As people in this valley know, limited term visas can create all kinds of interesting scenarios in a person’s life. And not all good.
Many seasonal staffers, along with the businesses that hire them, for example, have a keen understanding of the effects of temporary foreign worker visas and other employment programs.
For Sofiella Watt and the Huckleberry Bandits, which released a self-titled EP in July and play Canmore’s Mountain Mercato on Main Street, Tuesday (Aug. 18) and Banff’s Elk and Oarsman (Aug. 19), the band’s future is somewhat up in the air as she and musical and life partner Jim Maher (Australians) are in Canada on holiday visas which run out in November.
In the meantime, though, the Nelson, B.C.-based band, which includes Lee Campese (drums), Jakob Simek (upright bass) and Dave Reid (mandolin) is on a three-week tour of Alberta and B.C.
Last winter, the band played Mercato, but this time around are looking forward to a warmer reception, weather-wise. The band will play an outdoor street gig from about noon to 2 p.m.
“We’re really looking forward to playing Banff and Canmore again,” said Watt, an independent folkstress hailing from East Coast Australia who began writing music as a four year old, began penning original songs at age 15 and toured up and down “the east coast of Oz” before heading to Canada.
Touring to the northern territory of the Darwin area, she said, turned out to be something like touring Canada’s north – “it’s a very unique life.”
The band has been together for about 18 months. Originally, after moving to Canada, Maher found himself in Kelowna, B.C., but when Watt arrived, they moved to Nelson.
“It just happened,” she said, “Jimmy heard it was nice there, too, and had a good music scene. We moved there and just found it hard to leave.” The other band members are Kootenay-based.
“Moving to Canada was a whim,” said Watt. “I wanted to move to Canada because at the time all my favourite bands were Canadian.
“We’re pretty young as a band and we’re all living in Nelson. We recorded our EP in a small town near there called Argenta and all our artwork for the cover was done by locals. It’s a good way to keep things local.
“Luckily, we recorded in a home studio and Jakob is a bit of a genius with the technology, he’s a good man to have on board.”
Musically, Sofiella Watt and the Huckleberry Bandits offer a gypsy, bluegrassy, folkabilly, roots sound. Watt has a twang in her voice that suggests the south with little suggestion of her Australian heritage (“which is good, otherwise Canadians wouldn’t understand the lyrics”).
Watt describes herself as a self taught guitarist and banjo plucker, songwriter, bread baker, vagrant, and washboard enthusiast. She has been performing her music since before she could legally enter venues; playing festivals, bars, parks, pubs, warehouses and lounge rooms.
The group recently received Best Folk/Country/Roots Act at the Kootenay Music Awards, and has been getting feet stomping across B.C. and Alberta
When it comes to songwriting, Watt leans on both her own life experiences and storytelling to relate the tales of others. “Junkyard Bettie,” for example, is a song about a woman who spent the worst possible winter in the Kootenays, breakup included, while “Old Man Trouble” relates to a tour on the east coast of Australia.
“It’s about finding a place to slow down and finding a place where trouble can’t find you,” she said. “The songs are a real mix as far as inspiration goes.
“And we do some covers of songs we really love to play, with our own sound added; songs like ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ and ‘Animal’ by Mike Snow.
“We all love touring and getting to new towns. We like to get people’s ears and offer some new music.”
On the current tour, the band is playing the Mercato street gig, as well as festivals, bars, clubs, a winery, bistros and a small art gallery. “It’s nice to play a mix of venues to keep things interesting,” said Watt.
