Australian bluesman Ash Grunwald looks at his profession as a constant evolution through his life.
Grunwald is coming off major praise for his 2013 release Gargantua, and is ready to bring his eclectic mix of original numbers, blues staples and popular covers to the Great White North.
Grunwald plays Wild Bill’s Saloon in Banff on Feb. 26.
Now 10 years into a flourishing musical career built around Grunwald’s work ethic, touring and talent, the father of two is ready to once again get Western Canadians nodding their heads to the blues. But he’s also rocking out during his three-week tour through B.C. and Alberta.
“I’ve just done two gigs in western Australia and I’m kind of preparing myself for Canada and playing there,” Grunwald said from Australia. “In terms of the setup, I guess apart from the fact I’m playing a little bit of harmonica, which is something new for me, it’s like my old setup of maybe six years ago. It’s kind of what I got known for in Australia, and that’s how I’ve been playing the last two gigs and I’m having an absolute ball.
“I’m just going to do these solo style events where I just do whatever I feel... using the foot percussion and stuff like that, reasonably heavy in some of the songs and going for a kind of big one man band sound. Just going 100 per cent organic because there were a number of years where I was using a lot of hip hop beats and stuff on my album and I’ve used them live.”
For the last two gigs Grunwald played, he had all his equipment set up and there if he wanted to use it, but he’s been finding his musical direction doesn’t want to go down that path.
“I think it’s all related to preparation for my next album – it will be very organic, so that’s where I’m at and I’m really enjoying it,” Grunwald said. “I’ve been pulling out some of the older, bluesier stuff as well, but every night I do “The Last Stand” which was the single off of Gargantua. In it, I write about coal seam gas mining or fracking and that’s something that I’m very passionate about and it’s leaked its way across the globe.”
Being a father has made Grunwald more obstinate on where he stands towards the environment.
“It’s made me a lot more adamant to speak out about fracking, because as soon as you have kids you look at it differently and you’re not so wishy-washy… well, I’m not,” Grunwald said on the effect fatherhood has had towards his musical output.
“When you’ve got kids and you imagine them being poisoned you get that sense of urgency that’s not there when you’re just thinking about yourself.”
Grunwald has a large arsenal of material now to pull from, saying it gives him the freedom to go in whatever direction he’s feeling on a given night, and this has been including favourite covers and rocking out with band mates.
“I do “Crazy,” the Gnarls Barkley song which is one on Gargantua. That’s what I have been doing, but it kind of jumps around. But it kind of feels good after 10 years plus doing this to have a bit of a return to my kind of sound that I kind of got known for.
“I’ve got a Les Paul, my best electric that I left there (in Canada) and I’ve kind of been missing it actually, so I’ll be playing that and my national steel guitar,” said Grunwald.
“I sort of got influenced by that last Gartgantua album. Scotty and Andy from a band over here called The Living End influenced my guitar playing and upped the ante a bit – made me get more into the riffy stuff.
“When I started playing with Scotty and Andy, I thought, OK, now I have to get my shred on and I started using electric because it’s kind of easier to do flashy things if you use electric. And in that band kind of context I started going down a very ‘Hendrixy’ kind of path. It’s funny, with little nuances like whether you use a pick or not, an idiosyncratic way of playing for me has just developed over the years and it keeps on developing.”
Grunwald says he’s more than ready to get to Canada for some musical escapades and to keep his musical journey evolving.
“I’m really looking forward to it and looking forward to being back in Canada. For me, it’s always a spinout and an adventure to be in that mega-snowy cold environment. I think every show is going to be fun and really different.”
