Home Routes volunteer and Sunset Ridge residents Gretchen Albers and Peter Fortna are once again opening their home to bring some of the top musicians from around the country to perform for the Town of Cochrane, with Aleksi Campagne performing on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m.
Campagne is a 25-year-old singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Montreal. His music blends his folk roots with his jazz training, which combined with the avant-garde distortion pedals on his violin, make for wickedly catchy dance hall anthems.
Much like the eclectic arts scene of his hometown, Aleksi continues to push his musical boundaries. His violin style has been compared to that of Chris Thile and he has a voice that lends homage to R&B legend Sam Cooke—in fact, his new song Sweet Talk pays tribute to Cook himself.
Accompanied by some of the finest young musicians Montreal has to offer, Stephane Krims on bass guitar, Aaron Dolman playing the drums and Zach Bachand on guitar, Campagne eclectic folk sound and heartfelt lyrics have been known to move audiences from Vancouver to Red Rock to Lunenburg.
He's a young guy from Montreal and listening to his record it's pretty cool because he's sort of a mix of folk and jazz," said Fortna. "It's a little different from what we're use to but I think it'll be a lot of fun."
Fortna feels it's important to give people a chance to hear some new music in a different setting other than in a bar or arena.
"I think most importantly it gives you a chance to connect with the artist. You're never going to have a more intimate setting than in someone's living room and it kind of gets back to the roots of what Canada's all about in my mind," Fortna said.
"If you go back years and years, this is how people made their entertainment ... picking up the guitar in somebody's living room and playing. It's kind of nice to have the ability to recreate that in the modern world where everyone is so tuned into their iPad's and iPod's where they're streaming music, it's nice to actually hear someone playing a real instrument in a close proximity. Another benefit for the artists is they get to keep all the money that gets generated from this so the money is maybe a little bit better than if they had to play in a bar and they like it as well. It's a good way to see a different part of Canada where they hit seven or eight rural towns before they come here where they get to see the community. It just gives them a different opportunity than ones they'd previously have."
Home Routes was initiated by the founders of the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the West End Cultural Centre, Mitch Podolak and Ava Kobrinsky in collaboration with Tim Osmond and with the support of a nationally based volunteer Board of Directors. It was incorporated as a not-for-profit arts organization in February of 2007 to create new performance opportunities for French and English speaking musicians and audiences in rural, remote and urban, communities across Canada, hosted by volunteers in their homes and other community venues. There will be a show each month for the remainder of the calendar year.
Tickets for each individual show are priced for $20 per person. To get in contact with either Gretchen or Peter, those interested can either call at 403-918-0480 or visit their www.facebook.com/homeroutescochrane.
