Quite possibly there is no band that should feel more at home in the forests and mountains of the Bow Valley than The Boom Booms.
Vancouver-based, The Boom Booms origins were in the forests of B.C., where founding members were tree planters by day and performers at night for their tree planting brethren.
Today, the six-piece is planting its sound in the minds of listeners everywhere with an upbeat blend of reggae, pop, folk and rock best called a world sound.
The Boom Booms play the Canmore Hotel, Thursday (Nov. 28). The band is made up of the Ross brothers, Aaron (vocals, guitar) and Sean (vocals, cavaquinho), Geordie Hart (bass, vocals), Theo Vincent (percussion, vocals), Tom Van Deursen (guitar, vocals) and Richard Brinkman (drums).
Adopting a world sound is a natural for the band, which has been together for about five years. In the beginning, as they say, Aaron Ross put out an album that was first performed at a fringe fest in Scotland.
Then again, the band was really put together in a serious way after members spent time in Europe busking.
Then again, the first song Aaron ever wrote was while he was travelling in Cuba and Asia.
Then again, the band’s first tour was to Panama. They jumped in a van and drove all the way from Vancouver, stopping in at bars and other venues to ask if they could play – you get the picture now … a world sound.
After releasing the debut album Hot Rum in 2011, Boom Booms have released the single “Real Love” and are working to complete a new album.
“Most of us have known each other since elementary school in East Vancouver,” said Sean Ross. “We go way back and we planted trees in Prince George, Merritt, Kamloops, all over in B.C. as a way of paying the bills.
“Aaron does our songwriting, he’s a prolific writer who’s working on chords and lyrics 24/7. For the rest of us, someone will have an idea, maybe from a guitar riff or something for keys, then we’ll piece it all together.”
Along with tree planting, the band would host The Boom Booms Block Party, a summer highlight in East Vancouver that raised $20,000 for local organizations.
After releasing Hot Rum, the band won $75,000 in the 2011 Peak Performance Project (102.7 FM), which allowed them to tour the Amazon River in Brazil. With a camera crew, The Boom Booms ventured upriver to create a documentary called Boom Boom Brazil, a work about the adventures of an up and coming band – of all things.
“The Peak Project was huge for us,” said Ross. “After we came back from busking in Europe, we realized we wanted to make music a career and it really jumpstarted it. We spent the balance on the new album and we’ve had a lot of support from family to keep us going.”
Currently, bandmembers are working on construction of a studio in their home. “It’s amazing how much money you can spend in somebody else’s studio,” he said. “These days, with computers you can do so much of recording yourself and with your own studio, you’re not hindered by how much money you’re spending.
“The world sound we have comes from the band being born on the road and with a world sound, you play the things you like and the things people enjoy.
“Thing are looking good for us now. Best case right now would be to get a new album out in March, then tour in the U.S. to support and then just keep things running.”
The video for the band’s feel-good party anthem, “When the Night,” reached number six on the Much More Music chart in 2008 and was optioned for an episode of 90210. “Delivered,” a surreal banjo ballad that conjures up images of a jungle river baptism, garnered an award for Best Roots Song at the Just Plain Folks Music Awards in Nashville.
