Since you’re reading this, clearly you’ve survived the Mayans’ and others’ predicted end of days date of Dec. 21, 2012.
While the predicted end of the world proved to be somewhat less than apocalyptic, many people still experienced a year of great change in 2012 for one reason or another.
If your life has stayed on an even keel – cool.
But among those who experienced great change last year were the husband and wife team of Peter Stone (vocals, guitar) and Denise MacKay (vocals, guitar), who, along with Scott Zubot (violin, mandolin), make up Edmonton folk trio 100 Mile House.
100 Mile House, along with Tom Murray on bass, rolls into town to play Communitea Cafe, Friday (April 12).
The band’s year of change has been neatly summed up in the issuing of its latest, Wait With Me, released in March. Wait With Me follows Hollow Ponds (2011), From Fall to Fall (2009) and on the organ, in the house, by the field (2008).
“Denise’s acupuncturist said it’s all part of a cycle that ties in with the Mayans,” said Stone last week.
“A lot of people firmly believe 2012 was the end of a cycle. For ourselves, it seems everyone we knew was seeing changes and going through something huge; babies were born, people lost loved ones. Denise and I have been together for eight years and we had some personal challenges, but we had each other.
“Generally, there were both sad times and joyous times and this album came out of that time. We even accidentally ended up with a puppy who came from a home where it was mistreated and living under some stairs.”
Said puppy was chewing on Stone’s shoes during this interview.
“For us, 2012 was a challenging year, but we’re pretty excited about the new album. And Canmore’s our favourite place to visit since we were there for the folk festival a few years ago. That was our first folk festival and Canmore will always have a special place in our hearts.”
Change in 2012 was of note, but 100 Mile House band members have certainly embraced change.
Stone, a native of East London (“where all the gangsters are from”) and Edmontonian MacKay have split their time between Canada and the U.K., lived in “the hottest apartment in Edmonton” where they recorded From Fall to Fall and now share a house which houses Stone’s studio and where they recorded Hollow Ponds in the house, the shed, the garage…
Songwriting for 100 Mile House tends to be Stone coming up with an initial idea, then MacKay and Zubot adding input. “It’s like me drawing a picture,” he said, “and then they colour it in.”
Change continues in Wait With Me, which features the first song in which MacKay, the Canadian, takes lead vocals in a song about England in “My Love.”
“It’s a song we wrote together,” said Stone. “It has an old timey feel I really like.”
For Stone, songwriting happens when it happens. “I’ve always got a bit of a backlog, because I’m always writing something. I can’t imagine the pressure of coming up with 12 songs in a few weeks just because you’ve decided to do an album.
“Some people work better under that kind of pressure, but I’d rather write all the time, then try out new stuff and test it by playing it.”
Wait With Me’s “Last Call” is a good example, said Stone. “I wasn’t sure how it would be received, but it got good reactions and now it’s on the album. And, when you’ve been playing something for a while, it sounds better when you go to record it.”
In support of Wait With Me, 100 Mile House is touring Alberta, in five sections, all on weekends, to allow for day jobs.
Spring will be devoted to playing in Alberta and Saskatchewan, June will be quiet, July will be spent in B.C. and on Vancouver Island and August will be busy as well. At some point, a trip to England will be worked in as Stone said he gets an itch to go home pretty much once a year.
“We’re going to play more shows this year than ever before, which is pretty exciting,” he said. “And we’ll be in Ontario for three or four weeks. Toronto is the first place I lived in Canada and we’d like to build more of a fan base there.
“Our last two albums did well in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan, and we’ve had great support from CKUA and CBC, which is pretty cool. And it seems now that when we travel to do shows, every time we go back, there are more people there.
“A few years ago we played the Ironwood in Calgary for 15 or 20 people. This time, there were 150 and I think some of that is due to the support of CBC and CKUA; people have already heard our music there.”
Hollow Ponds won the Edmonton Music Award for Folk/Roots Album of the Year in 2012 and was nominated for a 2012 Western Canadian Music Award for Roots Duo/Group Recording of the Year. It was featured in CBC’s Key of A - Best of 2011 and CKUA’s Top 100 of 2011. The track “Better, Still” won the Calgary Folk Festival songwriting contest grand prize, which led to the group performing at the festival in 2012.
Career highlights include performances at the 2010 Winter Olympics (Alberta House), the Calgary Folk Club and the Canmore Folk Festival, as well as showcasing at the 2012 and 2013 Folk Alliance International conferences. A live recording of a show at Communitea Cafe is available on CBC Radio 2’s Concerts On Demand.
