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Folk Club brings in stringed quintet The Bills

West Coast quintet, The Bills, is the next act to perform for the Cochrane Valley Folk Club (CVFC) at the Alliance Church Nov. 15, beginning at 7:30 p.m. These five world-class instrumentalists and first-call cats are coming: strings attached.
The Bills will play at the Alliance Church Nov. 15 as part of the Cochrane Valley Folk Club’s fall lineup.
The Bills will play at the Alliance Church Nov. 15 as part of the Cochrane Valley Folk Club’s fall lineup.

West Coast quintet, The Bills, is the next act to perform for the Cochrane Valley Folk Club (CVFC) at the Alliance Church Nov. 15, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

These five world-class instrumentalists and first-call cats are coming: strings attached.

Guitars. Mandolins. Violins. Violas. Fiddles. Even piano (which is technically a stringed instrument). No drums – these boys have enough hands and feet to give a solid bottom-end to their ‘worldly roots grooves’.

“We’re a five-piece band with an orchestral attitude,” summed up lead vocalist and guitarist, Chris Frye. “When you have that many fingers and that many strings you can build some amazing sounds.”

Rooted in Victoria, B.C., The Bills have been a unit since 1996. Democracy seems to be the key to success with this team, with an equal division of labour among the members.

“I’m the bookings guy and front man, Marc (Atkinson: mandolin, guitar, vocals) is the musical quality assurance guy, Adrian (Dolan: fiddle, accordion, piano, vocals) has the technical side of the sound and the web stuff and Richard (Moody: violin, viola, vocals) has got all our tour logistics down,” said Frye.

The fifth member has become a rotating chair, as original upright bassist Scott White recently relocated to Germany. Sam Howard of Portland, Ore., will be the bassist on tour to round out the five-piece.

With the release of their fall 2012 album in hand, Yes Please, The Bills are pleased with the album’s success, as it had been eight years since an album release (around the last time they performed in Cochrane).

“Yes Please came out at the end of 2012 and has had a staggered release across North America and the U.K. – so we’ve now rolled it out across the west,” said Frye, adding that they toured for four years on their 2004 award-winning album, Let Em Run, and time had simply gotten away from them when it came to actually sitting down and hammering out a new album.

Attributing the group’s solidarity to committed teamwork, Frye said heading out on the road is now about “quality, not quantity, to ensure we last another 20 years.”

When it comes down to sound, Frye talks about the level of critique involved when that many instrumental perfectionists get into one room.

“Everybody brings their strings to everything and we’re really hard on each other,” he laughs. “We’ve always had an expansive approach to music, but what has improved (over the years) has been our collaborative approach…we don’t corner ourselves in any way.”

Leaving big spaces for each player to step into and solo, Frye likens their big ‘world-meets-roots-folk-gypsy-jazz’ sound to ‘that West Coast Canadian sound’. There is no doubt there is a level of improvisation to their sound that comes part in parcel with professional musicianship.

Like most full-timers, The Bills members are individually known for their work with other groups. Learn more at thebills.ca.

Opening up for The Bills is bluegrass-old-time-music three-piece, The Sweet Lowdown; (see page 38).

Tickets to The Bills are $25 and are available at Phantoms Music or at cochranefolkclub.com.

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