Artist of the Day | THE BOW VALLEY BANDITS
ARTIST OF THE DAY
18.08.2020
THE BOW VALLEY BANDITS
LOCATION
Originally from Edmonton, currently based out of Calgary, and The Bow Valley
GENRE
Folk, Punk, Blues
CURRENT MEMBERS
Jacob Gill, Logan Douglas, and Cole Routlege
With the current pandemic, the state of the music and touring industry has dramatically changed. Where were you when everything was brought to a halt?
We had just finished playing our last show at Brunos Bar and Grill. The bar was set to close its doors permanently, and we had a big goodbye party planned for the following week. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to give the venue the goodbye it truly deserved.
How has that affected your plans for the coming months? Did you have a tour planned, upcoming album release?
Luckily for us, as I know a lot of other bands did, we took this time off of our live performances, to put some focus on writing, recording, and tightening up our set. We recorded our debut EP Bow Valley Bandit. A close friend of the band was kind enough to let us use his business, to set up a private show and live stream for the album release party. Slowly as things open back up, were starting to secure a few shows, at smaller local venues, and were hoping the ball keeps rolling from here.
What have you been doing to fill/make the most of your new-found free time at home?
Most of the excess free time has been spent, writing, and learning new material. I’m pretty sure my own guitar skills have at least doubled since isolation. Pre COVID we were playing at least two gigs a week, so it was actually kind of nice to have time of to dedicate to practice more.
What was the first thing you did/place you went to now the country is starting to slowly re-open?
Made our way back to our favourite mountain town, Banff, and started organizing outdoor socially distanced jam sessions in the park.
Favourite Starlite Room Moment?
I’ve got almost too many to pick just one, but the one that stands out in my mind was seeing Anti- Flag in 2016. They were one of the first punk bands I really got into and I had seen them a number of times before, in larger venues. The Starlite was special though. Seeing one of the biggest names in punk play such an intimate settling was amazing, and I’ll never forget when Pat Thetic brought his drum kit down off the stage to the middle of the pit. You don’t get those memories from a stadium show.
Do you have a message for everyone at home reading this?
Stay strong, stay safe, and keep supporting local music. We have all missed playing for everyone and can’t wait to see everyone once live music comes back into full swing.
If you would like to be our next ARTIST OF THE DAY please email us at:
