Many musicians, as they work toward making their music a career, find it necessary to go through several variations, try out different bands, maybe even do some genre jumping to find a niche.
In John Jenkins’ case, he is the central figure, while those around him tend to come and go. Jenkins, who calls Golden, B.C. home, is the originator of John Jenkins and Swerving Gently, which morphed into John Jenkins’ Smalltown Revival, with his brother Dan on bass and Yannick Robitaille on keys
Those who have seen Revival play in the area – Jenkins is a semi-regular in Alberta and B.C. ski towns – now have the chance to see his latest variation as John Jenkins’ Two-Man Trio.
The Two-Man Trio is Jenkins and new addition Gord Light, another Ontarian who has found himself in Golden. They play Banff’s Elk and Oarsman, April 3-4 and St. James’ Gate, April 18-19.
“I sing and play guitar, harmonica, kick snare and high hat,” said Jenkins, “and Gord sings and plays bass, banjo and ukulele. I do some looping and playback, so for two of us, we make a lot of noise, a trio’s worth.”
Having now lived in Golden for a dozen years, Jenkins is working to develop a folky Kootenay mountain sound of a “down home, genuine, deep woods” nature.
As Swerving Gently, he released two albums, Backroads and Highways (2008) and Rare Mileage (2009). As the Revival, he released Music From Home (2011).
Currently, Jenkins is writing more songs, digging out a few that haven’t seen the light of day on an album, and short-distance touring. He also hosts a jam at the Wolf’s Den restaurant.
“Mostly we do weekends and extended weekends,” he said. “We’re busy every weekend and do the odd weeknight out as well. I’ve been going solo for the last two years, but just before Christmas I met Gord and working with him is fantastic.
“Now that we’re doing regular shows, it’s new and exciting and evolving quickly. The focus was on getting him on bass at first, but then integrating his banjo and ukulele. With everything we play and some looping, we get a nice, full band sound.”
These days, the Two-Man Trio are performing songs from Jenkins’ first three albums, as well as new material. “I’d like to get another album out, I have enough songs for one, but it depends on timing and financing.
“Some of the new songs were written in the last couple of years, some quite a few years ago and I’m revisiting some that were written long ago.”
Being that Jenkins has lived in different provinces and lived in Canmore from 1997 to 2001, he draws on life experiences and others’ stories when it comes to penning songs.
“Sometimes it’s my life experience, sometimes social events or something I’ve observed. I also do guitar repair work and sometimes I fix and play and write songs on other instruments.
“One song of mine (“Smoky Strings”) I wrote when a woman who inherited a guitar from her father wanted me to do some work on it. When I opened the case, there was a strong smell of cigarettes and I made up a story about a travelling guy that was on Rare Mileage.
“I wrote ‘Smalltown Revival’ after some conversations with a lady who owned a café; it was about mines closing, development, lives changing, it fit well with the theme of revival.
“Right now, I’m transitioning from Smalltown Revival to the Two-Man Trio and that’s taking some time. I’ve been surviving as a working musician for a decade now, and it has its ups and downs, but I’ve been making enough income and I’m fortunate to be in that position.
“And being in Golden helps, with its close proximity to Banff, Canmore, Revelstoke and Invermere, it’s worked well for me. These days, Gord and I load up our Matrix and head out. For two guys, we have a lot of stuff, but even in winter, the car’s got all-wheel drive and snow tires, so we’re good to go.”
