enthusiasts," he says.
He was a little nervous going into the shows, but the band never had any bad experiences to turn it off of the area.
"If you're going into a new area...you're always a little tense, because you don't know what's going to happen really. But the people there are so hospitable, and extremely easygoing, so we were never freaked out really, really bad or anything like that," says Leblanc.
He noted that since some of the European venues they played have been in existence for over 50 years, the audiences know what good music sounds like, meaning his group, like Mason, had to play at their best level, which paid off when they returned to Canada.
"I found that for us, being there and doing that night after night and being in that kind of an environment, it really makes you focus on what you're doing and it helps you bring your game up. When you get back to where you have been playing for a while, it really shows, you can tell that your skills have come up a lot," he says.
Touring abroad did pay off financially for the group as well. While CD sales at European performances were comparable to their Canadian shows, Leblanc says the group has had even more success since they've come back home, as Canadians noticed their international appeal.
"If it's going well and it's all working out, when you get back home again, your domestic appeal really goes up a lot," he says. "You're showing people who you've been playing to for however long, that you actually do have the goods, and you're doing it on an international level. And all of a sudden people who are living in your domestic region suddenly have this newfound interest in what you're doing. That can help your CD sales and also concert appearances and things like that. As far as financial growth goes, and stability, going to Europe really paid off more on the domestic side of things."
And while his transatlantic travels may not have inspired any specific lyrics, Leblanc also recalls the time as a great opportunity to work on his songwriting.
"That's what I really remember, was this time that I had that I could totally, totally focus completely on music while at the same time enjoying where I was," he says.
Another Maritimer who's played in Europe is Nova Scotia's Dave Gunning. Gunning's well known in the Maritimes - playing 200 nights a year in the past, and visiting most towns in the region. But in recent years Gunning has seen the opportunity to bring his music to an even broader audience. Not satisfied with simply touring Canada, he's taken his act to folk festivals as far away as Denmark, where he visited in 2003.
While some would wonder if Europeans would be interested in Canadian folk songs, Gunning says the trip was a great success.
"Europe was great," he says. "When they like you, they all clap in unison, the applause kind of pulses. Its not random clapping...they're all clapping at once, and that means they like you. I got that clap a couple of times in Denmark." Gunning says he was a bit apprehensive going into the show, but that he's always nervous before he plays. He did wonder, though, if the audiences would be able to understand his lyrics. Instead, he found Europeans enjoy his music just as much as his Canadian fans.
"Obviously in Denmark there's not as many people that speak English, but the language barrier didn't seem to be a problem and I found the audiences were very similar," he says. "People are people, that seems to the same everywhere you go. They're just humans out there that want to be entertained and if you can find a way to connect to them, crowds are the same everywhere you go pretty much." In fact, he enjoyed playing in Europe so much, he wants return again.
"That's kind of the idea you know, you sort of play the circuit," Gunning says. "You certainly don't go there once a year, but maybe every year and a half you try to get to the same places, so people don't get sick of you but they don't forget about you either." He is planning to break new ground this fall, when he hopes to tour the British Isles. While his CD sales were good last time he went to Europe, Gunning does admit a trip like this can be a financial risk.
"It depends on what they pay you and what it costs to fly that week. Everything's variable," he says.
Part of the way Gunning plans to cut down on costs is to travel with other Maritime musicians. He's planning on touring Britain with New Brunswick's Matt Andersen. It will be Andersen's first trip to Europe, and he's looking forward to a chance to see more of the world, while getting paid.
"I like travel, I guess, so combine that with music, it just seemed like the easiest thing to do," he says. "The vibe over there is really cool, so it sounds like it's a worthwhile trip for sure, not just a pleasure trip." Andersen also hopes the experience will help him expand his musical horizons. "It's just part of the business, spreading yourself out and playing as many places as you can," he says.
Fellow musicians have brought back great stories about playing in Europe, and Andersen hopes the tour will also create new business opportunities, saying "You can only play so much in places you've already been."
