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City of Dallas, Colour of Green

After three years of trying to book City and Colour, that dream has finally become a reality. The show takes place at The Banff Centre’s Eric Harvie Theatre, Monday (Jan. 30).

After three years of trying to book City and Colour, that dream has finally become a reality.

The show takes place at The Banff Centre’s Eric Harvie Theatre, Monday (Jan. 30). As the concert has been sold out for quite some time, for those without tickets, the only chance of seeing it is to watch on monitors in the lobby.

Founded by Dallas Green, a St. Catharines, Ont. native, City and Colour is a folk pop band remarkably different from Green’s previous endeavour – Alexisonfire – a hard rock group.

“I haven’t done a full Canadian tour – I realized this the other day – since 2008,” said Green in an interview last week. “I’ve played a lot of places all over Canada since then, with festivals and things like that, but I don’t know why.

“I guess because I was traversing back and forth, I didn’t realize it. I never had an opportunity to play Banff on that tour, so I’m excited to go back. I’ve actually only been there one time, and that was with Alexisonfire, in 2006. It’s been a long time.”

That Banff show, six years ago, was a memorable experience, he said.

“We played at Wild Bill’s and it was crazy – I remember it was so late when we went on, that I went on stage with my shirt unbuttoned,” explained Green. “I was halfway undressed to go to sleep, and we had to go on stage, and it was so hot and sweaty in there, I was like ‘I’m not even going to button up my shirt’.”

Green attributes the success of his bands to hard work and making music at the right time.

“I like to think it’s because the songs I write appeal to people, not just a fad,” he said. “I’ve been working at it since I was young and this is my third record and I’ve toured a lot – I’ve put in a lot of miles – I can’t really explain it though.

“We just started playing everywhere we could, whoever would have us, and I think we came out right as the Internet filesharing and all that blew up, and it allowed people all over to find out about us, and when they did we went and played for them, and we went back and we went back, and I’ve been doing the same thing with City and Colour since 2005 and seven years later, here we are.”

Now hugely popular, with most shows on the tour already sold out, Green said he still prefers to play smaller venues.

“The reason why I’m trying to do two nights in a lot of the cities, instead of one night in an arena, is it sort of loses a lot of character and soul when you play in a big sports venue,” he said. “So I’m trying to keep it maintained right now.”

And while the music he is producing today is very different from his earlier work with Alexisonfire, Green insists this is something he’s always done.

“The thing is, I was always writing songs like this, it’s just nobody cared to listen to them back when I was in Alexisonfire,” he said. “We struck a cord for people listening to that, and then after we gained notoriety, people started finding out about all these old songs I had and that led to the first City and Colour record.

“That took a lot of people by surprise, coming from a hardcore band, but for me I had always been doing it, and I had always enjoyed writing quieter songs, as well as being in that band.”

The third and latest City and Colour album, Little Hell, was released last June. While admitting the music is lighter than Alexisonfire, Green preferred not to define it as a genre.

“I don’t really know what it is – I think that genres were created for people to write about the music,” he said. “For me, I think the music I make, you can interpret it however you want and I think that’s the best part of music – it’s personal preference – I don’t know what to call it, I just play it.”

What the music is, however, is about things in his life, he said.

“I just write about the things in my life – the things that I struggle with and put me in that type of mood. But I try to write them in a relatable enough way that people can listen to them and draw from their own experiences and take what they need from it.”

Playing with Green are Dylan Green on drums, Scott Remila on bass, Daniel Romano on guitar and Aaron Goldstein on pedal steel.

“It’s been a constant lineup for a while – Aaron is the most recent addition, since last April,” said Green. “Scott and Dylan are two of my oldest friends, I’ve known them since I was a kid, and then Daniel is one of my best friends as well. Not only are they good musicians, but they’re my friends. It just feels good, it feels right.”

Green’s music is currently available through Dine Alone Records in Canada and Vagrant Records in the U.S., two small, independent labels, and this is something he has no intention of changing.

“Major labels don’t mean anything any more, and both of the labels I’m on – in America and Canada – they both have major distribution, so it allows us to get the music out to as many people as possible, but at the same time I have complete creative control over what I’m doing,” he explained.

“Major labels nowadays are making people sign these 360 deals where they take a piece of everything and that’s just not what I’m in it for,” added Green. “I’m not trying to make it like bubble gum or Coca Cola, I’m just trying to write songs that make me feel good and that I hope some people would want to listen to.”

To hear Green’s music, visit his website at cityandcolour.ca


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