Seth Anderson is happy to be home.
Over the last six months, the Canmore-based musician has delivered his punk rock influenced, singer-songwriter stylings to audiences in such far-flung locations as Woodstock, New Brunswick, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Billings, Montana.
Saturday night’s (Aug. 17) homecoming concert at artsPlace in Canmore will be extra special because he’s sharing the bill with good friend Jon Snodgrass.
Snodgrass, a Colorado based singer-songwriter with ties to the alt-country band Drag the River and acoustic punk group Armchair Martian, will be playing a formal stage in Canmore for the first time.
“He has this cult following of people that I hope I can get word out to in town,” Anderson said. “He’s one of those dudes who’s a big deal to me to bring to town.
“I’d like people to understand how rad he is.”
For his part, Anderson has been playing music and writing his own songs for going on 20 years. A native of Hartland, New Brunswick, Canmore has been his off-and-on home since 2003. Like so many who come to the Bow Valley on a whim or on vacation, he has found it hard to leave.
But fans who have seen Anderson locally over the years might experience a different version of the musician than in previous gigs.
“My crowd usually likes going to the bar, for full band stuff,” Anderson said with a wry smile.
ArtsPlace is a departure from playing the Drake in Canmore, or the Rose and Crown in Banff, but it also suits his evolving style.
“Playing solo and touring solo, that’s kind of where I’ve honed my set,” Anderson said. “And I’ve become kind of most comfortable with playing [that way]. For around town, generally it’s more full band, but that’s not really what I normally do when I’m touring.”
Anderson first picked up a guitar for a class he took in high school, and an assignment for that class uncovered a passion for song writing that continues to this day.
"I write music to convey struggle that I’ve experienced, with the hope to help other people,” Anderson said. “Our job as songwriters is to make people feel something. Whether it’s happiness, or maybe it’s sadness, or maybe it’s, you know, whatever. I just like to give them something where they feel like they’ve benefited.
“For me playing, a lot of times it’s like therapy, and it’s healing.”
There is an undeniable folk singer-songwriter feel to Anderson’s work, but his experience on stage over the years has been infused with the raw energy associated with old school punk. The blending of genres is not as big a mismatch as it may sound. Eighty per cent of the songs Anderson plays make the set list for both his solo shows and when playing in a group.
“The solo sets have more connection to the audience I find, because I’m talking more. Telling more stories. The emotion is more raw,” Anderson said. “With the band its just bigger, and people are more drawn into that on a massive scale sometimes when playing live.”
The band experience helped Anderson hone his stage presence. Holding his own while playing high energy music with a bunch of other guys taught him to avoid being passive in the delivery of his songs. There has to be a powerful element to every part of the performance, whether it be lyrically, or musically. That builds a relationship with the audience.
“For me it’s those little moments on stage where you feel like you actually did connect with somebody. Or, somebody does come up after the show when you think nobody was listening in the whole room, and you can tell they were moved by something you said, or a song, or just the emotion you conveyed.”
For any type of gig, that’s a job well done.
Seth Anderson, featuring Jon Snodgrass, will be performing at artsPlace on Saturday (Aug. 17), at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 ($17 for artsPlace members), and can be purchased at the door, or at artsplacecanmore.com.
Anderson’s music is available at oneweekrecords.com.
