CANMORE – “Oh, hell yeah,” Joey Landreth says, a featured act in this year’s Canmore Folk Music Festival, recalling his eighth grade thrill of playing clubs in Winnipeg.
“I was playing guitar in dad’s band,” Landreth said. “There are lots of players in the Winnipeg scene, and they were all really nurturing to me.”
Interestingly enough, a grade school Landreth’s first gig was at famed Blue Note Café, where every type of musician from Guns N’ Roses to local charmers walked past its brightly lit blue and red neon sign.
Performing on one renowned stage to another, it’ll be the Joey Landreth Trio taking on opening day duties at folk fest (Aug. 4) at 6:40 p.m. at the Stan Rogers Memorial Stage.
Landreth’s grown into a much sought-after musician for his skillful abilities on the mic and a guitar, which dates back to being a youngster in Winnipeg.
Whatever advice the vets of the industry were saying caught on with Landreth and his older brother, David, whom, years later, formed the 2014 JUNO award-winning folk rockers The Bros. Landreth.
It started as just an excuse for the brothers to tour and play together and peaked as rising Canadian music stars.
Though, shortly after the breakout year in 2014, Landreth took a break from the brother duo to go solo.
But with four years of being on the road under his belt, away from family, and living the clichéd life of a travelling musician, Landreth had picked up some toxic habits.
It turned into his 2017 debut solo album Whiskey, which is named ironically after Landreth cut alcohol out of his life.
He described his addiction as an insatiable appetite, which turned into “a bit of mess” for the rising star.
“This stigma of a person living on the road is pretty real,” he said. “Certainly being a musician and its stereotypes can ring true, being a celebratory element to the entertainment industry, and it’s pretty easy to get lost in that – it became something I no longer in control of.”
Landreth got sober in 2015, and has toured alcohol-free ever since.
With the critically acclaimed success of Whiskey, Landreth has two albums on the horizon – a sophomore solo album for later this year, and the return of The Bros. Landreth, set for spring 2019.
“It’s always nerve-racking and always exciting to release new music into the world – it’s a little freaky because you want people to like it,” he said. “Even if people don’t love it, you just got to tell yourself that everything is going to be OK.”
Landreth and Roman Clarke are sharing song-writing duties for the still to be named album, which Landreth’s “excited and proud” to release.
“I’m a perfectionist, and I’ll sit there and toil lines over and over until I feel like something is finished,” Landreth said.
Performing at folk fest, the other members of the Joey Landreth Trio consists of Ryan Voth (drums) and Meg Dolovich (bass), who’ll play hits from Whiskey, as well as a new single titled ‘Forgiveness’ set to be on the upcoming sophomore album.
It’s the first time the band are performing at folk fest.
“I love Canmore, it’s a beautiful town,” he said. “I kind of let everything be its own thing (on stage), and every now and then I’ll take cues from audience.”
For more information on Canmore Folk Music Festival, visit www.canmorefolkfestival.com.
